Vancouver, British Columbia – They entered the game with knowledge of the Calgary Flames’ third straight one-goal victory, dispiriting news for a team in a late-season, desperation quest to catch Calgary in the standings.
They entered the 18th minute of Sunday’s game with the Vancouver Canucks down by two goals, with the task of coming back against the possible Hart Trophy winner this season, goalie Roberto Luongo.
But the Avs just refuse to go gently into the night. The Avalanche notched a tremendous, gut-check 5-4 shootout victory over the Canucks at General Motors Place – a win that got Colorado back to within five points of the Flames with seven games left in the season.
“Nobody in this room is going to pack it in,” Avs winger Ian Laperriere said. “Everybody knew what this game meant for us. We didn’t quit, and we’re not going to quit.”
The win made heroes out of Brett McLean – who scored two regulation goals and the only goal of the shootout – and goalie Jose Theodore, who relieved starter Peter Budaj and stopped all three Canucks shots in the shootout.
“I’ve done a lot of practicing for (shootouts) lately. I felt like my timing was good tonight,” said Theodore, who faced only seven shots after relieving Budaj in the first period.
Avs coach Joel Quenneville, who said he didn’t know who would start Tuesday’s rematch with Vancouver at the Pepsi Center, praised Theodore for his work after he hadn’t played since Feb. 25.
“I liked his positioning (in the shootout),” Quenneville said. “Tonight, we were very resilient as a team. We stuck with it. I thought (McLean) had a great night, and Joe (Sakic) had a wonderful game, too. We stayed patient and got rewarded.”
McLean beat Luongo high to the glove side on the Avalanche’s first shootout attempt, after Theodore stopped Vancouver veteran Trevor Linden.
“I was just lucky to get it by him,” McLean said. “(Theodore) was great for us. What a teammate he’s been, working hard in practice. He got us that extra point.”
Theodore came in after Jeff Cowan’s short-side shot beat Budaj through the 5-hole.
That was a soft goal, but Budaj wasn’t given any favors by his teammates on the first two Canucks goals. Vancouver’s first, at 9:19 by Taylor Pyatt, was actually tipped in off the stick of Milan Hejduk. The second, by Daniel Sedin at 16:32, was accidentally knocked in by Brad Richardson on a penalty kill.
The Avs had to play catch-up from there, and they performed admirably. McLean scored twice for Colorado to get the Avs to within 3-2 and 4-3, his second goal coming on a breakaway after Ken Klee’s nice lead pass.
Sakic scored his second goal of the night to tie it 4-4 midway through the third, a rifle of a shot that beat Luongo to the far post on the power play. The goal was his 34th of the season, the most he has had since scoring 54 in 2000-01.
Rookie Ben Guite drew the penalty that led to Sakic’s tying goal, and he drew another one minutes later to put the Avs on another power play, but Luongo held them off.
The Avs were tremendous defensively after allowing 13 shots and the three goals in the first period. For the next 40 minutes, they allowed the astonishingly low total of four shots on net.
“We just have to keep going,” Laperriere said. “We have another huge game Tuesday, and this one will be put behind us.”
COUNTDOWN’S ON: Alive at five behind
The Avalanche’s 5-4 shootout win over the Canucks on Sunday night left it five points behind Calgary with only seven games left, two against the Flames:
Tuesday Vancouver
Thurs. at Phoenix
Saturday Minnesota
April 3 at Calgary
April 5 at Vancouver
April 7 Nashville
April 8 Calgary
Staff writer Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
