Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Milan Hejduk scored a pair of goals and
assisted on another during a five-goal second period, leading Colorado over
Los Angeles 6-1 at the Pepsi Center.
Paul Stastny added a goal and two assists and Marek Stavos had a goal and an
assist for Colorado, which has won three of four. Peter Budaj made 27 saves
and Joe Sakic had a pair of assists for the Avs, who scored the final six
goals of the game to win going away.
Derek Armstrong scored the lone goal of the game for the Kings, who fell to
1-3-2 over their last six games. Dan Cloutier stopped 26 shots in two periods
of action for Los Angeles, which failed to overcome three 5-on-3 disadvantages
on its way to defeat.
Armstrong put home a Brent Sopel pass in front just 5:10 into the contest.
However, that was the only offense from the Kings, as Colorado tied the game
nearly four minutes later and took the lead with its second-period explosion.
John-Michael Liles tied it for the Avs 8:47 into the first when he redirected
a Patrice Brisebois shot from the right point past Cloutier. The goal was the
first of three straight on the power play, all of which were 5-on-3
advantages.
Hejduk then started the second-period onslaught when he scored his third goal
of the season off assists from Stastny and Liles just 1:25 into the stanza.
Stavos extended the lead to 3-1 1:07 later, slamming home the puck from the
left of the net.
"We got ourselves in penalty trouble," said LA's Rob Blake. "When you get
those guys out there and give them a two-man advantage, we knew we were in
trouble. We had to open up and they got more."
Stastny made it a three-goal game with 9:29 left in the period, finishing off
a 2-on-1 break when he one-timed home a Tyler Arnason pass.
Hejduk then scored the oddest goal of his career, when a Brisebois shot from
the point hit the stick of Stastny and redirected off of Hejduk's face and
into the net with 3:25 left.
Andrew Brunette finished the scoring when he put home a rebound of a Svatos
shot with 1:30 left until the third.
Colorado unloaded 17 shots in the second period, compared to just nine for the
Kings.
"I felt really good," said Budaj. "I felt strong. I'm fortunate to play when
our team has played well. We played well defensively. Our special teams were
really good, especially the 5-on-3s."
Mathieu Garon stopped five third-period shots for the Kings.
