Put this one in the already thick file of “Curse of the Ex-Avs.”
Three years ago in this town, Jose Theodore helped lead the Avalanche to a thrilling first- round playoff victory over the Minnesota Wild, and Andrew Brunette played a big role as well with some key goals.
Thursday night at the Pepsi Center, Theodore and Brunette led the Wild to a 4-3 victory over the Avs that dropped them down another notch in the Western Conference standings.
“I always loved playing here. It might have been my favorite time of my career, actually,” Theodore said after stopping 38-of-41 shots in goal for Minnesota. “I didn’t want to leave, but it’s a business and things move on.”
Brunette has turned into a certified Avs killer, joining a long list of ex-players. His two goals gave him 26 points in 42 career games against Colorado. His first goal came 61 seconds into the game, building a 2-0 Wild lead.
“We just weren’t ready to play,” Avs forward Kevin Porter said. “It cost us the game.”
The Avs have a home game Saturday, but getting out of Denver for four road games after that may be just what the Avalanche needs.
The Avs entered the game with the NHL’s second-best penalty-killing unit, at 87.3 percent. But it has been a totally different story at home.
Colorado was last in the league killing penalties on home ice, at 71.2 percent (34 goals allowed on 118 attempts). While the Wild did not get a power-play goal in this one, for all intents and purposes it did, and it was a big goal at that.
With Ryan O’Byrne having just stepped out of the penalty box, Brunette at that very second was credited with his second goal of the game.
Brunette stuffed home a loose puck past Avs goalie Craig Anderson to give Minnesota a 3-1 lead.
“I have no explanation for that,” Avs coach Joe Sacco said when asked why such a big disparity in home-road penalty killing. “You’re starting to build some momentum, and then you’ve got to kill a couple penalties.
“You’re chasing the game a little bit, and we had to expend some energy.”
The Wild seems to love it in Denver. The win gave Minnesota an 8-1-2 record in its last 11 games at the Pepsi Center.
Entering the game, Brunette ranked second among all active NHL players in shooting percentage, at 18 percent. The active leader is another former Av, Alex Tanguay, at 18.7. Brunette converted on 50 percent of his shots in this game.
“It was another outstanding game by (Theodore),” Brunette said. “Jose has been rock solid.”
Milan Hejduk scored two goals for the Avs. His first cut a 2-0 Wild lead in half, with Minnesota’s first two goals coming in the game’s first 1:01.
Right after Hejduk scored, though, O’Byrne was called for elbowing the Wild’s Antti Miettinen.
“It’s like when we get close in a game, they always score another goal,” Hejduk said. “It was pretty much a nightmare start. The second and third period we tried but came up short.”
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
Avs Recap
The Post’s three stars
1. Andrew Brunette.
Former Av scored two goals for the Wild.
2. Jose Theodore.
Former Avs goalie stopped 38-of-41 shots.
3. Milan Hejduk.
Scored twice for the Avs.
What you might have missed
It was Hejduk’s fourth multigoal game of the season.
Up next
Vs. Anaheim, Saturday at 1 p.m.
Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
