avalanche 1, blackhawks 0

Avalanche gets back to basics to register first shutout

By Adrian Dater
Denver Post Sports Writer

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - To start winning again, the Colorado Avalanche appears to have decided to go back to its style of play from last season, pre-Peter Forsberg: Pack it in defensively, take what you can get offensively from the transition game and hope the goalie comes up big enough.

After Patrick Roy blasted his team's style a little more than a week ago in Phoenix, imploring it to return to the system that made it the NHL's best defensive team last season, the Avs have allowed two goals in the past three games.

And Colorado won its second consecutive game Monday night against the Chicago Blackhawks, 1-0 at the Pepsi Center behind Roy's backup, David Aebischer.

Dan Hinote's seat-of-his-pants, rebound putback of Rob Blake's slap shot with 8 minutes, 37 seconds left in the game was the only goal of the night, and it kept the Avs unbeaten for the sixth time in the past seven games (4-1-2-0).

"Slowly, but surely, it's starting to look like our hockey club again," Avalanche coach Bob Hartley said.

Aebischer gave the Avs their first shutout victory of the season, making 26 saves, the best being on a mini-breakaway by Chicago's Eric Daze in the second period. The Avs' 5-on-5 defense was excellent, with defensemen Blake, Derek Morris, Adam Foote and Martin Skoula having particularly good games in their zone.

Yes, that's the same Skoula whose name has been stamped on more than a few newspapers as possible trade bait. Maybe seeing their name in trade rumors is good for players such as Skoula and Alex Tanguay, both of whom were on the ice when Hinote's winning goal was scored to finish plus-1.

Skoula is plus-10 on the season, second on the Avs, and - believe it or not - among the league leaders.

"We're dealing with human beings, and it's all about confidence, knowing that you get on the ice and get the job done," Hartley said. "We put on a real strong effort, and Chicago played us tough. Those guys are desperate, too, and they pushed hard, but we found a way to get the job done."

That sums up how the winning goal was scored. Hinote set up for a faceoff in the Blackhawks' zone and won it back to Blake, who fired a shot on Jocelyn Thibault from the blue line. Thibault made the save, but Hinote outmuscled the Blackhawks' defense to the rebound and slid a shot in while falling to the ice.

"We've had a lot of games where we've been leading or tied in the third and haven't been able to put it away, so this is a big win for us," Hinote said. "Guys worked hard tonight and we got the outcome we needed."

If this were earlier in the season, the Avs probably would have found a way to lose. But, as Hartley said, the breaks are slowly starting to go their way. More than just lucky breaks, though, the Avs seem to be paying extra attention to detail, especially since Roy's talk.

"The tide's turning. We're working hard, doing the right things," Avs winger Mike Keane said. "We're learning our lesson: If we work hard in our end, we win games."

Said Hinote: "When you're struggling, you've got to go back to basics, and that usually means defense first."

Not that all is perfect in Avalanche-land. The Avs can't seem to score power-play goals at home, or any other kinds of goals, for that matter. Their Pepsi Center record is 2-4-4-1.

And recent trade rumors are producing a nervous buzz in the dressing room.

"I think we're all motivated to work as hard as we can on this team," Hinote said. "We know we have a lot to prove right now."