Paging Jeff Hackett.
It appears the Avalanche is again in need of the services of its goaltending coach for its mercurial, high-priced netminder, Jose Theodore. Twice this season Theodore has credited his former Montreal teammate Hackett for straightening out his game.
Theodore’s game seems as straight as the lines on a 3-year-old’s Etch A Sketch after the goalie was blasted Wednesday by a Dallas team short on stars.
The Stars beat the Avs 5-4 – and Theodore for five goals on 22 shots – with a lineup that was minus captain Brenden Morrow, Mike Modano, Eric Lindros and Matthew Barnaby.
“You’ve got to make the big saves when it counts. Tonight, I wasn’t there to make the big saves when I needed to,” Theodore said.
There was no point in sugarcoating things from Avs coach Joel Quenneville’s standpoint, either.
“(Theodore’s) goaltending wasn’t good enough,” Quenneville said. “The goaltending wasn’t there. We needed better goaltending.”
Theodore’s season continues to be inconsistent, and raises more questions about his role with the team, short- and long-term. His salary counts for $5.3 million against the cap, and he has another year left on his contract.
Theodore seemed slow to react, either on initial shots or moving side to side for rebounds. Quenneville had finally seen enough when Theodore allowed the winning goal to Jeff Halpern at 1:52 of the third period. Theodore was lifted for Peter Budaj, but it was too late. The Avs couldn’t get the equalizer against Stars goalie Marty Turco despite some great chances.
It was the third straight loss to the Stars this season, and Quenneville believes decent goaltending probably would have won all three.
“We out-chanced them, I think, all three games,” he said. “Territorially, we did everything we wanted, but didn’t come out with a win. Which is very disappointing, knowing we could have had six points against them.”
It would be charitable to classify any of Dallas’ goals as anything more than soft. Theodore’s night started at 2:57 of the first period when he dropped a slow, high shot by Stars defenseman Halpern and was caught flat on his back for Loui Eriksson’s rebound chance, waving his glove in futility.
Theodore allowed a short-side, walk-in goal to Jere Lehtinen at 13:27 of the second, after power-play goals by John-Michael Liles and Andrew Brunette had given the Avs a 4-2 edge. Theodore allowed a long wrist-shot goal to Sergei Zubov at 36 seconds of the third that tied it, and was slow reacting laterally on Halpern’s game-winner.
“The third goal was the turning point,” Theodore said, of Lehtinen’s goal. “I should have made that save.”
Avs rookie Wojtek Wolski continued his strong play with a goal and two assists, but his tripping penalty led to Halpern’s winning score.
“He steps on my stick and goes down and they call it,” Wolski said. “I think it was just lucky bounces for them. They got a couple of lucky bounces. We definitely have shown in the last couple of games that we are a good team. So, we just have to keep working hard.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
