• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Hejduk, Avalanche continue dominance of Oilers

Nov 29, 2007 - 6:56 AM DENVER (Ticker) -- The Colorado Avalanche have had the Edmonton Oilers' number this season, and that was never more evident than Wednesday night.

Milan Hejduk scored a goal and set up two others and Paul Stastny had two assists as the Avalanche cruised to a 4-2 victory over the Oilers in a Northwest Division battle.

Captain Joe Sakic added a tally and an assist for Colorado, which has defeated Edmonton in all four meetings this season.

The victory was the franchise's 500th since moving from Quebec in 1995. It also was Colorado's 10th at home this season, tying Ottawa for the league lead.

The Avalanche scored twice in a span of 25 seconds early in the first period and dominated much of the rest of the contest.

Hejduk put Colorado ahead, 1-0, with his third goal in five games when he slammed a loose puck into an open net at 4:14.

Jaroslav Hlinka picked up defenseman Kurt Sauer's dump-in below the left faceoff circle and carried around the net before emerging on the right side. His shot went through the crease to Hejduk, who was waiting unchecked to convert.

"We definitely worked harder than the previous games," said Hejduk, who recorded his fourth three-point game of the season. "We kept the pucks on our sticks and spent more time in their zone and had a lot of shots tonight."

Defenseman Brett Clark doubled the lead moments later, wristing a shot from the slot past goaltender Dwayne Roloson high on the stick side.

"We didn't give them much time in the neutral zone," Clark said. "We capitalized on the turnovers we got, so that was the biggest difference in this game."

Stastny entered the offensive zone along the left wing boards, then dropped a pass to Hejduk, who was at the top of the circle. As the defense collapsed on the Czech, he slid a pass to Clark, who was high in the slot.

Sakic added a power-play goal midway through the second period, Colorado's first with the man advantage in six games.

Hejduk stopped a clearing attempt at the right point and directed the puck along the boards to Stastny, who dished to Sakic alone between the circles. Sakic cashed in for his seventh tally of the season at 8:45, giving the Avalanche a 3-0 advantage.

"The game against Calgary (on Saturday), we didn't show up," Sakic said. "Tonight, it was a totally different team. We worked hard, we came up with the loose pucks, won a lot of the battles around the boards and it was a different effort."

Wojtek Wolski continued the offensive onslaught, extending Colorado's lead to four with 5:22 remaining in the second period. He one-timed Sakic's pass from the left circle, beating Roloson to the glove side for his eighth of the campaign.

Peter Budaj was relatively untested over the first two periods, facing just nine shots - including three in the opening session. He surrendered two goals in the third on just four shots, however.

"It's much easier when you face 12 or 13 shots," Budaj said. "We played really strong defensive hockey, created chances and scored goals. We didn't allow odd-man rushes, which is awesome to see."

Raffi Torres, who played in his 300th NHL game, ended the shutout bid when he jammed the puck past Budaj at the left post at 8:15. Just under six minutes later, Shawn Horcoff scored his 10th goal of the season to halve the Oilers' deficit.

"We definitely have to leave this one behind us," Horcoff said. "When you play that bad, it's not hard to do."

The Oilers had a chance to cut Colorado's lead in half midway through the first period, but Kyle Brodziak hit the crossbar while shooting at an open net.

"It was a stupid play, one that I wish I could have back," Brodziak said. "That's a play that could have changed the game."

Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish did not think that play had much to do with the outcome.

"There was nothing through the first 30 minutes of the game that would lead me to believe we were going to correct the train wreck," he said. "We did, to a certain degree in the third period, when they stopped playing."

Budaj has won all four of his starts against Edmonton this season and is 8-1-2 lifetime against the Oilers.

Roloson was the busiest player on the ice over the first 40 minutes. He stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced before being pulled in favor of Mathieu Garon at the start of the final session.

Garon stopped all seven shots he faced in the period.

Colorado unleashed a season-high 43 shots while yielding a season-low 13.