Game 67: Avalanche 2, Canucks 1
by Joe Dunman on Mar 5, 2008 7:03 AM MST
in NHL News
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photo courtesy of David Zalubowski/AP
The Avs absolutely had to win last night against the Canucks, and they did. It wasn't flashy or all that impressive of a win, but it meant two points in the standings for Colorado and none for Vancouver, who now slips down to ninth in the Western Conference and out of the playoffs. The Avs moved up to seventh.
The big story of the night was Peter Forsberg's return, but it was two younger players who stole the show.
The game got off to a relatively slow start, with Tyler Arnason predictably losing the opening faceoff and then both sides exchanging a few chances here and there. Both goalies looked sharp from the beginning, and it was clear that a high score wasn't in the cards.
At the 9:12 mark, Wojtek Wolski broke free in the Canucks zone and shot a laser pass to Paul Stastny, who wristed a shot top shelf past Luongo to give the Avs an early lead. The near-sellout crowd erupted in a way I haven't heard in a long time.
Despite considerably out-shooting the 'Nucks in the second period, the Avs gave up the lead after Adam Foote took a stupid hooking penalty and Ryan Shannon scored on the power play. That one goal would be Jose Theodore's only screw-up of the night. He finished with 26 saves and a save percentage of .963, another extremely impressive game for him. He even took a knee to the head at one point, shook it off, and played just as well afterward.
The game-winning goal came early in the third period when John-Michael Liles saved a kitten with a great slapshot from the point. That goal was only his third of the season and his first since November. We idiots here in the blogosphere have been griping about the lack of shooting from the point during the power play pretty much all season, and Liles' score is definitely some validation for us, just like Ruslan Salei's goal was a couple of games ago. Like I said in the game thread, it's not rocket science. Point shots = power play goals.
The Avs held the lead despite increased pressure from the Canucks in the third period. The win was Colorado's fourth in a row, and they haven't lost with Adam Foote back in the lineup, despite his silly hooking penalties.
So how did Peter Forsberg do? Well, the short answer is "very good." The longer answer is that he started the game skating very cautiously, and his first two shifts were tepid affairs, with him avoiding contact and moving fairly slow. That hesitance wore off pretty quickly, though, and he started to look like the Foppa of years past. He was solid on the puck, his head was always up, and he found his linemates Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk with some really great passes. Those three didn't score, but they had great chances and scared the hell out of Luongo. I don't think Forsberg was quite as amazing as I've seen him, but he was solid and should only get better---barring any injuries, of course.
I do want to commend Joel Quenneville for leaving the Sakic-Hejduk-Forsberg line together all night long, even though they didn't score. They will score, and often, if left together. Even though Q juggled the lower lines constantly (Arnason played at times with Jones, McLeod, Lappy, Guite, Wolski and Brunette, if not others), he left the old guys together. Good work, Q. Keep it up.
Speaking of Coach Q, Greg at the Fanhouse posted a piece outlining my complaints about the Avalanche coaching staff this season, and though he disagrees with me, he gave the criticism a pretty fair shake. That's more than we've gotten from talk radio, that's for sure. If I left out anything in my list of Q's sins, please feel free to comment to Greg's post and add more.
The Avalanche next face Anaheim (again?) at home on Thursday. Beating the defending Stanley Cup champions (who have been on fire lately) will go a long way to confirming the rumor that the Avs are a playoff caliber team.
Stars of the Game:
- John-Michael Liles (1g, 0a)
- Paul Stastny (1g, 0a)
- Jose Theodore (26sv, .963)
Kittens Killed: 
I'm still working on a good icon for "kittens spared," so bear with me. The existing masterpiece (hat tip to Rookie) doesn't look very good in tiny form, so I'll have to play with it some more. Rest assured, it's coming.
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The best thing
about the win last night was that it improved the Avs chances of making the playoffs to 64% according to Shane's second favorite website.
According to the table at the bottom of the page, a .500 record from here on out gives them a 50-50 shot of making the post-season.
Ohh, and they scored on the PP. Unfortunately that means we won't get another PP goal until sometime next season...
being there
man, the place was absolutely jumping. it was definitely goosebumps time every time he touched the puck. the place was set to explode, and finally did when Stastny scored -- it was so loud!
he looked good too, as I'm sure everyone saw. Luongo doesn't make some great saves, a bounce or 2 goes a little different and we're talking about how that line scored 3-4 goals in the first period alone.
anyways, I won't forget this one. definitely a top 5 sporting event moment for me.
Wonderful hockey moments
That was a good game for Avalanche fans.
I think the officiating was pretty poor last night. Foote's first penalty was called when he was lifting the stick, he never hooked the guy. He lifted his stick (above both their heads mind you). That's a real marginal call. Then, they called a hook on him for the mini-break away. That was really marginal. I'm not sure he even got his stick on the guy and I'm certain he got his shot off unhindered. The delay of game call on Theo was a really tough call late in the 3rd. We've seen that call not made all year long. Forsberg gets a straight up elbow to the face that's not called. On the other side of the fence, Parker got away with a big time cross check in the corner and Hannan set a screen for Liles behind our net that didn't get called for interference.
I think Theo made the biggest save of the season with that blocker save at the end of the game. If he doesn't make that save, it changes everything about that game and about the standings. Huge save by Theo.
Thanks
for mentioning this, I thought the refs were atrocious last night, for both teams.
by Jibblescribbits on Mar 5, 2008 10:02 AM MST up reply actions
Re: Thanks
I think the officiating has been pretty awful league-wide all season. They don't have any idea what to call anymore, it seems.
Point shots = power play goals.
We idiots talk here about power play goals coming from the point. We finally saw it with Liles last night, but we have seen it before. There was a streak when Hensiiick had (I believe) 3 power play goals in 3 games. Every one of them started with Clark shooting the puck from the point and Hensiick either deflected it or put in a rebound. Finger also was shooting from the point and either scoring or setting up deflections. When both of those guys went down we started this current streak of terrible power plays. Coincidence?
We also had that nice little delayed penalty goal when Wolski jumped of the bench and blasted a shot from where else....The point!
agreed, Leo?
This is another reason I wish Leopold got some PP time. He shoots well and has a decently quick release.
by Hardshell_Taco_del_Lowayne on Mar 5, 2008 10:09 AM MST up reply actions
Re: Leopold
Leopold has been almost worthless since joining the team along with Hannan and - dare I say it - Ryan Smyth. I have watched Hannan and Smyth play with San Jose and Edmonton, respectively and I have to say, I thought they were great players. Maybe they are. However, they are not great Avalanche players. Call it the Foote/Forsberg syndrome, if you will. These guys were great with their former teams yet have little to give to the new team. Somebody should send them home, really.
However, I remember thinking Sakic was someone to sneeze at and as I stated in my game post, I have seen the light.
Maybe in four years, when Smyth's contract is up, I will have seen the light once again.
Re: Leopold
I disagree that either Leopold, Hannan and Smyth have been "worthless," or even "almost worthless."
Hannan had a slow start, but he's improved considerably. Smyth was below his normal pace prior to the injuries, but he was still scrapping down low for garbage shots and still scored 14 goals. Finally, poor Leopold has been hurt so much the guy can barely get into a rhythm, but once he does, he's a pretty solid defenseman, and contributes here and there on offense when he gets a chance. I think we'd see more out of him if he played on one of the PP units, like lowayne said.
But as for them being "worthless," I'd prefer the term "sub-par."
Subtle karma item for the Calgary Flames
Built Brunette-tough.
Andrew Brunette is the NHL's new ironman.
The veteran Avs forward played his 438th consecutive game Tuesday. Calgary's Cory Sarich had his streak of 453 straight games snapped when he was a healthy scratch Saturday against Phoenix.
So Keenan decieded to kill Sarich's ironman streak with a healthy scratch? Ouch. I'm not sure how well liked Sarich is in the lockerroom but that's a real ball breaker. It may mean nothing but it's something to watch for the Flames down the stretch.
What?
I am shocked, utterly shocked, that Mike Keenan would do something to disrupt team chemistry while his team is rolling.
Next thing you know he'll trade his goalie for some magic beans.
by Jibblescribbits on Mar 5, 2008 10:28 AM MST up reply actions
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