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Friday, Nov. 3 9:00pm ET
Hurricanes still struggle vs. Avs | |||||
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DENVER (AP) -- Insider information nearly helped defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh haunt his former teammates. Ozolinsh, traded from Colorado to Carolina in June, had a goal and an assist Friday night, but the Avalanche got two goals from Milan Hejduk in a 5-3 victory over the Hurricanes. "Business as usual," Ozolinsh said. "I had a little bit of an advantage. I pretty much knew what each player is capable of, what he's going to do in certain situations." Knowledge only goes so far against slick-skating Hejduk, Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg. The trio combined for four goals and three assists as Colorado extended its unbeaten streak over Carolina to nine games (7-0-2). The Hurricanes haven't defeated Colorado since 1995 when they were still playing in Hartford. Despite the victory, the Avalanche continued to struggle defensively. They have allowed 11 goals in three games after surrendering 15 during an 11-game unbeaten streak to start the season. "I felt overall we played a very average game," coach Bob Hartley said. "The important thing was we still found a way to win." With both teams content to play a wide-open game, Colorado took a two-goal lead into the third, but Ozolinsh made it 4-3 when he slipped behind the defense and flipped a shot into a wide open net at 7:59. "You never know were Ozo is going to be," Avs forward Shjon Podein said. "He can be behind the net one minute or out in the slot the next and then coming down the other side. You've got to keep your eye on a guy like that." The Hurricanes had several good chances to tie the game in the final 12 minutes, the best coming when Avalanche goalie David Aebischer stopped Ron Francis from in close with 1:14 remaining. Carolina pulled goalie Arturs Irbe at that point, and Forsberg scored into an empty net with 13 seconds left. "I don't imagine we'll be too happy a hockey team in there after you lose a game," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said, "but from the battle standpoint ... we showed a lot of fight." Aebischer, playing only his third NHL game, finished with 23 saves while Patrick Roy was given the night off. Tied at 2 after one period, Colorado took the lead for good when Eric Messier hustled for a loose puck in the corner and found Sakic all alone in front 3:58 into the second. Alex Tanguay made it 4-2 on a rebound that deflected off the glove of goalie Tyler Moss at 16:00. The goal came while Niclas Wallin was serving an interference penalty for sending Dan Hinote flying into the net. "It wasn't the best game in the world for us," said Sakic, who finished with a goal and two assists. "We found a way to hang in there in the third and [squeak] out that empty-netter. We'll take the win." Carolina entered the game 1-for-19 on the power play away from home, but converted both of its chances in the first period on goals by Jeff O'Neill and Shane Willis. The Avalanche answered each time as Hejduk scored on the back end of a 3-on-2 chance to tie it at 1, then added his second goal of the game on a power play with 17 seconds left in the period. Game notesThe Avalanche played their first game without forwards Chris Drury (sprained left knee) and Adam Deadmarsh (concussion). Drury, who has five goals and 12 assists, had played in 166 straight games. He is expected to miss 6-8 weeks. ... Carolina forward Martin Gelinas had two assists to move one point from 400 in his career. ... Irbe returned to the team after missing one game to attend his grandmother's funeral in Latvia. He replaced Moss to start the third period. ... Colorado was outshot for the second time in 14 games. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Carolina Clubhouse Colorado Clubhouse RECAPS Buffalo 5 Montreal 4
Colorado 5 AUDIO/VIDEO   Shane Willis scores the power-play goal.avi: 828 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||