It was a wild and raucous Saturday night at the Pepsi Center, and that just describes the action in the seats.
Several fights in the stands – including one in which the referees ordered a fan removed for throwing a Rob Blake bobblehead doll at Vancouver Canucks villain Todd Bertuzzi – created a rowdy atmosphere that was nearly matched on the ice by the Avalanche and Vancouver.
When it was over, the Avs dropped another one in a shootout, 4-3 to the Canucks. Colorado’s second straight shootout loss at home left the team 2-5 in shootouts.
The five missed points in lost shootouts is the difference in the Avalanche being a first-place team in the Northwest Division versus a third-place team.
Avs goalie David Aebischer stopped two of three shots in the shootout, but Marek Svatos, Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk failed to beat journeyman Canucks goalie Alex Auld. Vancouver’s Jarko Ruutu scored the only goal of the shootout. The Avs, losers in four of the past five games, could have moved into second place in the Northwest with a victory.
“In a shootout, everything can happen. And right now, we don’t score in shootouts,” Aebischer said. “So, it would be better for us to score on that power play we had (in overtime).”
Said Hejduk, “We can’t win that way, it seems like. It’s not what we expect. We try to practice it every day, and hopefully we’ll get better.”
Still, the Avs did well to get a point. Down 3-1 with time running out in the third period, the Avalanche struck for two quick goals to send the game to overtime.
Goals by rookies Svatos and Brad Richardson got the Avs even late in regulation, the latter score the first career goal for Richardson. Before that, things seemed bleak for Colorado.
The Avalanche outshot Vancouver 42-30 in regulation but until Svatos’ and Richardson’s late heroics, it had only a first-period goal from Andrew Brunette to show for it.
The Canucks built their lead on goals by Mattias Ohlund, Ruutu and Ryan Kesler. Kesler’s goal came midway through the third. But the Avs found a way to get at least a point on two second-effort goals. Svatos knocked home a loose rebound, one of the few Auld surrendered.
Richardson’s equalizer came after a mad scramble in front, following bids in close by Patrice Brisebois and Brunette.
The Avs had a great chance to win in OT, when they got a power-play chance. But 1:03 into the advantage, a hooking call against defenseman Rob Blake nullified the rest. The Avs then held off the Canucks for nearly a minute of power-play time to get to the shootout.
The Avs had trouble at times getting the puck out of their zone, especially early in the third period. It appeared that would stall any chances of getting back in the game, as Colorado seemed too much its worst enemy by then. The Avs missed some great scoring chances – especially Hejduk, whose stick has gone cold again. He had a tap-in chance early in the third period after a setup from Brunette, but fanned on the shot. Hejduk failed to score for the 11th time in 12 games.
Hejduk had a chance to extend the shootout to a fourth round with his team down 1-0 and down to its last shot. But his meek shot on net was easily stopped by Auld with his pads.
“I tried to shoot 5-hole and hit his stick,” Hejduk said. “He was kind of deep in the net, so I tried to shoot it there. That’s not the best decision, I guess. I should have shot somewhere else.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
