Calgary, Alberta – The score was 2-1 in favor of the Avalanche, and 2-on-1 was the situation in the second period Saturday night when Mark Rycroft took a long lead pass out of the penalty box.
A few seconds later, the score was tied with the Calgary Flames after Rycroft’s slap shot banked off the back boards and led to Jarome Iginla’s odd-man rush goal the other way.
That was how fast the momentum changed for good for the Flames in their 5-2 victory at the Pengrowth Saddledome, preventing the Avs from sweeping an important two-game series here.
“Unacceptable,” Rycroft said. “The only play I can’t make there is the one I did. There’s certain things in hockey you can’t do, and that’s one of them. I can’t miss to (the far post) there and have it come back like that.
“Until I missed there, things were running smooth.”
Not long after Iginla’s slap- shot goal, the Flames had the lead on Dion Phaneuf’s short-side shot against Avs goalie Peter Budaj and the tough Calgary defense – helped by too many Colorado penalties – did the job from there.
“I thought we were playing the perfect game there to that point (up 2-1),” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said. “But they got the momentum on the penalties.”
About Rycroft’s far-post miss, Quenneville said, “Yeah, you can’t go long side like that, on that play.”
The Avs also lost rookie Wojtek Wolski to an injury late in the game, after a collision with Calgary’s Craig Conroy. His status for tonight’s game is questionable.
The Avs had been controlling Saturday’s game until the Rycroft-Iginla sequence, taking a 2-1 lead on second-period goals by Paul Stastny and Andrew Brunette.
The Avs had a 17-9 edge in shots to that point, despite a first period in which Calgary was given a five-minute power play after Ossi Vaananen was given a major for boarding David Moss headfirst near the Avs’ bench.
But penalties to Rycroft and Stastny put the Avs on their heels, and Iginla’s blast from the left circle past Budaj came with Stastny in the box for tripping. Penalties were a problem all night for Colorado.
“I thought we were doing the right things for the first half of the game there,” Brunette said. “But the penalties hurt. We had a chance to get another two points, but didn’t do it.”
Brunette’s goal, his 21st, was a nice tip of Joe Sakic’s shot from the corner. It was one of 14 Colorado shots in the second, after a first period in which the Avs managed only four on Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.
Budaj seemed a bit off for the second straight game, having particular trouble with Iginla on unscreened shots from the slot.
He did make one great save, a stop of Kristian Huselius on a second-period breakaway.
The Flames took a 4-2 lead on a goal by Huselius, however, when he beat Budaj with a nice shot, assisted by Iginla. The Avs felt Huselius was helped along by a hand pass from Phaneuf, which they felt should have been whistled.
“(Referees) are human, too. They make mistakes. It was an obvious hand pass,” Avs veteran Ian Laperriere said.
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
SPOTLIGHT ON SAMI SALO
The Canucks defenseman is cited by many NHL players as having the hardest slap shot in the league. Salo has 10 goals and 28 points for the Canucks, and has made it a little easier for Vancouver fans to get over the loss of Ed Jovanovski.
NOTEBOOK
CANUCKS HOT: Since the all-star break, the Canucks have been outstanding, particularly goalie Roberto Luongo. He led Vancouver to another low-scoring win (2-1) Friday night over Chicago. This will be the second of four meetings between the Avs and Canucks at G.M. Place this season. Luongo has played in 55 of Vancouver’s 61 games.
FINGER RECALLED: The Avalanche on Saturday recalled defenseman Jeff Finger from Albany of the American Hockey League. Finger, 27, had three goals and 12 points in 42 games for the River Rats.
COLORADO AT VANCOUVER 8 p.m. tonight, Altitude, KKFN 950 AM
