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ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Ties are one thing the Colorado Avalanche probably have had enough of. Antti Laaksonen scored off a giveaway 4:25 into the third period, lifting the Minnesota Wild to a 2-2 draw with the Avalanche. It was the league-high eighth tie for Colorado, which also has lost three overtime games. Eleven of the Avalanche's 24 games this season have gone beyond regulation. "I prefer tying to losing, that's all I can say," Colorado goaltender Patrick Roy said. Colorado is unbeaten in its last six games, but has just two wins and four ties during that span. "Sometimes, you can't just look at results," Roy said. "You have to look at the way you're playing. I think in that stretch we've had a lot of good games." The Avalanche were leading 2-1 when Laaksonen intercepted a careless pass by Colorado defenseman Bryan Muir in the slot. Laaksonen beat goaltender Patrick Roy with a backhander to the stick side to tie the contest. "When I got the puck, I knew my left side defenseman (Rob Blake) was coming pretty hard," Laaksonen said. "That's why I started to keep the puck away from him, so he doesn't get a good slash on the puck. That's why I went to the backhand and got a little more time to get a quick shot on net. Luckily, it went in and I didn't have to go for a rebound." Colorado was fortunate to get to overtime as Minnesota outshot the Avalanche 16-7 in the third period after registering just 12 shots over the first 40 minutes. "It's good to get a point, no doubt," Minnesota coach Jacques LeMaire said. "We battled, tied it, and made it very interesting for the fans." Roy's best stop in the third period came with 6:04 left when he made a glove save on Marian Gaborik's one-timer in the slot. Gaborik is the NHL's leading goal-scorer with 15. Scoring chances were infrequent in the overtime, with the Wild recording two shots and the Avalanche just one. In its first two years of existence, Minnesota was just 1-9-0 against Colorado, but the Wild have been nothing but trouble for the Avalanche this season. In three meetings, Minnesota has an overtime victory and two ties. The tie extended the Wild's winless streak to three games, but enabled them to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season. Minnesota moved to 3-0-5 in overtime, while Colorado is 0-3-8. The Wild erased a pair of one-goal deficits to earn the point. Colorado took a 1-0 lead when Peter Forsberg deflected Blake's blast from the point past goaltender Dwayne Roloson for a power-play goal 9:29 into the first period. The Avalanche entered the game 25th on the power play and had scored only one goal in their previous 16 chances with the man advantage. Minnesota also has struggled on the power play with just two goals in its previous 39 opportunities entering Friday's contest, but the Wild cashed in on their first power play to pull even. With just 42 seconds left in the first period, Richard Park converted a 2-on-1 when he snapped a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle between the pads of Roy. "We put up two good minutes (on the power play) today," Park said. "We've worked hard to get back on track. You can break it down as much as you want, but I think it's all about confidence." Vaclav Nedorost gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead with 6:14 left in the second period, netting his second goal in as many games since returning from a shoulder injury. Left alone on the left wing, Nedorost skated into the circle and deked Roloson out of position. After defenseman Brad Bombardir fell down in front, Nedorost flipped the puck into an open net to give the Avalanche their second advantage. "We scored two goals and we gave them their two goals," Colorado coach Bob Hartley said. "You don't need to be a genius to analyze this game. We played a pretty good game. It's unfortunate for those two mistakes." Roy recorded 27 saves, while Roloson turned aside 24 shots. |
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