Paul Stastny’s jump to the NHL was considerably less dramatic than his father’s. Peter Stastny defected from Czechoslovakia after a tire-screeching escape from the national team during a 1980 tournament in Austria and was playing for the Quebec Nordiques the next fall.
Paul simply, and without much intrigue, decided to leave the University of Denver after his sophomore year and sign with the Avalanche.
But as his father and his uncles, Anton and Marian Stastny, did before him wearing the Nordiques’ fleur-de-lis, Paul Stastny has burst onto the NHL scene as a rookie for the franchise that arrived in Denver from Quebec in 1995.
Stastny had two goals and an assist – all in the first period – Tuesday night in the Avs’ 4-3 victory over Calgary at the Pepsi Center and are eight points behind Calgary for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Stastny’s first goal, at 7:19 of the opening period, made him the third player, after Chris Drury and Marek Svatos, to get 20 goals as a rookie since the franchise arrived in Denver in 1995. Stastny’s 53 points for the season are an Avalanche rookie high as well, since he Tuesday passed Alex Tanguay – now of the Flames – who had 51 in 1999-2000. The Quebec-Colorado overall franchise record for a rookie is 109, set by – who else? – Peter Stastny.
After the game, Paul’s initial reaction in front of the media was to say he didn’t even know he had set the rookie record for the franchise.
“I’ll take that as long as we get the win,” he said. “Growing up next to my dad, I’ve always been humble. I’d rather be humble than cocky.”
Stastny also extended his scoring streak to nine games. He has seven goals and six assists during that run, the longest scoring streak for a Colorado rookie and the longest for a rookie in the history of the franchise since Stephane Morin’s nine-game streak in March 1991.
Stastny’s first goal against the Flames came after Andrew Brunette sneaked a pass to him from behind the goal line, and Stastny’s second came when he pulled the puck from behind the line himself during a scramble and got it past goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.
Milan Hejduk also scored for the Avs in the wild first period, but it was Marek Svatos’ goal at 1:24 of the third period that broke a 3-3 tie and held up for the victory. The Slovak winger isn’t completely back in Colorado coach Joel Quenneville’s good graces after a three-game stint as a healthy scratch last week, and he still only played 6:47 against the Flames. But he managed to burst in on Kiprusoff off a pass from John-Michael Liles and beat the Finnish goalie to the glove side for his 12th goal of the season.
“It’s been frustrating the last couple of weeks, and it’s nice to get the goal back,” Svatos said. “It’s (Joel Quenneville’s) decision about who he’s going to put on the ice, and I just have to be ready every time I jump on the ice.”
Tony Amonte, Dion Phaneuf and Kristian Huselius had the goals for the Flames against Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj, who finished with 33 saves, including some key ones when Calgary had a 5-on-3 advantage for 35 seconds for part of an early third-period power-play.
Staff writer Terry Frei can be reached at 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
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