WASHINGTON — Patrick Roy had to take a lot as an NHL goaltender in the mayhem in front of the net, and he dished some back. And on Monday night, he was blunt in saying that he didn’t believe Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov deserved to be the only one penalized — he was called for roughing — in what turned out to be a crucial call in the Avalanche’s 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center.
After a scrum in front, Varlamov punched Washington winger Tom Wilson, drawing the penalty that preceded the Alex Ovechkin’s power-play goal that broke a 1-1 tie at 17:46 of the second period and stood up to give the Capitals the win.
Roy’s point was that if Varlamov was called for roughing, Wilson should have drawn a matching minor, leaving the teams at equal strength.
“That was a (expletive) call,” Roy said later. “If you’re asking me, it was a (expletive) call. The guy gives two whacks to him, and Varly responded. Take both guys out.” Then he repeated the colorful term for the call several more times in various ways.
Did Roy express his opinion to referees Steve Kozari and Frederick L’Ecuyer? And if he did, how did they respond?
“If I express myself, I’m going to have two more penalties, and that’s the way it works in this league,” Roy said after the Avalanche winning streak ended at three.
Varlamov had 36 saves in his return to Washington, where he began his career. Again, he kept the Avalanche — outshot 32-14 through two periods before mounting pressure and getting 18 shots in the third — in the game longer than it probably deserved. The Avalanche beat Washington goalie Brandon Holtby only for Alex Tanguay’s second-period power-play goal as Colorado’s young core forwards again were unproductive.
“I think it was a penalty because I punched a guy in the face, you know?” Varlamov said. “But still before I punched him in the face, he pushed me a couple of times. He hit my right hand, that’s why I punched him in the face. But that’s the refs’ decision, so he had to give me that penalty and I have to respect that.”
Maybe that’s making too much of the one call and ensuing power play. But it did lead to the decisive goal, scored by Varlamov’s friend, countryman, former Washington teammates and fellow member of the 2014 Russian Olympic team as the Capitals worked the puck around with the man advantage. The goal was Ovechkin’s 22nd of the season.
“Ovie was in a good position, and we all know he has a great shot,” said Varlamov. “It was a perfect shot, right between my legs.”
Washington had a 1-0 lead after winger Jay Beagle got to a rebound and scored for the Capitals at 7:34 of the first period. The Avalanche pulled even at 10:58 of the second period on a power play, with Iginla taking a nifty blind backhand pass from Tyson Barrie and then feeding Tanguay breaking down the slot. Holtby made the initial save, but the rebound went right to Tanguay, who knocked it in for his team-high 13th goal.
Matt Duchene (three) and Nathan MacKinnon (four) combined for seven of the Avalanche’s shots. “Both goalies played really well tonight,” Duchene said. “We generated some good chances, and I thought we did some good things. Our second period (stunk), but our first and third were pretty good.”
Said Roy: “We had to respond. Obviously, we were not happy about the second period and we had to have a better turn. I thought our effort was there in the third. We just couldn’t find a way to score that big goal to tie the game, but we had a lot of good chances and their goalie made some good saves.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
COLORADO AT CAROLINA
5 p.m. Tuesday, ALT; 950 AM
Spotlight on Justin Faulk: Like Colorado with Erik Johnson, Carolina’s All-Star Game choice was a Minnesota-born defenseman who will be playing in the game for the first time. Faulk, 22, from South St. Paul, is second on the team in points (24) and leads the Hurricanes in assists (17). His two short-handed goals lead the league for defensemen.
Terry Frei, The Denver Post
