There were so many video reviews during the Avalanche-Edmonton game Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center, you half-expected the next ruling to be that Ben Roethlisberger – he of the hockey-style playoff beard – hadn’t scored, either.
But by the time the tape machine was turned off for the night, Alex Tanguay’s goal and assist had propelled the Avalanche to a 5-2 victory over the travel-weary Oilers in Colorado’s final home game before the Olympic break and further tightened the Northwest Division standings.
With 66 points, Colorado is in fourth place in the division, but is within three of Calgary and Vancouver and only one behind the Oilers – who had every right to be a bit tired after winning in a shootout at home over Anaheim on Monday and arriving in Denver in the middle of the night. Also, the Avalanche leaped over the Los Angeles Kings to move into seventh place in the Western Conference.
Milan Hejduk had a goal in his return to the lineup after a one-game absence – he was back to being a pain in the neck, rather than having one – and David Aebischer needed to make only 16 saves on his 28th birthday.
The Avalanche ended an 0-for-18 streak on the power play when Hejduk converted a Tanguay pass to open the scoring at 2:43 of the second period.
“I’d sure rather be in the lineup than watching the guys on TV,” Hejduk said. “It felt good and, most important, we won because these two points are huge for us right now.”
“Tonight, we had a lot of chances,” said Tanguay, who again was on a line with Joe Sakic and Hejduk only when Colorado was on the power play. “On the power play, we were really good. Joe had some chances, Milan had some chances. I like to make good passes, but with the way things have been going this year, I’ve been asked to play a little more and look for my own opportunities.”
In the strange game, the Oilers had two apparent goals disallowed after video reviews. Ryan Smyth seemed to have given the Oilers a 2-1 lead in the second period, but it was ruled that he had kicked the puck past Aebischer. Later, an apparent Ales Hemsky goal for the Oilers also was waved off when the video goal judge ruled backward-sliding Colorado defenseman Patrice Brisebois had knocked the net off the moorings before the puck crossed the goal line.
“I’ve often thought that was a crazy rule that if they accidentally knock their own net off and we’re putting the puck in the net, we’re penalized for it,” Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said.
When Edmonton goalie Mike Morrison made a flashy glove save on Sakic in the third period, but the goal light came on as the referees ruled no goal, that play also went to a review.
There the review confirmed the decision that Morrison snagged the puck before it crossed the goal line.
Avalanche veterans also hit two milestones in the victory. Sakic’s two assists gave him 893 for his career and pulled him out of a tie with Dale Hawerchuk, and into sole possession of the No. 17 spot on the NHL’s career list.
And when Rob Blake beat a screened Morrison from the right point to score at 19:47 of the second period, that gave the Avs veteran 186 career goals. Blake is tied with Scott Stevens for 18th on the all-time list for NHL defensemen.
Staff writer Terry Frei can be reached at 303-820-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
