Laperriere's Goal, Assist, Fight Help Avs Drop Oilers
(from the Rocky Mountain News)
By Rick Sadowski
Rocky Mountain News
October 24, 2008 - Ian Laperriere seemed a lot happier about exiting the Pepsi Center ice Thursday night with another win than he was over collecting what is known as a Gordie Howe hat trick - a goal, an assist and a fight.
"Right now, I'm just happy we got a win," the Avalanche forward said after his team's fourth victory in a row, a 4-1 decision against the Edmonton Oilers. "We need those big points. We learned from the past that those points are huge at the end of the year, and right now, we're finding ways to win."
On an evening when the big guns were relatively silent, the Avalanche found a way to move above the .500 mark for the first time this season after beginning with three consecutive losses.
Paul Stastny and Joe Sakic scored goals, but role players Laperriere, Cody McLeod and Ben Guite combined for two goals and three assists to support the 25-save effort of goalie Peter Budaj.
"It's huge," McLeod said. "When Joe and Paul and their lines are getting checked really tight, it gives us a chance to get out there and make things happen."
Laperriere scored the tying goal at 12:38 of the second period when he converted Guite's deflected shot, and he picked up an assist at 18:56 on the goal by McLeod, who held off Oilers defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky as he skated down the right wing before nudging the puck past goalie Mathieu Garon.
But Laperriere wasn't pleased with Oilers coach Craig MacTavish, whom he accused of putting tough guys Jason Strudwick and Zack Stortini on the ice in the third period to wreak havoc.
Strudwick fought with Cody McCormick and was assessed an extra five minutes for roughing before Laperriere traded punches with Stortini.
"It's 4-1 and he keeps sending those guys out there," Laperriere said. "He wants to be like that... It's kind of funny. I've never really fought some of those tough guys like that at the end of the game like that."
Laperriere and Stortini were handed 10-minute misconducts, along with the fighting majors, with 7:11 remaining in the game.
"We were chirping on the bench there," Laperriere said. "I don't think the referee wanted the game to get out of hand. (Stortini) is (228) pounds, and he comes after a guy like me, 195 pounds. He keeps punching when guys are down. I have a really hard time with that."
Asked the significance of the Howe hat trick, Laperriere shrugged.
"I don't know. I don't count those," he said. "I have one (three-goal hat trick), so you can't take that away from me."
Stastny and McLeod scored goals 64 seconds apart late in the second period to give the Avalanche a 3-1 lead, and Sakic increased the advantage at 3:32 of the third period in a game that took the Avalanche a while to get its skating legs going.
Stastny, who has at least one point in all seven games, knocked Marek Svatos' deflected shot by Garon at 17:52 for a power-play goal and McLeod followed with his third goal, one short of his total as a rookie a year ago.
"I was lucky it went in the net," McLeod said. " 'Lappy' made a great play, a great pass, and I just took it to the net and kind of squeaked it in there."
It was quite a turnaround for the Avalanche, whose high-powered offense was held in check until Laperriere tied the score with his first goal in 35 games, since Feb. 4 against Phoenix last season.
"We had a lot of different goal scorers, which is always nice," coach Tony Granato said. "The game was a little sloppy for the first half of it, and simple plays are the ones that produced goals for us, just by throwing it at the net and driving to the net."
The Oilers started the scoring with a power-play goal from Shawn Horcoff at 3:40 of the second period after Budaj made a save on defenseman Sheldon Souray's point shot. Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote cleared the rebound right to Horcoff, who fired it back into the net.
ETC.: Laperriere has more goals (12) and points (26) against the Oilers than any other team in his career. His Gordie Howe hat trick was the first for an Avalanche player since Matthew Barnaby's on March 14, 2004, against Phoenix. . . . Avalanche forward David Jones didn't play because of the flu. . . . Guite, who had two assists, was a healthy scratch for the three previous games. "The team was on a winning streak, so you can't make any changes," Guite said. "Guys were playing well. We had someone who fell ill, so I got my chance."