It certainly lacked the drama and excitement displayed by the bigger boys in shoulder pads across the highway earlier in the day. But the Avalanche, at least, exited the lower Platte Valley on Sunday night with a victory in its pockets.
The Avalanche defeated the Northwest Division-leading Minnesota Wild 4-1 at the Pepsi Center, upping its record to 5-4-2 for the young NHL season.
Milan Hejduk scored two goals for Colorado in a game not quite as close as the final score would indicate.
The Wild, without its best player, Marian Gaborik, and having played the night before, looked like a tired, dispassionate bunch.
But the Avs showed little mercy, playing one of the team’s more complete games of the season.
“I thought that’s as good as we can play, from start to finish, in all areas and all aspects,” Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. “We had a contribution from all 20 guys tonight and real consistent efforts.”
Tyler Arnason and Ian Laperriere scored Colorado’s other goals, with Laperriere’s the 100th goal of his career. Jose Theodore did not have to be the reincarnation of Jacques Plante in this one, facing just 21 shots. But any win felt good for him after sitting out two consecutive games following a disastrous return to Montreal last week.
“It was definitely a solid win for us. We played well,” said Theodore, who allowed only a Pavol Demitra power-play goal in the second period.
Hejduk’s second goal probably was the turning point.
Not only did it give the Avalanche a 3-1 lead at 12:40 of the second period, it came 56 seconds after Demitra’s goal. Hejduk beat Wild goalie Manny Fernandez with a nice shot from the slot for his sixth goal of the season. Hejduk is off to the kind of start the Avs were counting on after a subpar 2005-06 season.
“He’s been flying, and it’s good to see,” Quenneville said. “That line (along with Paul Stastny and Wojtek Wolski) had a good game tonight.”
John-Michael Liles had three assists for the Avs and has quietly ascended among the NHL’s scoring leaders among defensemen. His 11 points trail only Sheldon Souray’s 12 for Montreal.
“I’m having fun out there,” Liles said. “Losing (Rob) Blake was a big thing for me and our team because he was a great D-partner. But I’m very happy. Ken Klee complements me very well. We played pretty solidly all around tonight. We gave up a few chances, but nothing major. They definitely didn’t have their best game, but at the same time, we did what we had to do.”
Arnason’s goal was the one to send to the sports networks for the highlight shows.
It was after a pretty deke and rush up the middle, with a shot that beat Fernandez to the far post.
“That was an excellent goal. Not too many guys in the league can make that play,” Quenneville said. “That line (Arnason, Brett McLean and Laperriere) has been having chances. They haven’t really gotten the production that reflects what they’ve been doing. But they’ve been dangerous as a group.”
The Wild’s thoughts on the game were best summed up by defenseman Kim Johnsson: “It was just a poor, poor game. We have to learn from this and make sure all of this never happens again. It’s not the way we wanted to end the month. We’ve been playing great, and all of a sudden, we have a game like this.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
