A great game ended on a bad play Tuesday night – but don’t blame the Avalanche’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on the man whose turnover contributed to that ending.
Defenseman Patrice Brisebois logged nearly 28 hard minutes and covered up several mistakes by some younger and more rested defensive teammates before his fateful miscue.
Instead, blame the Avalanche power play for a loss that puts them in a Pepsi Center-sized hole – a 3-0 deficit in the series. The Avs went 0-for-8 on the power play in the loss – including two 5-on-3 advantages – and are 0 for their last 28. Blame a top line that combined for only six shots on goal, including none by captain and team all-time leading scorer, Joe Sakic.
And don’t forget to credit a young, fast and hungry Mighty Ducks team, most especially forward Joffrey Lupul, who converted the Brisebois turnover at 16:30 of overtime for his fourth goal of the game. He became the first NHL player to score four goals in a playoff game since Theo Fleury did it for Calgary in 1995.
“A bad ending, a tough way to lose,” said Brisebois, who was good overall in 27:17 of ice time. “I saw (Sakic) open wide, and I just tried to pass it wide to him. They got a stick on it and made a good play.”
The Avs will try to become the third NHL team to come back from a 3-0 series deficit. Colorado was down 3-0 in the second round in 2004 to San Jose before winning Games 4 and 5 but losing in six.
“We’re going to come out with pride and play as hard as we can,” Avs forward Ian Laperriere said. “We’re not going to quit.”
Both teams were somewhat fortunate to have been in the game for as long as they were, until Lupul’s game-winning shot that deflected off defenseman Brett Clark’s stick and through the 5-hole of Avs goalie Jose Theodore. The Mighty Ducks had numerous quality chances, but solid play by Theodore and yeoman work by defenseman Rob Blake (a game-high 37:09) gave the Avs chances at the other end.
Colorado finally solved Anaheim goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, getting goals from Dan Hinote, Jim Dowd and Blake, but should have had more. Not converting on any of the power plays, especially the 5-on-3s, was a big part of the Avs’ undoing.
“Right now, the power play is a sore spot,” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said. “That has been the thing that has ignited our offense all year. I think we caught up to the pace in the series tonight and proved we can play at that level. Our power play is probably the difference in getting to another level.”
The Avalanche took a 2-1 lead at 4:47 of the third period on a rousing short-handed goal by Dowd after a brilliant rush and setup pass by Milan Hejduk.
But the Avs gave the lead away at 8:54, after Alex Tanguay tried to stickhandle around in the Anaheim zone but was stripped of the puck, leading to a 2-on-1 Anaheim break and Lupul scoring his second goal of the night.
Lupul made it 3-2 with 9:20 left in regulation after Kurt Sauer and Pierre Turgeon were taken off pucks in the Avs’ zone, but Blake tied it with a blast from the point with 6:25 left. The Avs failed on an early overtime power play, then killed off an Anaheim power play starting at 13:10.
“I thought we were going to get some momentum from that kill,” Laperriere said. “But they made a good play. (Brisebois) made great plays all night and has been there all year for us. We should have won it before that.”
Sakic, who managed an assist for his first point of the series, said he knows things look bleak.
“But we’re not going to give up. They’re playing well right now, with a lot of confidence,” Sakic said. “We played hard tonight. We’ll try to play the same way in Game 4 and hopefully get a win.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-820-5454 or adater@denverpost.com.
