• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Decisive first period powers Avalanche

Jan 31, 2008 - 6:28 AM By Dave Reed PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

DENVER (Ticker) -- While the Denver area was being covered with snow, the Colorado Avalanche buried the Chicago Blackhawks with three first-period goals and cruised to a 6-3 victory on Wednesday night at the Pepsi Center.

Milan Hejduk, Marek Svatos and Ian Laperriere all scored in the opening 20 minutes as the Avalanche improved to 18-8-1 at home. Svatos tallied again in the third period and Tyler Arnason finished with a goal and two assists.

"The key for tonight was to come out strong, and I think that's what we did," Svatos said.

Making his 11th consecutive start in goal, Jose Theodore stopped 10 of 11 shots before leaving the game after two periods with back spasms.

Hejduk opened the scoring when he used Chicago defenseman Brent Sopel as a screen and wristed the puck past goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin at 9:13 of the first period.

The Avalanche doubled the advantage 2:05 later.

Wojtek Wolski carried into the offensive zone, circled at the right point to shake off defenseman James Wisniewski, then dumped the puck toward the bottom of the right circle. Arnason picked up the puck and immediately backhanded a pass toward the crease, where Adam Burish was waiting for a chance to clear.

Before Burish could react, however, Svatos poked it away from him and past Khabibulin to open a 2-0 lead.

"None of us were clicking," Wisniewski said. "I was on the ice for three of their goals. You've got to prevent those. That can't happen. That's not acceptable."

Brad Richardson gave Colorado a three-goal cushion when his shot from the top of the crease trickled between Khabibulin's pads with 91 seconds left in the period.

"In the first period, we turned the puck over way too many times," Chicago coach Denis Savard said. "In this league, you're down 3-0, it's pretty difficult to come back, especially how they play at home.

"I don't think it was a lack of effort. It was a lack of thinking. When you turn over (the puck) against a good transition team, that's what's going to happen."

After Robert Lang scored just 3:17 into the second, the Avalanche netted the game's next three goals to effectively put the contest out of reach.

Andrew Brunette gave Colorado its first power-play goal in five games by wristing the puck past Khabibulin and just inside the right goalpost with eight minutes remaining in the session.

After Arnason scored 6:29 into the third period, Svatos added his second tally of the game with just over six minutes remaining in the contest to give Colorado a 6-1 lead.

"Every line can score goals, and that's what we did tonight," Svatos said. "That's what we should do every night."

"Marek's a hot player," said Arnason, who had a season-high three points. "He scores on 50 percent of his chances, I think, probably the most in the NHL. Wolski has a good shot, too. They are obviously good players to play with."

Yanic Perreault scored goals 2:16 apart - the latter with 24 seconds remaining - but it was too little, too late for the Blackhawks.

"We were ready to come back from our break and make a turn for the playoffs, then something like this happens," Wisniewski said. "It's mind-boggling."