Who Own da Avs.. Owns, Owns (Feb 4)

Well, if Tuesday night wasn't just a swift kick in the balls. The Avs blew a great opportunity to get a victory in one of their few home games in the month of February, and instead, allowed one of the teams chasing them in the Western Conference playoff push to gain a little ground. Everything started out great for the Avs, as Phoenix started Mikael Tellqvist in lieu of the machine known as Ilya Bryzgalov, and Marek Svatos was back in the lineup after missing the last game with a bit of a groin injury.
The first period was pretty much back and forth with the two teams combining for 29 shots on goal. T.J. Hensick kicked off the scoring with a power play goal 17:48 into the first, but the Avs took two quick penalties shortly thereafter and Peter Mueller was able to connect on a one-timer from teh top of the circles on the 5 on 3 to tie the game. Mueller is going to be a star. He's big, can play physical, has wheels and great hands, and a nose for the net. Plus, it's not often you see a rookie playing the point on the power play. Hopefully Phoenix fans appreciate what they have in that kid.

The second period continued in the same fashion. Even though he was held off the scoresheet, Milan Hejduk had some real good chances, and looked pretty quick. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Andrew Brunette. Phoenix's second goal, scored by Daniel Winnick was the result of J-M Liles failing to get the puck out of his own zone, the Yotes working hard down low, and Winnick getting open in front for a tip with a couple Avs just looking at him. The prettiest goal of the period came about 10 minutes later when Jovanovski made a blind pass in the Avs end along the blue line which was picked off by Brad Richardson. Lappy was able to hustle in and join the play to cause a tight 2 on 1, and chipped in a pretty feed from Richardson with a guy on his back to even the score. Ian Laperriere had a great game. He was everywhere, killed penalties, and was probably the hardest working Avs player on that ice.
The 3rd period was almost like two different acts, and quite frankly was kind of weird. The Avs played very well in the first half of the period, and had a good chance about 9 minutes in when Brad Richardson got a breakaway coming out of the sin bin (after a questionable slashing call). He didn't score, but was able to draw a penalty. Which brings us to the beginning of the odd. T.J. Hensick scored on that ensuing power play, sneaking the puck just inside the goal line off the skate of a sliding Coyotes defender giving the Avs a 3-2 lead, but it wasn't official until about a minute thirty later. Al the Avs saw the puck go in, raised their sticks, and the puck went down the ice. Play went on until the next whistle when the play was officially reviewed, for a long time, then finally called good. Then the Avs decided to sit on the lead, quit pushing the play, and looked very lackadaisical. With just over 3 minutes, and after shoddy defensive play caused a faceoff to the right of Budaj, Tyler Arnason was kicked out of the circle forcing Svatos to take the draw. The Coyotes ran a set play with Steven Reinprecht pushing the puck past Svatos and feeding a pass across to a wide open Radim Vrbata. Where the hell did everyone go!! Arnason went after Reinprecht, and Jeff Finger, who was supposed to be there, was not. Ugh. Ironically, the Altitude guys had just gone on a two minute stretch about how the Avs could move into 5th place in the West and a point behind Minny with a win... Oops.
Honestly, I was too pissed to pay attention to the overtime period, and of course, Phoenix scored on another questionable play to end the game 3:23 into OT. The goal was credited to Vrbata, who put a shot on goal. Budaj appeared to have the puck underneath him, then Shane Doan dove, stickless and punched between Budaj's legs, squirting the puck into the net. The ref was right there, didn't blow the whistle until the puck had crossed the line and he was signaling goal, Wayne Gretzky was jumping up and down, and that was that. The Yotes quickly scampered back to the locker room while the Avs stayed on the bench and a heated Joel Quinneville
gave it to the refs. Was it a bad call? Maybe. Should the Avs have been in that position in the first place? Definitely not.
News and Notes:
The Coyotes are 3-0 against the Avs this year, winning both games in Denver.
Karlis Skrastins was the odd-man out in the 7 defenseman carousel
T.J. Hensick he of the 4 goals in 2 games, had only one shift in regulation after his second goal with 10 minutes left in the third.
Jose Theodore will be in net Wednesday at San Jose after missing the last two games because of back spasms
Paul Stastny will make the trip and is questionable for Wednesday's game

Numbers!!!
Goals
1 - 17:48 of 1st COL PP- Hensick (4) from Arnason (15) and Liles (19)
2 - 19:01 of 1st PHX PP - Mueller (16) from Jovanovski (30) and Doan (33)
3 - 5:04 of 2nd PHX - Winnik (6) from Murley (1) and Kapanen (15)
4 - 14:49 of 2nd COL - Laperriere (4) from Richardson (3)
5 - 9:52 of 3rd COL PP - Hensick (5) from Hlinka (16) and Arnason (16)
6 - 16:49 of 3rd PHX - Vrbata (23) from Reinprecht (21)
7 - 3:23 of OT PHX - Vrbata (24) from Doan (34) and Michalek (9)

SOG
Avs: 12-11-11-2 - 36
Coyotes: 17-9-6-1 - 33

PP
Avs: 2-4
Coyotes: 1-4

Standings:
Avs: 61 Points 5th in West
Coyotes: 59 Points 8th in West

Next Up: @ San Jose Wednesday, February 6