Denver – Ladislav Nagy scored the only goal in the shootout, lifting the Phoenix Coyotes to a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.
Curtis Joseph finished with 23 saves and then stopped Wojtek Wolski, Milan Hejduk and Joe Sakic in the shootout as the Coyotes broke a seven-game losing streak to the Avalanche. Phoenix got its first win in Colorado since Oct. 30, 2000, and improved to 5-1 in shootouts this season.
Yanic Perreault scored twice 1:17 apart in the third period to tie the score at 4. Both goals came on Avalanche turnovers in Colorado’s zone and increased Perreault’s season total to 17.
Antti Laaksonen and Jordan Leopold scored short-handed goals for Colorado. The Coyotes have now given up 10 short-handed goals, tied for the most in the NHL.
Peter Budaj, starting his 12th straight game, stopped 25 shots.
Colorado scored three goals in the second period to take a 4-2 lead. Laaksonen scored short-handed after stealing the puck, Brett McLean was credited with a goal after it went off the leg of Phoenix defenseman Ed Jovanovski and Sakic added his 21st of the season.
Sakic, coming off a four-assist performance at the All-Star Game on Wednesday night, now has 595 career goals. He’s six goals away from tying Jari Kurri for 16th place on the all-time list.
Former Avalanche Steven Reinprecht scored his second goal of the season with 45 seconds left in the first period. He poked in a shot after Colorado defenseman Ossi Vaananen turned the puck over in front of the goal and then ran over Budaj trying to retrieve it.
Phoenix’s Owen Nolan scored his 12th goal of the season at 10:17 of the second period.
Colorado defenseman Jordan Leopold didn’t take long to reintroduce himself to the team. He was activated before the game from injured reserve and scored a short-handed goal 5:20 into the first period. The goal – a slapshot from the blue line that hit off Jovanovski – was Leopold’s first since March 26, 2006, against Dallas.
Leopold hadn’t played since suffering a groin injury Dec. 11 against Carolina. He also missed 25 games to start the season after hernia surgery.
“It’s been a rough year for myself,” said the 26-year-old who was acquired from Calgary last summer.
Although Peter Forsberg and the Avalanche denied a report Friday the Swedish star has been given permission to speak to Colorado about a possible return, it remained a hot topic in the Avalanche locker room.
“I won’t lie to you, we talk about it,” said Ian Laperriere, who had two assists Friday night. “It’s great gossip. Who’d go after Forsberg? You try to play GM.” Laperriere wouldn’t mind seeing him wear No. 21 again with Colorado.
“Everybody loved him and still loves him,” he said. “You don’t forget a guy like that. Every team can add a guy like Peter.” The league’s trade deadline is Feb. 27.
Notes: Phoenix gave coach Wayne Gretzky a nice birthday present as he turned 46 on Friday. … Colorado recalled Ben Guite from its American Hockey League affiliate Albany and placed defenseman Patrice Brisebois on the injured reserve – retroactive to Dec. 27 – due to a back injury. … The Avalanche had killed 13 consecutive power-play opportunities before Perreault’s third-period goal.
