Things sure get a little heated when the Avalanche and Anaheim Ducks meet. Happened again Friday night in the Avalanche's 6-4 loss before a standing room-only crowd of 18,030 at the Pepsi Center, though this time coaches Patrick Roy and Bruce Boudreau didn't get involved.
The teams combined for 12 penalties totaling 48 minutes. That might not seem like much, but Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson was given a match penalty for high-sticking Mathieu Perreault at 2:07 of the third period, and Avalanche forward Patrick Bordeleau and Anaheim's Patrick Maroon each got a 10-minute misconduct with 5:29 left in the game while on their respective benches.
"I guess were getting attention from a lot of teams," Roy said. "Starting the year beating them 6-1, they had a bad game against Calgary (losing 7-2 Wednesday), I'm sure they were ready to play a big game tonight."
Bordeleau even reached around the glass partition to shove Maroon, who was exchanging words with Cody McLeod.
"Well, they seem to enjoy talking to our bench," Roy said."I guess tonight our players responded. I learned my lesson, I was quiet. On a serious note, yes there is some intensity out there and like I said before we're getting attention from other teams, which is good for our players. They deserve that."
There were a few more scrums and skirmishes than usual after whistles, but no fights. Three slashing penalties and two roughing minors were called.
"Just intensity, I think," Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "Two teams that really want to win. Both of us are at the top (or near) of our divisions and want to get better. Neither is satisfied and want to get the two points. You want to be in a good position for the playoffs. Nobody wants to give an inch out there. This one stings a little bit, but we'll get back at it." I asked Roy about Johnson's match penalty, which came while the Avalanche was killing off a penalty to Landeskog for charging. It didn't help that the Avalanche lost Johnson for the balance of the game, and he already served a two-game suspension -- the first of his NHL career -- for a slash against the New York Islanders' Frans Nielsen on Feb. 8 and would be considered a repeat offender. Perreault wasn't injured and remained in the game.
"I have no idea," Roy said of the NHL office's possible response. "I didn't really see what happened. I didn't have a chance to look at what happened. I'm going to look at it. I can't really make any comment at this moment."
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Despite the loss, the Avalanche (43-19-5) remains in second place in the Central Division with a one-point lead (91-90) on the Chicago Blackhawks (38-15-14), who lost 3-2 to the Nashville Predators.
Anaheim (44-16-7) maintained its lead in the Pacific Division after the second-place San Jose Sharks (44-17-7) defeated the Islanders 4-3. Each team has 95 points, but the Ducks have played one fewer game.
The Avalanche and Ducks hadn't played each other since opening night when the Avalanche skated to a 6-1 win, a game the Ducks hadn't forgotten.
"We talked about Colorado the past two days, the first game how they embarrassed us," Boudreau said. "We wanted to more than make up for that." The Ducks outscored the Avalanche 6-3 in a wild second period to take a 6-4 lead. Jamie McGinn's power-play goal at 5:21 of the period put the Avalanche ahead 2-1, but the Ducks responded with four consecutive goals on seven shots in a 3:19 span for a 5-2 lead.
Ducks defenseman Ben Lovejoy was credited with the fifth goal at 11:53 when he fired the puck from the right point off the end boards. The puck caromed off goalie Semyon Varlamov's back and bounced inside the post.
Roy replaced Varlamov, who allowed five goals on 24 shots, with Jean-Sebastien Giguere after Lovejoy's goal, his fourth of the season and first in 23 games.
The Avalanche responded with two goals in 33 seconds. McGinn put in the rebound of Johnson's shot for another power-play goal at 18:08, and Landeskog skated through the goalmouth and backhanded the puck under the left arm of Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller at 18:41 to make it 5-4.
"The thing that I was very proud of, it was a 5-2 game and all of a sudden we made it a 5-4 game," Roy said. "I saw them putting their fourth line (on the ice) and I put out my first line. I thought it was the perfect scenario. We had the momentum, the building was loud. And then they scored. It's funny how it is."
The Ducks came right back and scored with 48.8 seconds to play in the period when Perreault eluded two Avalanche defenders in the high slot and put a shot through several bodies into the net.
"We talked about it all year, when we score or they score, you have to have a good rebound shift, have a good follow-up shift," Landeskog said. "We let them take it right back and take the game over. The building was buzzing; I don't think I ever heard it that loud. Too bad it was short-lived."
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The Avalanche went 2-2-0 on the homestand and begins a three-game road trip Sunday in Ottawa. The Avalanche will play Montreal and Winnipeg in back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday, and come home to play Boston next Friday.
"It was a great homestand for us," Roy said. "I know we went 2-2, but I thought our team played really hard. It was hard-fought games every night and I'm proud of our guys. It was top teams -- St. Louis, Chicago, Anaheim and Winnipeg. I thought our guys did a really good job. Our fans should be excited about those games because they were very, very entertaining games.
"The four games were playoff games, playoff atmosphere and intensity. Everybody was playing hard. The teams were playing to win big time. Even at the end, our group is fearless. If we're down two goals, we don't stop and we keep going at them. That's what I like to think about the team tonight and during the homestand."
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The Avalanche on Friday signed forward John Mitchell and goalie Reto Berra to three-year contract extensions through the 2016-17 season.
Mitchell's deal is worth $5.4 million, an average annual value of $1.8 million. Berra will earn $4.35 million, an average annual value of $1.45 million. Mitchell is making $1.1 million this season and Berra $850,000.
Mitchell, who has played all three forward positions, has eight goals and 17 assists in 66 games. He will make $1.7 million next season, $1.8 million in 2015-16 and $1.9 million in the final year.
Berra, who is scheduled to make his Avalanche debut Wednesday in Winnipeg, will be paid $1.4 million next season, $1.45 million in 2015-16 and $1.5 million in the final year.
Both players would have been eligible for unrestricted free agency July 1.