On Monday morning, Paul Stastny and Mike Babcock got on a plane together bound for Denver, both with first-class seats purchased by their respective countries’ Olympic hockey program. While Stastny spent most of his time asleep, Babcock entertained a frequent procession of guests wanting pictures with him and his gold medal.
Monday night, Stastny watched Babcock leave the Pepsi Center not only with the better piece of alloy, but an important two points in the Western Conference playoff chase.
In the resumption of the NHL schedule, Babcock’s Detroit Red Wings beat the Avalanche 3-2 before a sellout crowd, helped along by thousands of Wings jerseys that made it seem like a road game at times for the host Avs.
Bad play in the early and late portions of the game did in the Avs, nullifying a strong and exciting second period. Future Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom’s power-play goal with 9:03 remaining snapped a 2-2 tie, 58 seconds after former Wing Kyle Quincey was called for tripping.
“We were right there, 2-2 with 10 minutes to go in the third, and we take a bad penalty,” Avs coach Joe Sacco said. “Their power play was very good tonight (2-for-4), and that was the difference in the game.”
After the two-week Olympic layoff, the Avs, losers of two in a row and only seven points ahead of the ninth-place team in the conference, looked tentative and out of sync for much of the first period. Colorado’s second line of Wojtek Wolski, Matt Duchene and Marek Svatos struggled in particular, combining for zero points and just one shot on net.
“I think for sure it (was) the layoff,” Duchene said. “They had a starting five that had all played in the Olympics. We had a couple guys that did, and I think it takes a little while to get back into it. I know personally, the first period I just wanted to get the legs back under me and get used to the pace of the game again, because you lose it.”
The Red Wings played a tremendous first period, gaining a 2-0 lead. Avs nemesis Tomas Holmstrom scored an easy goal at 6:06, converting Pavel Datsyuk’s crossing pass by the left side of the net. And at the 12:40 mark, Johan Franzen scored.
It was a bad start to the second period by the Avs too. But two good penalty kills early gave the Avs some momentum, and by the end of the period, it was a tied game.
T.J. Galiardi made it 2-1 with his 10th goal, jamming home a loose puck in the crease of Wings goalie Jimmy Howard. About three minutes later, Chris Stewart tied it with his 20th goal, blasting a slap shot through the pads of Howard from the short side.
There were opportunities to take the lead — Brandon Yip had a breakaway but slipped and fell right as he was about to shoot — and when the Avs didn’t capitalize, the veteran Wings seemed to regroup and take charge again.
Now, the Avs have to do the same.
“We need to get our game on track and make sure we’re ready to play Wednesday night,” Sacco said of a home game at Anaheim.
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360, adater@denverpost.com or
Big Red machine
Detroit’s victory over Colorado on Monday night was just another notch on its large belt of success over the years:
• Detroit has the most wins (667) of any NHL team since 1996-97.
• The Red Wings have won eight consecutive Central Division titles and 12 of the last 15.
• In 2008-09, Detroit set an NHL record with its ninth consecutive 100-point season.
Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
Avs Recap
The Post’s three stars
1. Nicklas Lidstrom.
Wings defenseman scored the game-winner and had an assist.
2. T.J. Galiardi.
Avs rookie was the best of the team’s forwards, scoring one goal.
3. Tomas Holmstrom.
Scored Detroit’s first goal and had two assists.
What you might have missed
Colorado had been 8-0 on Mondays before this game.
Up next
At Anaheim, Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
