BUFFALO - OK, so where has this team been all season?

If the Avalanche had played like this a lot earlier, it wouldn't be in such a fix.

Even so, thanks to a five-game winning streak, the Avalanche has pulled to six points of eighth-place Minnesota for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, improving its situation considerably from just a week ago.

"We're trying to make our push, and the guys are really playing well at both ends," captain Joe Sakic said Wednesday night after the Avalanche's 3-2 win against the Eastern Conference-leading Buffalo Sabres before a surprised sellout crowd of 18,690 at the HSBC Arena.

Paul Stastny had two more assists - no surprise there - to stretch his point-scoring streak to 17 games, breaking the franchise record for rookies he shared with his father, Peter Stastny, and matching the NHL mark set by Teemu Selanne in 1992-93.

Milan Hejduk, on a tear with 27 points in 19 games, had a short-handed goal and set up Brett McLean's career-high 12th goal before rookie Wojtek Wolski used his long reach to convert Sakic's pass at 1:41 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie.

"When you've got Stastny and Hej- duk playing the way they are, they're carrying us right now," Sakic said.

Stastny, as has become his habit, downplayed his record streak.

"It was nice to get it early and not have to worry about it," he said. "It helped us get back on our feet."

Defenseman Nathan Paetsch gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead 2 minutes into the game, but the Avalanche got that one back when Stastny made a brilliant play on his record-tying point to set up Hejduk's short-handed goal at 9:58.

After taking a pass from Hejduk, Stastny skated by Buffalo's Dainius Zubrus before taking a shot that was blocked. He retrieved the puck, skated behind the net and fed Hejduk in front for a one-timer that beat goalie Ryan Miller high to the short side.

"I put a move around one guy and I was looking pass the whole time," said Stastny, who has eight goals and 17 assists in the streak, which began Feb. 3 against Edmonton. "Miller was scrambling around and I saw 'Hedgie' and no one was coming at him. I just gave it to him and he buried it.

"It's all about the team, but to contribute at those times, especially when we're on our heels a little bit, it was big for us."

The Avalanche took a 2-1 lead 12 seconds into the second period on Mc- Lean's goal, his third in four games, after Hejduk raced to gain possession behind the Sabres net and slipped the puck in front.

"He put it right on my tape," Mc- Lean said.

The Sabres tied the score at 12:43 on a goal by Jason Pominville, but the Avalanche responded again with Wol- ski's goal, his first in nine games and 20th this season.

"I'm starting to feel a little better each game," said Wolski, who has played in six games since missing four because of a concussion.

Wolski skated hard to the net and seemed to reach around Sabres defenseman Dmitri Kalinin to get the blade of his stick on the puck. The goal originally was credited to Sakic when it looked like the puck might have bounced off Kalinin into the net.

"I saw it coming. It was a good play by Joe to get it to the net," Wolski said. "I was just lucky to be there at the right time. The stick is pretty big and it does give me a bit of an advantage."

Confidence can give a team an edge, too, and the Avalanche finally sounds like it believes it can turn this season around, even if only 14 games remain to do it.

"We kept reiterating all year long that we need to go on a sustained run," coach Joel Quenneville said. "We looked like we were close in each and every game, then one game would derail us and all of a sudden it was tough to get on that roll again. It probably happened in 10 to 15 games.

"Hopefully, that's the end of it and we can find late in games that we can get it done."

ETC.: Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj had to make only 19 saves, four in the third period, for his fifth win in a row. "Our guys did a great job, a great defensive job, and the penalty kill was on," Budaj said. . . . The Avalanche killed off both Buffalo power plays and has thwarted 16 in a row in the winning streak. . . . The Sabres had gone 9-0-1 in their previous 10 home games.

Colorado......1	1	1	-	3
Buffalo......1	1	0	-	2

First period - 1, Buf, Paetsch 2 (Campbell, Mair), 2:00. 2, Col, Hejduk 27 (Stastny, Sauer), 9:58 (sh). Penalties - Parker, Col, (interference), 8:06; Kaleta, Buf (tripping), 14:35.

Second period - 3, Col, McLean 12 (Hejduk, Stastny), :12. 4, Buf, Pominville 27 (Briere, Hecht), 12:43. Penalties - Hecht, Buf (cross-checking), 5:41; Guite, Col, (high-sticking), 5:41.

Third period - 5, Col, Wolski 20 (Sakic, Brunette), 1:41. Penalty - McLean, Col, (hooking), 10:39.

Shots - Col 5-11-13 - 29. Buf 10-7-4 - 21. Power plays - Col 0 of 1; Buf 0 of 2. Goalies - Col, Budaj 23-15-4 (21 shots-19 saves). Buf, Miller 32-13-4 (29-26). A - 18,690 (18,690). T - 2:15. Referees - Mike Leggo, Chris Rooney. Linesmen - Jean Morin, Brian Murphy.

Nice tie, rookie

• Longest point streaks by NHL rookies:

Games Player Team Dates

17 Teemu Selanne Winnipeg March 9-April 15, 1993

17 Paul Stastny Colorado Feb. 3, 2007-present

16 Peter Stastny Quebec Oct. 25-Nov. 30, 1980

15 Jude Drouin Minnesota Jan. 21-Feb. 18, 1971

sadowskir@RockyMountainNews.com Avalanche 3, Sabres 2

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