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Svatos, Hejduk propel Avalanche past Canucks

Feb 10, 2008 - 6:56 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- The Colorado Avalanche refuse to use injuries as an excuse.

Marek Svatos scored two goals and set up another and Tyler Arnason added a tally and two assists as the Avalanche cruised to a 6-2 victory Saturday over the Vancouver Canucks in a Northwest Division battle.

Milan Hejduk netted a pair of goals and Wojtek Wolski collected three assists for Colorado, which is 3-0-1 in its last four contests and kept pace with the Minnesota Wild atop the division standings with 55 points.

"We played a great first period," Hejduk said. "We forechecked them hard and spent some good time in their zone. We jammed their net and there were a lot of loose pucks. We scored some goals in the first, and that kind of dictated the outcome of the game."

The Avalanche have managed to remain in the division race despite being without captain Joe Sakic (hernia), All-Star Paul Stastny (appendectomy) and Ryan Smyth (ankle).

"I think right now, it's where it should be," Avalanche goaltender Jose Theodore said of his team's play. "After Christmas, they say it's the second season that starts. We had some big injuries, but everybody's stepping up, playing extra hard. It's fun to see that everybody's contributing to the success of the team."

Arnason opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season at 9:10 of the first period. Roberto Luongo stopped Svatos' wraparound attempt but was unable to corral the rebound, which was poked in by Arnason.

"We were getting to the net," Arnason said. "They were letting us get in front and weren't covering behind the net. We capitalized early and just went from there."

"(The defenseman) know what they need to do out there," Luongo said. "I try to make the first save, and then sometimes the guys have to take care of the stick, at least, so I can find the puck sometimes. We got outworked in front of the net at both sides, and that's why we lost."

The Avalanche doubled their lead just over two minutes later, when Andrew Brunette threw a centering pass from behind the net to Jaroslav Hlinka, who made a touch pass to Hejduk. The former Maurice Richard Trophy winner fired a shot past Luongo on the stick side at 11:19.

The Canucks had an opportunity to halve the deficit with just over seven minutes remaining, but Taylor Pyatt's rebound shot rang off the left goalpost.

"Tonight, we were outexecuted and outworked, especially in the tough areas - in front of our net and in front of their net," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "We had glorious opportunities in the first there and they got to all the pucks."

The missed opportunity would come back to haunt Vancouver as Colorado extend its lead with 2:50 left in the first, as Svatos banged in the puck during a scramble in front of the net.

"It's always nice to beat Vancouver," Svatos said. "They've been playing well lately and it was a great game for us. Hopefully, we'll get confidence from that and carry it over the next few games."

The Canucks then were booed off the ice to end the first period.

Vancouver capitalized on a power play to get on the scoreboard at 7:37 of the middle session. Defenseman Sami Salo's slap shot from the point was stopped by Theodore, but All-Star Henrik Sedin was able to poke in the rebound to get the Canucks within 3-1.

The Avalanche got back the goal during a man advantage of their own with 3:19 left in the second. With Vancouver captain Markus Naslund serving a hooking penalty, defenseman Brett Clark wired a one-timer from the right point that deflected off Ryan Kesler and past Luongo.

Svatos padded the lead 20 seconds later, depositing a centering pass from Arnason behind Luongo to make it 5-1.

Luongo, who stopped just 17 of the 22 shots he faced, did not return to the ice after the second period. He was replaced by Curtis Sanford, who surrendered a goal on just two shots in the third.

"I didn't feel like I was fighting it," Luongo said. "I felt good, I felt confident and energized. It's just one of those games where the pucks are not bouncing your way.

"So I'm not going to get down on myself for a performance that I felt good and confident in. It's going to be good to get back at it (Sunday) night."

Salo scored a power-play goal just 82 seconds into the third, but Hejduk answered at 9:21 with his 20th of the season.

Theodore made 23 saves for Colorado en route to his third consecutive win.

"He gives us confidence," Avalanche coach Joel Quenneville said of his goaltender. "He seems to be sharp right off the bat - challenging, handles the puck well, alleviates some of the forechecking pressure. You could just see his confidence."