photo courtesy of Tony Gutierrez/AP

David called in this morning and I'm in the middle of studying for finals, so we'll keep this brief, kids.  No fancy header bars or quotes from other recaps today.  You'll live.

Going into last night's game against the Dallas Stars, the Colorado Avalanche were sporting a 4-0 record in shootouts this season, and had won eight in a row since last February.  But if somebody's going to beat you in a shootout, it's Marty Turco.  Even sucky Marty Turco.

The Avalanche almost didn't make it that far.  Their on-again, off-again offense was most definitely off again in Dallas, managing just 13 shots in the first two periods and no goals.  The Stars weren't doing too much better, except for a redirect by Toby Petersen off a Mike Modano shot in the second.  Other than that unfortunate lapse, Peter Budaj played very well in net for the first time in his last three starts. 

The Stars' one goal lead lasted until the final minute of regulation, when Paul Stastny (firmly planted in Andrew Brunette Territory directly behind the Dallas net) fed a super-fast pass to a net-crashing Marek Svatos, who shoveled it up and over Turco to tie the game. 

Wojtek Wolski was the only Avalanche player to score in the shootout.  Budaj allowed goals by Mikes Ribeiro and Modano (after stopping both Brad Richards and Fabian Brunnstrom). 

So the Avalanche manage just one regulation goal and one point in the standings against one of the worst teams in the NHL.  Awesome.  Sometimes this team makes me feel as sad as "the loneliest whale."

AP recap