| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
DENVER (AP) -- Colorado's lethal line of Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk
and Alex Tanguay combined to score 12 points, proving to be too
much for the Los Angeles Kings.
|  | | Kings center Ian Laperriere, left, fought with Avalanche right winger Adam Deadmarsh in the first period Tuesday. |
Sakic had five points and Hejduk four, each of them scoring two
goals, as the Avalanche beat the Kings 6-2 Tuesday night. Tanguay
added three points.
Sakic, who scored three goals against the Kings here on Dec. 21,
had a hand in each of Colorado's first five goals.
With his five points, he moved into the NHL scoring lead with 55
points. Theo Fleury of the New York Rangers has 54.
"My two goals couldn't get any easier," Sakic said. "Tonight,
everything just seemed to click for our line. It seemed like every
shift we had scoring chances. We were just having fun out there.
"We moved the puck well. It's been a while since we've played
like this."
Hejduk has scored the game-winning goal in each of Colorado's
last four victories.
In their last six games, Sakic, Hejduk and Tanguay have combined
for 16 goals and 13 assists.
"They put on quite a show," Avalanche coach Bob Hartley said
of the Sakic line. "Hejduk is a sniper. He's so accurate with his
shot, and he, Alex and Joe are supporting each other and making
smart decisions."
Tanguay said it was "one of those nights when everything was
going in. I was looking for Joe a little bit too much at the end. I
wanted him to score again. He and Milan, I wanted to see some hats
on the ice. But, some other night."
The Avalanche (26-8-5) overtook St. Louis for the best record in
the NHL, with 57 points to St. Louis' 56.
Colorado's Patrick Roy had 27 saves, and Los Angeles' Steve
Passmore had 28.
Colorado, which has won five of its last six games, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and led 4-0 after Hejduk's second
goal early in the second period.
Los Angeles scored twice to make it 4-2, but Tanguay's goal, on
an assist from Sakic, put the Avs ahead 5-2 at 17:41 of the second
period.
"Somebody unplugged us before the game tonight," Kings coach
Andy Murray said. "We didn't have much energy. The Avalanche, in
my opinion, are the best team in the conference, and they played
very well against us."
Kings defenseman Rob Blake said the Avalanche "jumped us pretty
quickly, and we didn't put up much resistance."
Sakic opened the scoring with his 21st goal at 3:02, deflecting
a shot by Greg de Vries. At 9:42, Sakic took a pass from Hejduk and
beat Passmore from the slot.
Hejduk's 20th goal, to the left of the net after an
across-the-crease pass from Peter Forsberg, came on a 5-on-3
advantage and made it 3-0 at 12:07.
Hejduk jabbed a backhander past Passmore at 3:09 of the second
period to give Colorado a four-goal advantage.
The Kings failed to capitalize on two 5-on-3 situations later in
period, but just after the second two-man advantage ended, Mathieu
Schneider scored from the right circle at 11:58.
Barely four minutes later, the Kings scored again when Scott
Thomas deflected Lubomir Visnovsky's shot past Roy.
A minute later, Sakic assisted on Tanguay's goal.
Colorado's Aaron Miller scored on a backhander early in the
third period.
Game notes
Before the game, the Kings activated wing Glen Murray from
the injured list and assigned wing Brad Chartrand to Lowell of the
American Hockey League. Murray had missed 18 games with a strained
right quadriceps. ... Sakic extended his points streak to six
games. ... Hejduk has had six goals in his last four games. ... The
Kings are 2-5 in their last seven games. ... Kings forward Ziggy
Palffy remained sidelined with a pulled hamstring.
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Los Angeles Clubhouse
Colorado Clubhouse
RECAPS
Ottawa 3
St. Louis 1
Philadelphia 1
New Jersey 1
Montreal 3
NY Islanders 0
Colorado 6
Los Angeles 2
|
