"On a night when Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj fought the puck, the puck emerged the decisive victor.

On a night when the Avs had a two-goal lead and two subsequent 5-on-3 power-play advantages, they decided to get more charitable than Bill Gates' foundation and dropped a 6-4 decision to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.

With the five goals he gave up on 32 shots, Budaj has allowed nine goals in fewer than five periods of work in the past week. This might explain his hunched posture and the muttering gestures to himself in the locker room afterward.

"Pucks were going through me," Budaj said. "We score four goals on the road, we should win. I was in the right position a few times, but

they sneaked through me. It was bad goals; I wasn't able to make the big saves at the right time."

Budaj deserved a big chunk of blame for this loss, but not all of it. After the Avs built a 4-2 lead on Kyle Cumiskey's perfect wrist shot at 11:04 of the second period, referees gave them two 5-on-3s, each for less than a minute."