CALGARY, Alberta — Avs coach Joe Sacco again shortened his bench in the third period Wed- nesday night in a 3-2 win over the Flames, but this time one of the reasons was the ankle injury suffered by winger T.J. Galiardi during the second period.
Galiardi didn’t return to the bench in the third, and — as has been the recent pattern — Sacco again didn’t use winger- enforcer David Koci at all in the final 20 minutes. The irony was that Koci received credit for his first goal for Colorado in the first period, when Brett Clark’s shot from the top of the slot caromed off his pads and past Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff.
“He’s doing a great job in his role,” Sacco said. “He understands his role, and he’s committed to the team. It’s good to see a guy like ‘Koc’ get a goal.”
When he played, Koci was on a line with Brian Willsie and Chris Durno.
“We worked hard with the ‘D’ and just tried to get the puck on the net, and good things can happen,” said the Czech winger. He added of his third-period inactivity, “I don’t mind.”
With Koci dressing, center T.J. Hensick was a healthy scratch for the 11th time in 13 games this season.
Sacco said Galiardi’s injury didn’t seem serious.
Budaj update.
Peter Budaj, the backup goaltender who became ill last week and was diagnosed with swine flu, the H1N1 virus, is expected to rejoin the team today in San Jose. Edmonton’s Ladislav Smid and Washington’s Quinton Laing are the other NHL players confirmed to have had H1N1. The catches are that many other players, including several Oilers, have had more common varieties of seasonal flu or have had flulike symptoms, and not all tests for H1N1 have come back.
Terry Frei, The Denver Post
