Canucks Fight To Tie Avalanche

Adam Deadmarsh scored his second goal of the game at 7:09 of the third period Tuesday night, lifting the Colorado Avalanche into a 4-4 tie with the Vancouver Canucks.

It was a franchise-record fourth consecutive tie for the Avalanche, who have gone 0-2-4 since their 12-game winning streak ended Feb. 7.

Sandis Ozolinsh had four assists for Colorado, while Vancouver's Markus Naslund had two shorthanded goals and an assist.

The Canucks snapped a three-game losing streak during which they had been outscored by a combined 17-2.

Vancouver goalie Garth Snow had 39 saves and Colorado's Craig Billington, who started in place of the injured Patrick Roy, had 23.

In the return to Colorado of Vancouver coach Marc Crawford, who formerly coached the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup title and who departed under bitter circumstances last spring, the Canucks built a 3-1 lead after the first period. Naslund scored both of his shorthanded goals in that period.

Moments after Vancouver's Dave Gagner went to the penalty box early in the game, Naslund scored on a breakaway from just left of the crease at 4:09.

Colorado countered with a power-play goal at 4:48 when Milan Hejduk's shot from the point delected off the skate of a leaping Chris Drury into the net.

Vancouver's Bill Muckalt, the NHL's leading scorer among rookies, broke an 11-game goal-less streak at 7:33 when, cutting through the slot, he nearly whiffed on the puck but the slow-motion shot went through Billington's legs.

At 11:44, Naslund got another shorthanded goal, beating Billington from the left circle. It was the Canucks' 15th shorthanded goal of the season, which leads the NHL.

Colorado tied it with a pair of power-play goals in the second period.

The Canucks were assessed a bench minor for having too many men on the ice, and 32 seconds later Bryan McCabe went off on a four-minute high-sticking penalty, giving Colorado a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:28. Deadmarsh scored from the slot 10 seconds later at 7:08.

Still with a man advantage for the next 3:50, the Avalanche got even when Peter Forsberg raked in a goal from the crease at 10:19.

Adrian Aucoin's power-play goal put Vancouver ahead 4-3 at 2:07 of the third period. Colorado again had a 5-on-3 advantage, and Deadmarsh tied it when his rebound shot deflected off McCabe's skate.

Roy, who had started the previous 16 games, was sidelined with a strained groin muscle.

The Canucks were without Alexander Mogilny (groin), Mark Messier (knee) and Ed Jovanovski (broken foot).

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