I thought we'd take a look at the fifth goal (third goal for!!!) from last night, because it was awesome. So without further comment or opinion, I offer the following:

We've joined the action in progress as Peter Mueller is applying a one-man forecheck against Brent Seabrook (7) as Ryan O`Reilly's line is leaving the ice. Seabrook is trying to catch the Avs in the change and opts to pass up the middle instead of across to his defensive partner Duncan Keith (2).

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I thought we'd take a look at the first goal against last night, because there has been some discussion and debate on culpability or cause. So without further comment or opinion, I offer the following:

The play starts after a little bit of possession by the Oilers' line of Jordan Eberle (14), Phillipe Cornet (51), and Sam Gagner (89). The defensive pair for Edmonton on this shift is Theo Peckham (24) and Shanahan Valentine Recipient Andy Sutton (25). The Avs have the refurbished Paul Stastny line out (Peter Mueller and T.J. Galiardi on the wings) with a defensive pair of Ryan Wilson and Shane O`Brien. At this point in the shift, the puck is low in the corner on Eberle's twig as he curls up the wall. Note that Stastny is positionally responsible for fellow centerman Gagner at this point, Wilson is moving to take away Eberle's slot pass to Cornet, and SOB and Mueller are forcing Eberle up the boards toward the neutral zone.

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Stop me if you've heard this one before. Just a couple of weeks ago, I praised the Avs for the way they've remained competitive despite the myriad of injuries they've suffered. One of the big reasons, I offered, was because of the consistent play of the Avs "Steel Wheelers" - the centers:

There have been other impact players around every night - Chris Stewart, Milan Hejduk, John-Michael Liles and, yes, Scott Hannan - but the holy trinity represents the only position that hasn't required any reconstructive surgery this year.

Well, the holy trinity is still rolling, but 3 of those 4 other impact players were not in the lineup for the Avalanche last night. And yet, the Burgundy Brigade keeps on rolling and is on pace to match last year's point total. Who will I be praising today? Those magnificent D Cups, especially Liles and Kevin Shattenkirk.

We all know what kind of a season Liles is having. He has a blistering 26 points in 30 games. He needs just 5 more points to match last year's total and 14 to make a few of us roundtable experts look like fools. Impressively, 17 of those points are at even strength (3 goals and 14 assists) which is a big reason that Liles' is a team-high +13 on the season.

For much of the early part of the season, Liles was the lone offensive bright spot on defense. Through the first 14 games of the year, the Avs' defensemen had combined to contribute 2 goals and 22 assists - 24 points in all. Not a terrible number, but almost half of those points - 11, actually - were from Johnny Hot Pocket. He needed some help.

Enter Kevin Shattenkirk. On November 12th - Game 15 - Shattenkirk scored his first NHL point, assisting on a goal by David Jones as the Avalanche iced the Blue Jackets 5-1. In the 16 games since (including that game), the Avs' defensemen have scored 11 goals and 32 assists for a total of 43 points. Of course, instead of Liles being the main contributor, it's now Liles and Shattenkirk as the main contributors. The pair have 31 of those 43 points, including 10 of the 11 goals. After that, there's a "bit" of a drop off - Ryan Wilson and the since-departed Scott Hannan are tied for 3rd with 6 points. That's not to say that the other guys haven't contributed, but the scoring is definitely falling to two players.

Having two guys who can provide an offensive spark instead of one is making an impact. Instead of floundering by losing players like Chris Stewart and, more recently, Milan Hejduk, the Avs' offense has actually gotten better. Going into that November 12th game, the Avs were averaging 3.29 goals a game and were converting 20% of their powerplays. Impressive. After last night, the team was up to 3.53 goals a game (tops in the league) and 22.1% on the power play. Impressiver.

I've been watching a lot of the opponent's feeds lately, and I can tell you that Kevin Shattenkirk has gotten a lot of rave reviews from the other broadcasters. Even with the 11 games he's missed this year, he's on pace to score 59 points (Liles is on pace for 71). That might be tough to maintain, but I do think Shattenkirk is the early front runner for the Calder Trophy (you can put that on the mantle next to the Adams Trophy that Joe Sacco should have won last year). He's been that good.

And, thanks to help from guys like him, so have the Avs.

The NHL hasn't quite figured out that showing preseason games might actually help build the sport, so I'm not watching the game tonight but I am listening to the Kings radio stream. And, based on the TOI reports, here's the lines to start the game...

• Sakic, Tucker, Stewart


• Stastny, Hejduk, Smyth


• Guite, Laperriere, Hendricks


• Willsie, N Smith, Parker

• Foote, Montgomery


• Clark, Campbell


• Liles, Vernace

Budaj is between the pipes. Smyth has a PP goal (there were 4 forwards on the ice, so it appears Sakic is still making an appearance on the blueline with the man advantage). Tucker also has a goal.

Also, Foote is wearing an A (along with Lappy).

The Avalanche won the last game, so, predictably there are no changes to the lines to start this game:

• Sakic, Wolski, Brunette


• Stastny, Smyth, Hejduk


• Arnason, Forsberg, Jones


• Guite, McLeod, Laperriere

• Sauer, Finger


• Liles, Hannan


• Leopold, Salei

Tonight's game is on the NHL Network, which means many of you outside of the Denver area aren't seeing the game. Although that's a travesty, there is some good news: Pierre McGuire is doing the game. Even worse, he's at ice level which seems to ramp up his annoyance level exponentially. Still, it's absolutely ridiculous that the NHL would allow such a key game to be shown on such a limited market. Too bad no one cares about hockey, or there'd be an outcry on par with the protests against the NFL Network's exclusive games last fall...

Tonight's lines:

• Sakic, Wolski, Brunette


• Stastny, Smyth, Hejduk


• Arnason, Forsberg, Jones


• Guite, McLeod, Laperriere

• Liles, Hannan


• Sauer, Finger


• Salei, Leopold

Jose Theodore is in net, facing Miikka Kiprusoff.

Kudos to Adrian Dater for reporting these forward lines yesterday.

This, as Joe would say, is a must-win game. Jose Theodore against Miikka Kiprusoff.

No Forsberg tonight. If I get a chance, I'll share my thoughts on this tomorrow (and my opinion may surprise you).

• Sakic, Brunette, Jones


• Hlinka, Smyth, Hejduk


• Arnason, Wolski, McCormick


• Guite, McLeod, Laperriere

• Sauer, Foote


• Salei, Finger


• Liles, Hannan

Apparently, no Stastny either (he's been battling the flu).

Huge, huge game. Theodore against Backstrom.

1. Sakic, Forsberg, Jones


2. Stastny, Brunette, Hejduk


3. Arnason, Smyth, McLeod


4. Guite, McCormick, Laperriere

1. Liles, Hannan


2. Foote, Sauer


3. Finger, Salei

Forsberg returns. Wolski and Hlinka are both scratched in favor of the Codys. Foote returns, bumping Cumiskey to the press box.

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18:54 Oh crap, Mick McGeough is reffing tonight. I hope this game isn't decided by his love of getting his mug on TV. At leat the 1st call goes our way - Kurtis Foster called for crosschecking.

18:54 Some woman behind the Minnesota bench appears to be wearing curtains. Somehow, I missed this fashion trend. Then again, my idea of "dressy" is my nice jean jacket.

18:05 Radivoyovich gets a terrific shorthanded chance right in front of Theodore.

17:49 And Demitra gets one too. Not a good start for the PP.

17:34 5 on 3 coming up. Brett Burns fires it over the glass. :40 on the 2-man.

16:20 Liles makes 3 excellent plays to keep the puck inside the zone. Just one shot on the 5 on 3 (Liles) and none so far on the remaining 5 on 4.

13:24 Stastny intercepts the puck in the Minnesota zone, but runs out of real estate on the way to the net.

12:52 Minnesota has had WAY too many open shots from the slot.

12:37 Stastny goes off for hooking. I just saw McLeod - he was the 12th forward. He and McCormick are getting the call over Wolski and Hlinka tonight. I still haven't seen who the 6th defenseman is - it's between Leopold, Salei and Cumiskey. I assume Salei, but don't know for sure.

12:30 Oh shit. Not only do we have McGeough, but we have a guy reffing his first NHL game. If I had to choose, I'd take the noob.

11:44 Sakic, working on the 5 on 4, finds himself with the puck behind the Minnesota net. He was ALL alone - he could have done pretty much anything with the puck. He rushes a bit and finds Finger in front. Finger gets a good shot, but Backstrom makes the save.

11:06 Score Minnesota. Rolston skates around Lappy on the ice, dishes back to Burns at the point, and Burns fires it passed Theodore. Theodore was screened by Todd Fedoruk on the play. 1-0 Minnesota.

10:50 As I thought, Salei is the 6th D.

9:59 Derek Boogaard says "hello" to McLeod by throwing him into the boards. McLeod responds with the most insincere, half-hearted "why, I outta..." response in the history of hockey. Meanwhile, Keith Carney is going off for hooking.

8:13 I'm not one of those guys yelling "shoot the puck" at hockey games...but geez, fellas.

3:19 Radevoyic is down after getting hit by Forsberg. Radivojovic is ducking a bit as Forsberg hits him and he ends up getting a shoulder to the head. He's ok though.

1:15 Penalty on McCormick. Holding.

That's it, 1-0 Minnesota after 1. The Avs need to get more pucks on the net. They've had the puck with space, but seem reluctant to give the puck up.

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17:30 Forsberg is giving and receiving a lot of contact tonight.

16:45 Tough shift for McLeod. He misses a check on one end on Schulz and is on the receiving end of a hit by Burns at the other.

16:04 Parrish off for hooking. 4th PP of the night for Colorado. A goal would be nice.

15:27 Getting into the zone would be nice.

15:09 They do both. Sakic scores on the PP. Stastny feeds him from behind the net. I may be mistaken, but I think that ties him with Gretzky on the all-time PP goal list.

13:46 After checking Wiki, I believe I am right. Both have 204. I want to say they are tied for 12th. Would have been nice for Vs to mention that...

12:22 The Avs St Baldrick's Day hair cut for charity thing gets a little national ink. Well, as national as Vs is.

11:11 The Avs have been knocking the door here.

10:18 Radevojivec scored, redirecting a Burns shot. Theodore is screened (Rolston this time) and has no clue the puck is coming. 2-1 Minnesota.

10:03 I had Smyth with Arnason earlier, but he seems to have switched with McLeod. McLeod has joined McCormick with Arnie and Smyth is playing with Lappy and Guite. Is there any Avalanche player who's been moved around during a game than Smyth?

6:03 Koivu interferes with Forsberg. McGeough completely ignores it (shades of Liles getting mugged in front of a blind Mick the Dick last year). The other ref, the one with a thousand less games under his belt and 100 feet away from the action, sees the penalty that is inches from Mick. McGeough, realizing his TV time is dwindling, decides to call Forsberg for diving. Ridiculous call by a ridiculous ref.

5:21 I'm still fuming about that call.

4:13 Penalty on the Wild coming up. It's the other ref calling it, of course. Hooking on Demitra.

1:42 Forsberg gets absolutely mugged by Burns. Burns has Foppa in a bear hug behind the net, 5 feet from McGeough. Believe it or not, McGeough doesn't feel that is penalty worthy. To add insult to everything, Schulz levels Forsberg into the boards. Great job, Mick!

:08 "I just saw Sauer be hard on Gaborik". *blush

2-1 Minnesota after two.

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During the intermission, the Vs crew noted that Sakic has 8 career goals on St Patrick's Day, one behind Bernie Nicholls and Dino Ciccarelli. I wonder if he moved up on any other career lists, guys?

16:40 Lappy is going off for interference.

15:34 Lots of 5 on 4 PK time for Sakic tonight, which is not the norm. With the PP time, he's got to be pushing some big minutes tonight.

8:39 Several chances at the side of the net by Sakic and Forsberg.

8:33 Bruno has moved up the Sakic line while Smyth has joined Stastny (his 3rd line of the night)

8:07 Tremendous sprawling save by Theodore to keep the Avs in it.

6:10 Forsberg draws a penalty. He stickhandles through two zones and ultimately goes down with Bouchard chasing him. Amazingly, McGeough makes this call. And, to be honest, I think Forsberg fell - I don't think Bouchard did anything wrong.

5:47 We hit the post. Guh.

4:27 Geez. So many chances. Sakic. Salei. Hannan. Liles.

4:11 Bouchard is back on the ice.

3:12 The Minnesota PA folks are playing Steel Dragon. Sweet.

2:27 Sakic has been terrific tonight.

1:30 Salei with a great hip check on Rolston.

1:11 Theo is off.

:59 Jones, Liles and Jones both have great scoring chances.

:40 Holy fuck, my DirecTV signal drops for 20 seconds. SUPERB timing.

:06 That's it. Veilleux takes Forsberg's drop pass and fires it the length of the ice and into the net. Minnesota wins 3-1.

The Avs stay in 7th in the conference, and could fall to 8th if the Canucks win later tonight.