Petr Sykora and Ryan Smyth each scored twice and
the Edmonton Oilers cracked Colorado's stellar special teams defence
in a 4-3 win over the Avalanche on Saturday night.
Smyth deflected Jason Smith's shot from the right point past Jose
Theodore for his second goal, breaking a 2-2 tie just 20 seconds
into the third period. Less than four minutes later, Sykora's wrist
shot from the slot dribbled between Theodore's pads.
Colorado pulled to 4-3 when Milan Hejduk poked a pass from Paul
Stastny past Dwayne Roloson on a break at 11:50. The Avs pulled
Theodore with 1:15 left, but Roloson, who saved 39 shots, didn't
buckle on the way to his 100th career win.
The Avs hadn't played in six days, a layoff longer than the
all-star break in January, and their rust showed.
Colorado was the last NHL team to allow a power-play goal. After
killing 15 penalties, including three Saturday night, the Avs
finally succumbed when Smyth tied it 2-2 at 17:14 of the second
period.
Colorado defenceman Ken Klee left Smyth unattended on the
opposite side of the crease, and Shawn Horcoff found him with a pass
while Avs defenceman Karlis Skrastins was in the penalty box after
flipping the puck into the seats.
Smyth has scored five goals and six points in two games. His
fifth career hat trick Thursday night led Edmonton past San Jose
6-4.
The Avs took a 2-1 lead earlier in the second period when Tyler
Arnason took the puck off the short boards and wove his way to the
left circle, where he flipped a wrist shot over Dwayne Roloson's
right shoulder.
Avs rookie Wojtek Wolski scored his third goal of the season when
he sent the puck past Roloson from the slot after Klee's shot from
the right point at 8:07 of the first period.
Thirty-nine seconds later, the Oilers tied it 1-1 when Sykora
deflected Daniel Tjarnqvist's slap shot past Theodore.
Notes: The game was delayed for more than 10 minutes in the
third period when the glass broke near the Avalanche goal. ... Avs D
Jordan Leopold, who had a hernia operation in August, wasn't able to
finish practice Friday, putting his plan to return to action next
week in question. ... Edmonton didn't manage a shot on goal during
its first power play and only two each on its next two.
