Sakic Forces OT, Avs Win in SO

[February 28, 2008]  VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Colorado captain Joe Sakic tied the game with 14.7 seconds left, and Marek Svatos scored the winning goal in the shootout, lifting the Avalanche to a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.

Alexandre Burrows scored on a wild scramble with 1:45 left in the third period to give the Canucks a 2-1 lead, but Sakic knocked in a rebound in the closing second after Jose Theodore was pulled for an extra attacker.

Burrows dove to poke the puck in at the side of the net but it was swept out by teammate Henrik Sedin as bodies piled up in front of a sprawled Theodore. Play continued for more than 30 seconds, but a replay following the next whistle showed the puck barely crossed the goal line.

The time was put back on the clock, and Sakic needed it. He fought off the check of Willie Mitchell and lifted a backhand over Roberto Luongo as he fell.

Sakic, playing his third game after missing three months following sports hernia surgery, also beat Luongo in the shootout before Svatos won it.

Andrew Brunette also scored and Theodore made 29 saves as Colorado won for the second straight night to move into a tie with Nashville for eighth place in the Western Conference, one point behind the Canucks.

Mason Raymond scored the other goal and Luongo made 24 saves for the Canucks, who had their season-high winning streak snapped at four. They have points in 10 of 11 (6-1-4) and have played two fewer games than Nashville and Colorado.

It was the second third-period comeback in two nights for the Avalanche since acquiring Adam Foote and adding defenseman Ruslan Salei. Foote joined the team during the first period of Tuesday's overtime win in Calgary, and Salei made his debut in Vancouver, recording an assist on Sakic's tying goal.

Peter Forsberg, who skated with the team for the first time Wednesday morning, said he isn't sure when he will make his on-ice return with the Avalanche.

There weren't a lot of shots, but both goalies had to be sharp early. Luongo got his right pad out to rob Milan Hejduk and Tyler Arnason on a power play.

Theodore answered with great left-pad stops on Alexander Edler's power-play drive and Taylor Pyatt on the rebound. He also made a couple of point-blank saves off Ryan Kesler and Alexandre Burrows before the Canucks pinballed a puck behind him off Raymond's leg midway though the second period.

Notes: LW Matt Pettinger made his Vancouver debut after being acquired from Washington for LW Matt Cooke on Tuesday. ... Canucks LW Jeff Cowan served his one-game suspension for a high hit during Saturday's win over Detroit. ... Darwin Head, a 35-year old sawmill worker from Saskatchewan, won $1 million Canadian dollars by shooting 15 of 20 pucks into the net from the far blue line in less than 24 seconds, as part of a television contest.

[Associated Press]

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