Avalanche Still Alive

DENVER (Ticker) -- Peter Budaj proved it's not how you start but how you finish. Budaj allowed a goal on the first shot he faced but slammed thedoor thereafter, and defenseman John-Michael Liles and rookie Paul Stastny scored power-play tallies as the Colorado Avalanche remained alive in the playoff chase with a 2-1 triumph over theMinnesota Wild.Entering with a 10-0-2 record in his previous 13 starts, Budajwas beaten by fellow Slovakian Marian Gaborik's shot -Minnesota's first of the game - just 81 seconds into the first period, putting Colorado in a 1-0 hole."We knew they would come out hard because they lost their lasttwo," said Budaj, who tied the franchise record of 10 wins in amonth set by Daniel Bouchard in February 1981. "I'm pretty surethey weren't happy."But the 24-year-old netminder turned aside the Wild's final 23shots, including just one during a 40-second, 5-on-3 power playfor Minnesota early in the third period, to help the Avalancheimprove to 12-1-2 in their last 15 contests."I think we matched their start," Budaj said. "I think weoutworked them a little bit. It was a big kill in the thirdperiod on the 5-on-3."With the win, Colorado (41-30-7) pulled within five points ofCalgary for the eighth and final postseason berth in the WesternConference."It was big," Stastny added. "Especially after they scored realearly. I think we bounced back pretty well.""It's what we needed," Liles said. "Hopefully, we can get somehelp tonight."Unfortunately for the Avalanche, the Vancouver Canucks could notaccomodate, dropping a 3-2 decision to the Flames (43-25-10) topush Calgary's advantage back to seven points with four gamesremaining.Facing the league's second-best penalty-killing unit (85.9percent), the Avalanche cashed in twice during the middlesession to erase the early 1-0 deficit. Liles scored his 14thgoal of the season at 4:25, matching his career high set lastseason, and Stastny tallied nine minutes later to put Coloradoahead for good."We had a lot of power plays, and obviously the first one was abig one to tie it up," Stastny said.It marked just the 10th time this season Minnesota allowed morethan one power-play goal in a contest."A couple of funny bounces," Liles said. "Our guys werebattling out there, and that's the big thing. A lot of times,it's just outworking their penalty kill.""We talked about discipline before the game and we didn't taketoo many, but with a team that has a power play like that, youcan't take those kind of penalties," Wild defenseman KurtisFoster said. "They capitalized on their power plays and wedidn't."Milan Hejduk and rookie Wojtek Wolski each recorded an assistfor the Avalanche, who are in danger of missing the playoffs forthe first time since 1993-94, when the franchise was known asthe Quebec Nordiques.Rookie Josh Harding made 30 saves for Minnesota (45-26-8), whichhad its five-game road winning streak snapped in losing itsthird straight overall. With the loss, the Wild remained threepoints behind the Canucks (47-24-7) for first place in theNorthwest Division with three contests left on their schedule."I felt pretty good out there," Harding said. "Obviously on thetwo goals, I could look back and see what I could have donedifferent, but the whole team played pretty well. We just cameout on the wrong side of the score."Colorado defenseman Brett Clark was called for holding just 26seconds into the contest, and Minnesota converted less than aminute later as Gaborik beat Budaj to the stick side with awrist shot from the left faceoff circle for his 29th goal of theseason.But the Wild were stymied the rest of the way, and the Avalanche- who own the second-best power play in the league at home -converted two of their three man-advantage opportunities in thesecond period to grab the lead."You give them three power plays, what do you think is going tohappen?" Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire asked. "That's whythey came back.""Anytime you are undisciplined, it's going to hurt you,especially against a team that is very good on the power play,very good at home on the power play," Wild defenseman KeithCarney said. "I think that was the only bad thing. We stillhad a chance."With just three seconds remaining on Derek Boogaard's chargingpenalty, Wolski completed a cross-crease pass to Liles, whodirected the puck past Harding less than 4 1/2 minutes into thesession to knot the game."(Defenseman) Ken Klee made a great play at the blue line tokeep the puck in and put it back down low," Liles said."Basically, it was three forwards and myself crashing the net,and I ended up being the guy who was open for kind of a tap-inrebound. They don't get much easier."Colorado jumped ahead with 6:33 to go in the period, whenStastny grabbed the puck during a scramble in front andbackhanded it into the net for his 26th tally."Hejduk had a good chance before that and hit the crossbar,"Stastny said. "Then it was a couple of bounces here and there.It landed on my skate and I kicked it up, and it turned out tobe a big goal and a big momentum boost.""I think they had a couple of lucky bounces," Harding said. "Butwe have to work for those bounces. Usually, the team that isworking harder gets those bounces. I lost the second one, andthe first one, I made the first stop and the guy had an emptynet."The Avalanche, which tied the franchise record of 11 wins in amonth set in January 2004, nearly doubled the lead with 6 1/2minutes to go in the third. But Harding came up with a big saveon Mark Rycroft's breakaway chance to keep the Wild's deficitat 2-1.

One Man's View
I apologize to anyone expecting a write up of my own. Between me getting my school stuff in order, work, coaching a hockey squad, recently getting sick (never any fun) and doing this i've been really busy so again my apologies to all my readers.
In regards to the game, it was just one of the those nights for the Wild. You run into a goalie (Budaj) who has a phenominal game. Unfortunately for the Wild in two of their last three contests they have run into a hot goalie, which has cost them a chance to take over the division. Minnesota has hit a minor bump in the road that shouldn't be anything to worry about. Although it is considered a "losing streak" they played solid saturday in Colorado. One positive note to report: The Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, keeping the door open for the Wild to possibly take home the division before this is all finished. I am extremely pumped for the start of the playoffs.