NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Avalanche winger Ian Laperriere wasn’t sheepish about going after Nashville’s aggravating Jordin Tootoo on Thursday, drawing cross-checking and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties at 11:52 of the first period in the Predators’ 3-2 victory over Colorado.
“I felt like I had to, and he would have done the same thing,” Laperriere said.
Unfortunately for the Avalanche, Nashville standout defenseman Shane Weber beat Peter Budaj from the point during the first of Laperriere’s two minors, and it proved to be important in a game that featured a wide-open, five-goal first period — then a virtual test pattern on the entertainment scale most of the rest of the way.
The Avalanche’s first-period scores came from Ryan Smyth, when Ruslan Salei’s drive from the top of the slot caromed off Smyth’s shin pad on a power-play at 9:03, and from Wojtek Wolski with the Avs skating shorthanded at 16:22.
Laperriere confronted Tootoo after Tootoo’s hit on Avalanche forward Brian Willsie on Willsie’s second shift of the game left him unavailable the rest of the night. Tootoo later drove Colorado defenseman Daniel Tjarnqvist into the boards from behind. After cross-checking Tootoo, Laperriere shed his gloves and grabbed Tootoo, but the Predators winger didn’t respond to that challenge.
“It was one of those where he felt it wasn’t the time to fight,” Laperriere said. “He hurt one of our players with a knee-on-knee check early in the first and then he tried to take Daniel out with a hit. I felt it was the right time to do it. Unfortunately, they scored on one of my penalties, but we came back.”
The Avalanche had no word on the extent of Willsie’s injury after the game, but he was walking gingerly with a brace over his pants. The veteran winger-by-trade had been playing center of late after his recall from Lake Erie and the injuries to Ben Guite and Joe Sakic.
“The ref didn’t call a penalty,” Avalanche coach Tony Granato said of the Tootoo hit on Willsie. “He was going straight at (Willsie) and I couldn’t tell if he stuck his knee out. I know ‘Wills’ tried to cut one way and he was on a path to hit him, so whether or not he stuck out his knee or not, you’d have to look at a replay. It happened quick, there was no penalty called on it, but anytime you go knee-on-knee it’s going to be a dangerous hit.”
Granato said he had no problem with Laperriere standing up for teammates, adding, “I was a little disappointed in the second call. The first one, obviously, was a penalty, but here’s a guy on the other team whose reputation is one that he’ll do anything he can on the other side to run big players and skill players. To not stand up for himself is a little bit disappointing, so I’m surprised the referee called the second one.”
Weber’s goal made it 2-1, and then Wolski’s eighth of the season tied it. But Nashville took the lead when David Legwand beat Budaj to the short side with 0.3 seconds left in the first period, and that was all the scoring.
“It was a back-door one,” said Budaj, who faced 24 shots. “It was disappointing. I think we could have easily won this game. No offense to Nashville, but we played a solid 40 minutes, but you have to play a full 60.”
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
