It was a win over a sub-.500 team, a game the Avalanche nearly squandered with some sloppy late play. But the Avs don’t have the luxury of being overly critical of victories right now. They have to be short-order cooks, not five-star chefs fussing over the baked Alaska.
With the season more than half over and the Avs in ninth place in the Western Conference, they are keenly aware this is a crucial part of the season. They need to play well in this stretch of eight of nine games at home or risk a first since coming to Denver – missing the playoffs.
So, getting it started with a 4-3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes was good enough Wednesday night in front of one of the smaller crowds (17,183) at the Pepsi Center this season.
Peter Budaj allowed two late goals to Phoenix, after the Avs built a 4-1 lead, but the Slovakian goalie made some big saves in the final three minutes to preserve the win. Fellow youngster Paul Stastny added two goals, and Tyler Arnason had a three-assist performance.
“They were desperate and made a big push in the end, but I think we deserved the two points,” said Budaj, who again was strong in his 10th consecutive start, making 29 saves. “I think we outworked them. I think we came back after a bad game and played pretty well, so that’s good.”
Shane Doan’s goal made it 4-3 with 5:08 left, after Stastny’s second goal gave the Avs a 4-1 lead with 12:39 left. Phoenix pressed harder for the equalizer, pulling goalie Curtis Joseph in the final minute, but Budaj stood tough.
“We haven’t played too well the last few games, so it felt good to play better as a team,” said Stastny, whose game-winner came after he grabbed a loose puck in front of Joseph and beat him with a backhander. “They were playing well as a team coming in, so it’s a good win. They’re a tough team.”
Arnason, who had no points in his previous three games, might have been the Avs’ best player. He made a gifted pass to Andrew Brunette for a goal that made it 3-1 with 41 seconds left in the second, deking a couple of Phoenix defenders before finding Brunette alone on the right side. He had the three points in only 12:43 of ice time, finishing plus-2. He was switched from center to left wing by coach Joel Quenneville prior to the game.
“It’s nice, because you can chase the puck a lot more,” Arnason said. “I don’t mind it. You get to establish a point man and save a little energy for offense. Either way is good.”
Milan Hejduk was another Avs standout. He had a game-high seven shots on net, scoring his 15th goal of the season when he tapped in Joe Sakic’s crossing pass to make it 2-1 at 10:15 of the second. Brunette started the sequence with a nice cross to Sakic down the left wing.
The Avs’ much-maligned penalty-killing unit also was a plus, going 6-for-6 against the Coyotes’ power play.
“I think that was a big key, the PK,” Hejduk said. “We maybe sat back a little at the end, and it almost cost us. But we played pretty well other than that I think.”
Budaj, who will start for the Western Conference in the YoungStars game on Wednesday in Dallas, was helped along by some iron struck by Coyotes players – one on the crossbar by Yanic Perreault and one on the post by Ed Jovanovski in the third period.
“I was fortunate there, yes,” Budaj said.
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
