Andrew Brunette is the type of accountable player who, despite having zero goals in his past 13 games, is always at his locker stall to face the media. In good times or bad, Brunette is there, whereas many players head to the showers faster than a jackrabbit after poor performances.
The Avalanche left wing went scoreless again Tuesday night against Columbus in Colorado’s 3-0 loss. He knows more is needed from a player on the first line with talented players such as Joe Sakic and Marek Svatos.
“I know I’ve got to play better,” Brunette said. “I haven’t been playing great. There’s times during the year when that happens, and it’s probably extended a little bit longer than I’d like it to.”
Brunette played more than 17 minutes Tuesday night, but has seen his ice time dip in previous games. He played only 10 minutes last week in Calgary and 12 minutes in Edmonton.
Milestone game
The game was the 1,000th the Avalanche has played since moving to Denver in 1995. The games include regular season (847) and playoffs (153). The Avs are 546-321-101-32 (.613).
Footnotes
Former Avs defender Adam Foote and his family had dinner with Sakic’s family Monday night. …
Antti Laaksonen, Ken Klee and Kurt Sauer were healthy scratches for the Avalanche. …
It was the second shutout in succession for Jackets goalie Fredrik Norrena. …
Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock, on the importance of his team’s killing a 5-on-3 disadvantage in the first period: “They’re emotional drainers for the team that doesn’t score. We got a lot of energy right after when we scored right after the 5-on-3.” …
Sakic has gone seven games without a goal, and the Avs have just one goal in their two games since scoring seven Thursday at Edmonton.
