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Smyth nets pair, lifts Avalanche before leaving game

Mar 2, 2008 - 6:06 AM DENVER (Ticker) -- Ryan Smyth helped the Colorado Avalanche get a win but may be missing a lot more time.

After scoring two goals in the second period, Smyth was helped off the ice after a vicious hit into the boards in the Avalanche's 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.

Newly acquired defenseman Ruslan Salei, captain Joe Sakic and Andrew Brunette also scored and blue-liner Jordan Leopold added three assists for Colorado, which posted its third consecutive victory.

Michael Cammalleri and captain Rob Blake tallied for Los Angeles, which fell to a 1-4-1 in its last six games.

In the waning moments of the second period, Smyth was driven face-first into the boards by Kings rookie defenseman Jack Johnson. Smyth, who stayed on the ice for several minutes before being placed on a stretcher, was conscious and walking in the locker room before being taken to a nearby hospital for precautionary reasons.

"He's a great player for them and it's unfortunate. He hit the turnbuckle there," Johnson said. "I don't want to hurt anyone out there. I was trying to play hard and pinch him off and get the puck, and he ended up getting pushed right into the turnbuckle."

"It wasn't a dirty hit," Sakic said. "(Johnson) hit him hard and (Smyth) hit the corner of the glass. It was just unfortunate as to where it happened."

Prior to the injury, Smyth was spectacular.

After Cammalleri opened the scoring 3:37 into the game, Smyth responded 79 seconds later to level the contest by redirecting Salei's slap shot past goaltender Dan Cloutier.

Just under two minutes later, Smyth notched his second goal of the contest and 14th of the season when his centering feed deflected off Blake's skate and into the net at 6:46 to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.

Salei doubled the advantage just under four minutes later, beating Cloutier with a slap shot from the left faceoff circle for his fourth tally of the campaign.

"Bruno (Brunette) did a great job standing in front of the net, blocking the view of the goalie," Salei said. "I picked the corner and got lucky to get (it) there."

Sakic gave Colorado a three-goal bulge by beating Cloutier from in close for his ninth tally just 5 1/2 minutes into the third period.

Blake atoned for his previous miscue by beating netminder Jose Theodore at 9:13, drawing Los Angeles within 4-2.

"We didn't have breaks out there tonight. We hit three posts in the second period on shots that clearly beat their goalie," said Kings coach Marc Crawford, who led the Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup championship in 1996. "And they got two fortunate bounces. But you get breaks when you play hard. But I don't think that was the reason they won the game."

Colorado's Marek Svatos left the game during the second period with a knee injury and did not return.

"It would be tough if the guys were out for any amount of time," Sakic said. "But again, we've dealt with injuries all year. You have to play through it and you've got to persevere."

Peter Forsberg, who agreed to terms on a contract with the Avalanche on Monday, did not play in the contest.