Detroit – The replay of the winning goal was judged inconclusive by the NHL “war room” in Toronto. Everything else about the Avalanche’s game Sunday with the Detroit Red Wings was absolute, beyond a shadow of a doubt conclusive: The Avs didn’t belong on the same ice with the Wings.
The Avs were blown out by Detroit 3-1 at Joe Louis Arena. Maybe not on the scoreboard, but in every other aspect of the contest, there was no contest between Colorado and Detroit. Only a 2002-era, vintage performance by Avs goalie Jose Theodore kept this game from being a true national embarrassment for his team. The Avs probably hope TV ratings weren’t much better than usual for hockey nationwide during the NBC telecast.
“We were terrible,” Avs captain Joe Sakic said. “That’s one of the worst games we’ve ever played.”
Detroit outshot the Avs 41-12. Colorado had period shot totals of four, three and five. Every Detroit player except goalie Dominik Hasek and 45-year-old defenseman Chris Chelios had at least one shot on Theodore, while 10 Avs got nothing on net.
“When you’re playing defense all 60 minutes, it’s tough to look good,” Avs coach Joel Quenne- ville said. “We didn’t play well at all. We didn’t generate any speed, and our support for the puck was (bad). It’s probably why we had to give it up all day. And the funny thing is, we were right in the hockey game at the end.”
The other funny thing was the lack of a judgment from the Toronto office of NHL vice president of hockey operations Mike Murphy on the game-winning goal, scored by Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom with 5:58 left in the third period. Murphy’s office is responsible for making the final call on goals when an arena’s video replay official isn’t sure on a play, or is so wrong they must be overruled.
Holmstrom was credited by referees Don Koharski and Mike Leggo for scoring a goal, but the Avs thought his stick was too high and asked for a review. After about five minutes, Koharski pointed to center ice to signal the goal counted – but only after NHL officials in Toronto said they weren’t sure on the play. That made the original call stand, and Quenneville blew a gasket on the bench.
“We all thought it was (too high),” Quenneville said afterward, considerably calmer. “Sometimes you get it, sometimes you don’t. We had that call last game against us (against Phoenix), and they made the right call. But today was a tough one.”
Holmstrom’s goal gave Detroit a 2-0 lead.
The Avalanche’s Paul Stastny scored on the power play with 5:23 left, but veteran Kirk Maltby’s tip of Chelios’ shot beat Theodore with 1:06 left.
Theodore, starting his first game since Dec. 27, was tremendous – especially with his glove hand. He allowed a few early rebounds, but after that was by far the Avs’ best player.
“The first period, I was kind of anxious to get it out of the way,” Theodore said. “After that, I settled into kind of a rhythm, but they played a real good game and we fell a little short.”
Avs veteran Ian Laperriere was one of the few forwards to show any kind of grit or overall competence, finishing with four shots on net.
“They must have played one of their best games and we played one of our worst game,” he said. “Jose was great for us, and we were one high stick away, I guess.”
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
