Ten straight, and counting.
The Avalanche allowed a power-play goal for the 10th consecutive game Saturday, when Anaheim’s Scott Niedermayer beat Peter Budaj with a one-timer to tie the game 3-3 in the second period.
It’s the team’s longest single- season streak since Oct. 10-31, 1998.
The Avs entered the game 27th in the NHL in penalty-killing percentage (77 percent).
“Specialty teams are a huge factor in this league, and we’re not doing the job,” Avs defenseman Ruslan Salei said. “We can’t give up a PK goal every game. One goal can win or lose you the game, and we’ve been losing the games lately.”
Before the season, the Avs said shoring up their penalty kill would be a top priority. But so far, the numbers are worse than last season’s final PK percentage of 81.4, which was 21st in the league.
Niedermayer’s goal came as so many have — the Avs were late shifting over to a weakside pass, leaving Niedermayer a lot of net to shoot at.
On Niedermayer’s goal, the Colorado players on the ice in front of Budaj were Scott Hannan, Brett Clark, Ian Laperriere and Ben Guite.
Nothing personal.
Teemu Selanne’s one season with the Avalanche (2003-04) was the worst of his long career. A bad knee played a large factor, and the Avs were one of many teams that didn’t offer him a contract coming out of the lockout in 2005-06.
Since then, he has burned the Avs on many occasions, including Saturday’s game-winning goal for Anaheim. But the Finnish Flash said he harbors no grudge against Colorado.
“I just wasn’t healthy, and it didn’t work out,” he said. “I got healthy again after the lockout, and it’s made all the difference for me. If I don’t have the speed in my skating, I’ve got nothing.”
Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
