• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Sakic, Theodore help Avalanche down Flames in overtime

Oct 27, 2007 - 5:43 AM CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- It doesn't seem to matter what they do, the Calgary Flames just cannot seem to beat the Colorado Avalanche lately.

Joe Sakic scored a goal and set up the game-winner by Ryan Smyth and Jose Theodore turn aside 39 shots as the Avalanche posted a 3-2 overtime triumph over the Flames on Friday night in a battle of Northwest Division foes.

Mark Svatos also tallied for Colorado, which has won six consecutive games against Calgary.

"We are very fortunate," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said. "It was one of those games where we were on our heels, we played a lot in our own end, withstood a couple of 5-on-3s and Jose made some key saves and kept us in the game."

After the Avalanche were outplayed for the majority of the contest, Svatos turned the momentum with his goal with 4:15 left in the third period. Defenseman Brett Clark fired a slap shot from the left point and the rebound came to Svatos, who sneaked the puck under the left pad of goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff to knot the game at 2-2.

Overtime did not last long. On a feed from Clark, Sakic broke into the offensive zone with Smyth on a 2-on-1 rush.

Sakic hit Smyth with a perfectly placed cross-slot pass, and Smyth fired a quick shot past Kiprusoff to give the Avalanche the win just 23 seconds into the extra session.

"Clark made a great play on the wall, chipping it up to Joe," Smyth said. "He made a great saucer pass and I just directed it toward the net."

With the assist, Colorado's captain now has 1,600 career points. The 38-year-old Sakic has recorded 615 goals and 985 assists during his 18-year career.

Sakic is eighth on the all-time points list, 123 behind Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux. Wayne Gretzky is the leader with 2,857 points.

"In a win like this you don't even thinK of those things," Sakic said. "But to be mentioned with those guys is a pretty good honor."

Theodore kept the Avalanche in the game all night. He made 15 saves in the first period, 10 in the second and 14 more in the third.

"Jose held us in there tonight," Smyth said. "We were lucky to be in there at the end."

In their previous meeting on October 16, the Flames scored the first four goals of the contest, only to watch the Avalanche come storming back to post a 5-4 shootout victory.

"I don't know how to describe (the success against the Flames)," Sakic said. "Anytime you beat another team in your division, you have to be happy with that."

On Friday, it was Colorado that jumped out to an early lead as it opened the scoring at 7:27 of the first period. Wojtek Wolski controlled the puck behind the net and found Sakic in front of the crowded net, from where he beat Kiprusoff low to the stick side.

Andrew Brunette registered an assist on the play for his 500th career point. During his 11-year career with five different teams, the 34-year-old has registered 174 goals and 326 assists.

Less than two minutes later, Calgary nearly responded when Alex Tanguay got behind the Colorado defense for a breakaway. Tanguay tried to sneak the puck between Theodore's pads, but the netminder slammed the door to preserve the lead.

Tanguay made up for his failed attempt with 4:48 remaining in the opening session, tying the game at 1-1. After leading a charge down the ice, Daymond Langkow shuffled a pass to Tanguay, who fired a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that eluded Theodore on the far side.

A sloppy play by the Avalanche helped give the Flames a 2-1 advantage. After intercepting an errant pass by Clark, Matthew Lombardi snapped a quick shot past Theodore just 84 seconds into the second period.

The Flames thought they had taken a 3-1 lead late in the third period when Langkow tipped Tanguay's pass between Theodore's pads. But the goal was waved off because referee Mick McGeough had blown the whistle before the puck crossed the goal line.

Flames coach Mike Keenan was livid with the call.

"Mick McGeough blew the call," Keenan said. "He knows it, we know it, everyone in the building knew it. He knows he blew the whistle too quickly, but we can't leave those things to fate."