VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The old sports saw goes something like this: When your top guys are out, the lower-tier guys need to overachieve a little more to make up the difference. But right now the Avalanche is a team whose lower-tier guys are out, and the top-dollar guys aren’t doing anything to make that irrelevant.
While some of Colorado’s key role players remain sidelined with injuries, the Avs’ top forwards were quiet again Sunday night in a 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
The loss stung a little more, given the shutout went to former Avs goalie Andrew Raycroft, playing in place of injured all-star Roberto Luongo.
Colorado’s top line of Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk and Wojtek Wolski could not do much of anything against a Canucks team missing several top regulars. The Avs gave a performance the exact antithesis of what coach Joe Sacco wants every night; that is, a feisty, difficult-to-play-against team.
“We just weren’t sharp. We just didn’t seem to have the jump that we usually have,” Sacco said. “We were just out of sync tonight. It would have made for a nice end to the road trip, but the last two games were disappointing.”
The Avs went through 60 minutes of soft, perimeter offensive hockey and spent too much time in their own end again, finishing with 18 shots. It is the play of the top line that is perhaps most worrisome, as Stastny completed his 11th road game of the season without a goal, and Hejduk went his third straight game without a point. It all made for a ridiculously easy night for Raycroft, who played one season in Colorado.
“If we don’t produce, we’re not going to win many hockey games. That’s the bottom line,” Hejduk said. “We didn’t create much. We couldn’t sustain any pressure in their zone.”
While the big picture remains positive as the Avs finished an 11-of-15 stretch on the road with 10 wins, their last two games haven’t dispelled doubters who say they aren’t as good as their record.
“We’re a much better hockey team than we showed the last two games,” Hejduk said. “Bottom line, we need to be better in our next home games, and I think we will be.”
The Avs’ best offensive chance didn’t come until about midway through the third period, when Ryan O’Reilly had an open net but, with a rolling puck, hit the crossbar on a backhander.
The Avs allowed one goal in each period, the final one to Vancouver’s Tanner Glass after Avs defenseman Scott Hannan kicked in the rebound of his shot saved by Craig Anderson, who was making his 15th straight start.
“You can’t win if you don’t score,” Anderson said. “We weren’t sharp tonight, and I let out a couple rebounds. Got to work more on my rebound control.”
Said captain Adam Foote: “We’ve got to be better for Andy on rebounds. They scored two goals from point shots that we gave them second chances at. It just seemed like it took us more than half the game to get into it. We just weren’t there, we didn’t compete hard enough.”
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
