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Guite, Hensick lead offensive explosion as Avalanche win

Feb 3, 2008 - 6:12 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Ben Guite and rookie T.J. Hensick stepped up big for the injury-ravaged Colorado Avalanche.

Guite and Hensick each scored a pair of goals as the Avalanche posted a 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

Tyler Arnason had a goal and an assist and Wojtek Wolski set up two tallies for Colorado, which beat St. Louis goaltender Manny Legace for the first time in 11 tries.

"Huge for us," Hensick said of the win. "We've been battling each night. You lose a game, you're at the bottom of your division. You win a game, you're back up there. For us to get a win on the road is huge, and hopefully, we can get one Monday night at home."

The Avalanche posted a big win without four key scoring threats.

Colorado, which already was without captain Joe Sakic (hernia), left wing Ryan Smyth (ankle) and All-Star Paul Stastny (appendix), got some more bad news before this one as the team's leading scorer, Marek Svatos, sat out the game with a groin injury.

But Guite, Hensick and company picked up the slack.

"It's a good feeling," Hensick said. "It's good to help the team. I think at some point in time, as the winning process continues, I will be able to help this team a little more offensively." "It's hockey," Legace said. "That's the way it is. You're not going to get an easier lineup than that against those guys, everybody's hurt. You have to take advantage of situations like that, and we just didn't do it."

Hensick's second goal of the game exactly one minute into the third period put Colorado ahead, 4-2. After Andy McDonald halved the deficit at 6:24 with a one-timer, Arnason restored the two-goal bulge with a wraparound goal at the left side with 8:44 left in the period.

That goal proved to be crucial as Keith Tkachuk's shot from the left faceoff dot beat goaltender Peter Budaj between the pads just 61 seconds later.

But Guite's second tally - an empty-netter with 6.2 seconds left - sealed the victory for the Avalanche.

St. Louis had several chances to tie the game at 4-4 late in third but hit the goalpost multiple times.

"I thought it was a very competitive game and both teams worked hard," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. "We got some breaks at the end there. The posts were ringing pretty loudly, three or four of them. We were lucky to hang on."

Brad Boyes and David Backes each had a pair of assists for St. Louis, which had its two-game winning streak snapped.

"You can't give up six goals in your building," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "It doesn't matter if you score four, you can't give up six. You can't win in this league like that.

"We were carrying the game, as we did most of the night, and then we just gave up some goals that we can't. We give them credit. They worked extremely hard. They came in with a hard-working, gritty lineup, missing a lot of their top offensive guys, and scored six goals in our building."

The shorthanded Avalanche were able to take an early lead thanks Hensick's second career goal at 5:28 of the first. But St. Louis answered quickly as former Avalanche right wing Dan Hinote scored on a wraparound just 48 seconds later.

Colorado took a brief 2-1 lead on a tally by Jaroslav Hlinka with 6:18 left in the period, but Paul Kariya tied it again just 52 seconds afterward.

During a power play, Boyes sent a cross-ice pass to Kariya, who one-timed a shot from the right faceoff circle that beat Budaj to the glove side with 5:26 left in the first.

Guite put the Avalanche ahead, 3-2, when he gathered a puck near a scrum in the crease and knocked it into the right side of the net with 9:59 left in the second.

Legace, who stopped 36 shots in a 1-0 shootout win over Anaheim on Friday, made 18 saves in this one.

Budaj finished with 28 saves one day after stopping 34 shots in a 2-0 loss at Detroit.