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Hejduk, Budaj lift Avalanche over Ducks

Jan 14, 2007 - 7:34 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Milan Hejduk and Peter Budaj came through when the Colorado Avalanche needed them.

Hejduk scored the decisive goal in the fourth round of the shootout and Budaj stopped three of the four shots he faced in the bonus format as the Avalanche edged the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2.

After being beaten by Chris Kunitz in the opening round, Budaj denied Ryan Getzlaf and Andy McDonald to set the stage for Hejduk.

"It was a huge win for us," Hejduk said. "Peter made some big saves to keep us in the game. He was spectacular. It was a big win for us with everybody (players' dads and mentors) here."

The victory was redemption of sorts for Budaj, who has stopped 5-of-14 shootout attempts this season. The netminder was pulled after giving up five shots on 17 goals in a 7-3 loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday.

"The credit doesn't go to me," Budaj said. "Their team played really well and our guys played hard too. We blocked shots and did all the little things. They had 40 shots and we had 17, so it looks like our team didn't work. But the guys really did work."

Entering 1-for-2 in shootouts this season, Hejduk skated in, deked Ilya Bryzgalov and backhanded the puck past the goaltender to seal the win.

"Peter was spectacular," Colorado coach Joel Quennville said. "He was square to the puck and came up big."

Rookie Wojtek Wolski also scored in the shootout for the Avalanche, who have gone to the shootout in three of their last four games and improved to 4-1 in the format.

Andrew Brunette and rookie Curtis Glencross traded first-period goals before Wolski gave Colorado a 2-1 lead just 2:41 into the middle session. After receiving a feed from captain Joe Sakic, Wolski flipped the puck over Bryzgalov for his 16th tally.

Getzlaf, who also had an assist, drew Anaheim even in the third, taking a pass from behind the net by Corey Perry and beating Budaj from the low slot at 8:57.

Budaj finished with 38 saves for Colorado, which was outshot, 40-15.

Glencross' goal was the first of his career for the Ducks, who have earned at least one point in four straight (2-0-2). The left wing notched the tally on his first career NHL shift when he took a pass from Getzlaf and wristed a shot over Budaj's glove.

"It's exciting," Glencross said. "Coming in, I was pretty nervous. There is so much depth in this organization, and I finally got a shot after three years. Hopefully, I can stick around.

"I was real excited to get the call up. I was a little nervous. It would have been a whole lot sweeter if we would have got the win tonight."

Anaheim right wing Teemu Selanne, who is tied for the league lead in goals with 28 and had a hat trick in a 5-1 triumph over the Dallas Stars on Thursday, has his four-game point streak snapped. Selanne was selected to the All-Star Game on Saturday.

"It's an honor," the Finnish native said. "It's a big compliment. You know you've definitely done something good if you get selected. It's a big honor."