Nashville, Tenn. – One of the Avalanche’s best players was knocked out of the game by a hit to the head after the whistle. Another was likely knocked out for the rest of the season by a questionable hit into the boards.
The Avs’ physical response to this treatment by the Nashville Predators on Thursday night was … nothing.
On top of the Avs’ curious lack of retaliation in this eye-for-an-eye sport, they lost the game in overtime to the Predators, 4-3 in a half-empty Gaylord Entertainment Center.
Steve Sullivan’s breakaway goal in OT won it for Nashville after he capitalized on Brett McLean’s turnover near the Avs’ blue line.
“It’s unfortunate, because we were up twice (in the third period), and they came back twice,” Avs goalie David Aebischer said. “I kind of thought (Sullivan) would do that (shoot top shelf) on the play, but I have to respect his speed.”
Captain Joe Sakic’s 20th goal of the season – the 16th time in his career he has reached that number – gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead with eight minutes, 49 seconds left in the third period.
But Scott Walker tied it for Nashville with 2:39 left after he tipped a shot by Yanic Perreault in close. The Predators were on the power play after Sullivan was high-sticked by Avs rookie Brad Richardson.
“There were a couple guys in front, and I’m not even sure what happened on the third goal,” Aebischer said.
Many Avs also were unsure how Milan Hejduk suffered a neck injury in the first period; he didn’t return. But replays clearly showed that Nashville’s Mark Eaton hit Hejduk from the blind side with a shoulder to the head after a whistle stopped play.
Eaton did not receive any rough treatment from the Avs the rest of the game.
“Nobody saw it,” Avs veteran Ian Laperriere said. “Nobody saw it, because nobody talked about it (after the period).”
Told that the hit to Hejduk was a shoulder to the head after the whistle while he wasn’t looking, Laperriere shook his head and had a look that suggested there will be payback to Eaton at some point.
Asked if he thought Eaton’s hit to Hejduk was a penalty, Avs coach Joel Quenneville tersely said, “I thought it was a collision.”
Avs defenseman Ossi Vaananen earlier suffered a broken right ankle when hit into the boards by Nashville’s Darcy Hordichuk. He could be out for the season.
Quenneville said the Avs “battled hard” but blew a golden chance at two points against a team barely ahead of them in the Western Conference.
“We had so many power plays throughout the game (0-for-8),” Quenneville said. “We worked hard, did some good things. But I’d liked to have done something different on a couple goals they got.”
One of them was McLean’s turnover in OT. Another was a giveaway by defenseman Karlis Skrastins that led to Nashville’s second goal, by Mike Sillinger, which tied the game.
“It’s a tough point to lose,” Laperriere said. “We need to keep getting points in this conference.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
