Oilers-Avalanche: 20 Minutes Does Not a Game Make

one and the Avalanche continued to push for a third goal, this time it was Wolski and Sakic on a 2 on 1 that Roloson was forced to save. Off the face-off it was Kyle Brodziak being called for tripping and the Avs power play got a chance to increase their lead.

The Avalanche had a couple of early chances on the power play but Dwayne Roloson was there again to keep the puck out of the net. Roloson was spectacular to this point of the game. The Oilers killed the penalty but as it expired, the Oiler’s Steve Staios was called for holding.

The Avalanche continued to control the puck until the Oilers blocked a shot and Shawn Horcoff picked up the puck and moved in and took a shot with a rolling puck and Budaj made a big leg save. The Avalanche came right back with more pressure and it was Paul Stastny finding Joe Sakic all alone in the slot and he had time to tee the shot up and he rifled it by Roloson. How he could be so alone is beyond me.

3-0  Avalanche at 8:45 with the shots 28-4.

The Avalanche had another odd man break with 9:30 to go and Robert Nilsson was called for hooking. The Avalanche came close to making it 4 as Svatos sent Brunette in alone on the left wing but his shot went wide of the net. The Avalanche continued with the pressure and Roloson dove on the puck. Steve Staios and Ryan Smyth were called for roughing on the play as Staios took exception to some late whacking by Smyth.

The Oilers killed that penalty and then the teams exchanged some end to end action that resulted in some weak shots but nothing that gave either goaltender any problems. Joe Sakic then came close to making it 4-0 when he was left alone again this time to the right side. His patented wrist shot again gave Roloson problems but he managed to hang on for a face-off. Off the face-off the Avs continued the pressure and this time Sakic was the set-up guy and he found Wolski open for a one timer that easily beat Roloson.

4-0  Avalanche at 14:38.

The Oilers then had their best chance of the period as Stoll flipped the puck at the net and Zack Stortini’s deflection goes off the pad of Budaj. The Oilers then got their second power play of the game as Wolski hit Andrew Cogliano with a high stick. The Oiler started the power play with a little possession until Dustin Penner had his stick slashed in half and the Avalanche cleared the zone. How was there no penalty on that slash is anyone’s guess. The Oilers had some good pressure and the best chance went to Staios as his rocket from the point that Budaj kicked to the corner.

The Avalanche killed the penalty and as they rush back into the Edmonton zone, Joni Pitkanen is called for hooking. Only 1:21 left in the period as the Avalanche started their 4th power play of the period. The Oilers killed the remainder of the period off. Shots in the period again favored the Avs 19-6.

It appeared that Craig MacTavish gave Roloson the mercy hook as Mathieu Garon was in to start the third period. The Avalanche began the period with 39 seconds left on the power play. The Oilers were able to kill the remainder of the penalty but the Avalanche had some good pressure again.

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