After the second period, it was easy to project the winner. But then it became too close to call.
The Los Angeles Kings took advantage of numerous second-period defensive breakdowns and the spotty goaltending of Jose Theodore and held off a strong Avalanche rally for a 6-5 victory over the Avalanche before 17,196 on Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center.
A 2-1 Avalanche lead after one period turned into a 5-2 Kings edge entering the third as the Avs were sloppy in all phases. The Avs fell to a Kings team that had lost five consecutive road games and was missing a couple of key players.
But the Avs showed too much mercy, especially in the meltdown that was the second period.
“We got a little bit sloppy, and it’s something that’s kind of marred us all year,” Avs veteran Andrew Brunette said. “We’re not doing all the little things we need to do. We get the lead and we think we can get four, five, six goals instead of maybe just keeping what we have. Offense will come if we do those little things, and we’re not paying the price defensively for 60 minutes.”
Things were going swimmingly for Colorado after rookie Wojtek Wolski finished off a pretty goal at 16:33 of the first, giving the Avs a 2-1 lead. Marek Svatos, who scored the Avs’ first goal, had what seemed like a sure thing in front of the net that would have made it 3-1 a short time later, but the puck stayed in front of Kings goalie Dan Cloutier and Los Angeles regrouped.
Despite outshooting the Kings 15-10 in the second, the Avs’ defensive zone coverage was a mess – and Colorado also surrendered a short-handed goal to Kings pest Sean Avery.
“That was a killer,” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said. “Our second period was not effective at all. Overall, our collective performance was not good enough.”
Avery’s goal, at 8:35, came after the Avs kicked the puck around in the offensive zone and were caught flat-footed when it came loose. Avery took a lead pass from Alex Frolov and beat Theodore through the 5-hole. That broke a 2-2 tie, and one minute later it was 4-2.
Scott Thornton scored his first goal of the season, and with 2:04 left in the period, Kings rookie Anze Kopitar beat Theodore to the short side with a wrist shot from the right circle – a soft goal that elicited some heavy booing.
Theodore was lifted in favor of Peter Budaj after the period by Quenneville. Questions no doubt will swirl again whether Theodore should be the Avs’ No. 1 goalie, but it wasn’t all his fault in this one. Defensemen John-Michael Liles and Ken Klee had tough nights (both were minus-2 after two periods) and the top line of Svatos, Joe Sakic and Brunette were a combined minus-7 after 40 minutes.
The Avs mounted a comeback in the third, cutting the lead to 5-3 on a goal by Brett McLean and Sakic made it 5-4 with a little more than seven minutes left. But McLean took a high-sticking penalty about a minute later and Avery scored his second goal of the night to give the Kings more room. They needed it, as Tyler Arnason scored with 2:01 left for the final score. The Avs had a 6-on-4 power-play – with Budaj off for the extra skater – for the final 1:17, but Cloutier held the fort.
“They capitalized on their chances and we didn’t,” Klee said. “That’s the bottom line tonight.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
