It was a great performance by the home team, but in front of the smallest crowd to see the Avalanche play in Denver.
At 15,128, the Avs had their lowest attendance in team history Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers, surpassing their previous low of 15,434 on Nov. 11 vs. Minnesota.
Hlinka shines. Jaroslav Hlinka had been benched four times since Nov. 5, and there even was speculation he might find his way in a Lake Erie Monsters uniform before long if his play didn’t improve.
The Avs’ 30-year-old rookie probably earned more time at the NHL level.
Hlinka played left wing on a second line with Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk and wasted just 4 minutes, 14 seconds in getting his name on the score sheet. Hlinka assisted on Hejduk’s opening goal, putting a slick wraparound-type shot on Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson that he couldn’t handle and made for an easy tap-in for Hejduk.
Scratches. Defenseman Karlis Skrastins was a healthy scratch for the second time this season for the Avs. Skrastins was a inus-3 in his previous three games and played only 13:38 on Saturday vs. Calgary.
Center Wyatt Smith was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. He still is looking for his first goal of the season. Scott Parker was the other Colorado scratch.
Footnotes. Joe Sakic’s 203rd power-play goal moved him ahead of Steve Yzerman for 13th place on the all-time NHL list. The goal broke an 0-for-25 drought for the Avs. Kurt Sauer’s assist gives him six points on the season, tying his career high set twice.
