Last Game: Colorado Avalanche 4, Minnesota Wild 3
DENVER -- Joe Sakic scored the go-ahead goal on the power play with 1:47 left as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Minnesota Wild, 4-3, and clinched another division title.
"We were obviously very flat, especially in the first period," said Sakic. "I guess after you play the Detroit Red Wings and you come right back the next day it was tough for us. Bottom line, we found a way to win the hockey game and we can worry about the next game now."
Sakic took a feed from Milan Hejduk in the left faceoff circle and beat goaltender Jamie McLennan with a one-timer for his 43rd goal of the season and league-leading 10th game-winner.
The Avalanche trailed, 3-1, before Martin Skoula scored late in the second period and Hejduk got his second of the game 5:08 into the third.
Said Peter Forsberg: "We started the game and they got a couple of quick ones. They played well defensively and it's hard to score goals against them. We had to keep working and finally we got a couple."
Forsberg assisted on the first three goals for Colorado, which had trouble breaking through the Wild's trap but went 3-for-6 with the NHL's best power play.
"With all the players they have on their power play unit, you have to stay out of the box," said Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire. "If we would have stayed out of the box it would have been different. I think we played well because the guys are scared to get bombed against good teams, and this was our best game against them (Colorado)."
The Avalanche used the man advantage to clinch their seventh straight division title. They won one in the Northeast Division and three in the Pacific before moving to the Northwest in 1998-99.
"We know that with that team, if they score the first goal, they're going to sit back and play pretty good defense," summed up Avalanche goaltender David Aebischer, who finished with 25 saves on the afternoon. "You don't want to give up the first goal, but it happened. It's a 60-minute game and goals can happen whenever."
Game Notes:
The Avalanche moved to 8-0-0-0 on the season versus the 2000-01 expansion teams, Columbus and Minnesota, outscoring them 32-10. The Avs will face the Wild once more in St. Paul on April 8. Three power play goals marks a season best in a game for Colorado. With his 40th goal of the season, Milan Hejduk becomes the eighth player in franchise history to reach the 40 goal plateau, joining Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin, Owen Nolan, Peter Stastny, Michel Goulet, Jacques Richard, and Real Cloutier. Milan Hejduk leads the team with nine multiple goal games and extends his point streak to four games (3g/3a). Joe Sakic reached the 100 point barrier for the fifth time in his career, extending his point streak to six games (6g/3a) and his goal streak to three games. Currently leads the NHL with ten game winning goals. Martin Skoula tallied a career-best three points in a game. Peter Forsberg notched three assists in a game for the fourth time this season. David Aebischer recorded his third consecutive win and fifth in his last seven starts in front of over 40 members of the David Aebischer Fan Club, who attended the games yesterday and today all the way from Switzerland.
Box score: 1st 2nd 3rd OT F Minnesota 1 2 0 3 Colorado 0 2 2 4
First Period: Scoring: 1, Minnesota, Gaborik 18 (Kuba, Sekeras), 9:47. Penalties: Dowd, Min (fighting major), 2:50; Hinote, Col (fighting major), 2:50.
Second Period: Scoring: 2, Minnesota, Sekeras 10 (Dowd, Krivokrasov), 2:13. 3, Colorado, Hejduk 39 (power play) (Sakic, Forsberg), 4:28. 4, Minnesota, Hendrickson 14 (Roest, Stewart), 7:16. 5, Colorado, Skoula 7 (power play) (Tanguay, Forsberg), 17:51. Penalties: Gavey, Min (hooking), 2:36; Dowd, Min (slashing), 4:00; Benysek, Min (hooking), 8:10; Forsberg, Col (tripping), 8:31; Minnesota bench, served by Roest, (too many men on the ice), 13:19; Benysek, Min (boarding), 16:13.
Third Period: Scoring: 6, Colorado, Hejduk 40 (Forsberg, Skoula), 5:08. 7, Colorado, Sakic 43 (power play) (Hejduk, Skoula), 18:13. Penalties: Drury, Col (cross checking), 7:29; Benysek, Min (high sticking), 16:35.
Shots on Goal: Minnesota 13 7 8 -28 Colorado 12 13 10 -35
Power-Play Conversions: Minnesota - 0 of 2, Colorado - 3 of 6. Goalies: Minnesota, McLennan (35 shots, 31 saves; record: 4-20-0). Colorado, Aebischer (28 shots, 25 saves; record: 10-5-3). A: 18,007. Referees: Leggo, Meier. Linesmen: Nelson, Mitton.
