There is no shame in losing to a top-flight goaltender, and certainly no shame for the Avalanche that it took until Nov. 3 to lose its first home game of the season.
But to the players in the Avalanche dressing room following Saturday night’s 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, it was a shame they made it too easy for the visitors to get two points.
On a night the Avs had a lopsided territorial advantage and the better scoring chances, they still lost because Roberto Luongo was better in net than Colorado’s Peter Budaj, and because Budaj’s defense got too soft at key times.
“We had a couple of pucks right on our sticks tonight around the net, and instead it ended up in our net,” Avs coach Joel Quenneville said. “You get the puck in that area, you’ve got to be strong and protect it.”
Nowhere was that better exemplified than on the game’s biggest goal. Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler scored early in the third period to make it 3-1. Budaj was flat on his stomach when Kesler jumped into a pileup at the crease to poke in a loose puck, several seconds after the Avs’ defense failed to locate the puck or clear anybody out. Rookie Kyle Cumiskey was the most culpable. He failed to move anybody out of danger, after being beaten behind the net and chasing the puck.
The goal withstood a video review as Budaj wondered if the whistle blew before the puck went in.
“I had the puck in front of me, and I couldn’t really cover it because there was lots of jamming and lots of sticks,” said Budaj, who stopped 18-of-22 shots, while Luongo faced 32 shots.
The Avs’ defensemen also took too many penalties, including a Kurt Sauer delay-of-game infraction that led to a Brendan Morrison power-play goal at 15:54 of the second, breaking a 1-1 tie. Sauer inadvertently flipped the puck into the stands, and he also was called for hooking earlier in the period.
“You try to flip it over across ice, and all of a sudden it just gets carried away and just kept going,” Sauer said.
Offensively, the Avs threatened Luongo fairly regularly. But they only got goals from Jeff Finger and two from Marek Svatos, including one with 10 seconds left on the power play.
Another penalty, a hooking call to Cumiskey with 7:57 left, stalled hopes for the equalizer. Then, Scott Hannan compounded the problem when he was sent to the box for holding with 6:46 left, giving the Canucks a 5-on-3 advantage that was promptly cashed in by Daniel Sedin (two goals, one assist).
“We took too many penalties tonight,” Quenneville said. “I don’t think, as a team, we were at our best.”
The Avs didn’t get much from the top line, led by Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth, who combined for three shots and one assist.
“We had our fair share of opportunities with the power play. It hasn’t been clicking,” Smyth said. “You can’t play catch-up hockey all the time. You won’t win many hockey games that way. They capitalized a lot on their power plays and we didn’t. Luongo made the right saves at the right times, and that’s why he’s an elite goalie.”
Avs Recap
Three stars
1. Daniel Sedin. Canucks forward had two goals and an assist.
2. Roberto Luongo. Canucks goalie made the big saves when his team needed them.
3. Marek Svatos. Scored two of Colorado’s three goals.
What you might have missed
It was the 100th game of Peter Budaj’s career.
Streaking on
Joe Sakic extended his point streak to seven games, but Wojtek Wolski saw his eight-game streak end.
Up next
Calgary, 7 p.m. Monday at the Pepsi Center
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
