Avs Storm Out To Early Lead For Win That Snaps Canucks Home Unbeaten Streak
(from the Canadian Press)
By Jim Morris
Canadian Press
November 11, 2005 - VANCOUVER - Ian Laperriere knew a four-goal lead wasn't going to be enough against the Vancouver Canucks.
Laperriere, and the rest of the Colorado Avalanche, heaved a sigh of relief when Karlis Skrastins scored a shorthanded goal midway through the third period to give the Avs a 5-3 win Thursday night that snapped Vancouver's seven-game home unbeaten streak. Colorado stormed out to the early lead then had to weather a string of third-period penalties. "It's going to be like that all year," said Laperriere, who had a goal and assist for the Avs, who beat Vancouver for the third consecutive time this season.
"It won't be easy. Teams are taking leads and the other team comes back. With the new rules they call everything. You get a couple of power-plays against you and it turns around pretty quick. It makes it exciting for everyone."
Laperriere smiled and shrugged when asked if the game was maybe too exciting for Colorado. The Avs took four consecutive penalties in the third period and played two men short for 41 seconds.
"We got ahead and maybe we got too confident," he said. "We took those penalties because we stopped working."
Vancouver finished the night one-for-seven on the power play while Colorado was 0-6.
Antti Laaksonen also had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who improved their record to 9-4-2 and move to within two points of Vancouver for the lead in the Northwest Division.
Also scoring for the Avs was Joe Sakic and Marek Svatos.
Todd Bertuzzi, on a pretty tic-tac-toe play, defenceman Ed Jovanovski, with his fourth power-play goal of the season, and Richard Park, late in the third, scored for Vancouver.
Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison had two assists each for the Canucks, who have lost three in a row and five of their last seven games. Vancouver's record drops to 10-6-2.
"We lost it in the first period, plain and simple," said Bertuzzi who scored his second goal in as many games.
"No one in the room was ready to play which is not good when you're playing a team like that. They came out and outworked us in the first and that just can't happen.
"We were just coming off two losses (to Calgary). We've got to be a little bit more desperate than that. It's everyone in the room. Not a couple of guys to blame, it's everyone."
A sellout crowd of 18,630 booed the Canucks off the ice after the first period after being outshot 18-5. Vancouver didn't get a shot on goal until the game was over seven minutes old.
Some strong play by Bertuzzi in the second period resulted in a reversal of fortune for Vancouver. The Canucks climbed back into the game with a pair of goals and outshot the Avs 14-3.
"It was like almost three different games," said Colorado goaltender David Aebischer, who stopped 25 shots for his career-best seventh consecutive win.
"In the first 20 minutes we dominated them. In the second it was the other way around. In the third period we had a couple too many penalties which gave them some more chances."
There was an eerie similarity between the game and the ugly March 8, 2004, match where Bertuzzi attacked then Colorado forward Steve Moore from behind. That resulted in the Harvard grad suffering two broken bones in his neck and leaving his hockey career in question.
The Avs led 5-0 after the first period in that game.
As has happened in the four previous games between the two teams this year, none of the Avs made any attempt to take any revenge on Bertuzzi.
While none of the Canucks had a good first period it was a horrible 20 minutes for Jovanovski, Vancouver's all-star defenceman. His giveaway led to Laperriere's's opening goal just 46 seconds into the game.
Just over five minutes later Jovanovski coughed up the puck at the Canuck blue line, then fell down. That led to a two-on-nothing breakaway where Steve Konowalchuk feathered a pass that Svatos put into the net.
"The first period it wasn't the way we wanted to start," said Jovanovski.
"It was really stressful."
NOTES-Canuck goaltender Dan Cloutier, who missed five games with a concussion, dressed as the backup. ...Defenceman Steve McCarthy sat out the game with a sore groin. He was replaced by Sven Butenschon, called up from the AHL Manitoba Moose. ...Coming into the game Trevor Linden had one goal in 16 games.