At the end of tonight's game, Blues' play-by-play guy John Kelly said the line that Avalanche have heard time and time again: "thank you, thank you, thank you". Although he was directing it at Patrick Berglund for firing the winning shot toward the goal, it could have equally applied to Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov. His teammates can thank him for getting them a point tonight.

The Avs were playing the 2nd night of a back-to-back - with travel - and it showed. The Blues had the better jump out of the gates...and then pretty much every step of the way until the end. The first period was a whistle-heavy affair - offsides, icing, frozen pucks and three brutally stupid penalties by the Avalanche (Jay McClement, Chuck Kobasew and Ryan O'Byrne). The Avalanche had killed off 13 straight penalties going into tonight, nearing their season high of 15. They didn't make it. David Perron scored on the first PP (with McClement in the box for an inexplicable tackle on Barrett Jackman) and then followed it up with a goal on the 2nd PP (a 5 on 3 with Chuck Kobasew off for blatantly obvious trip, and O'Byrne off for a dumb-headed boarding play). The Avalanche managed a couple of goals of their own, with David van der Gulik winning an offensive zone draw and dropping it back to Shane O'Brien with a beautiful shot that either fooled Elliott or was deflected. And Erik Johnson later scored on a blistering point shot on the PP, doubling his goal output for the year.

That would cover the regulation scoring. The Avalanche didn't have a ton of steam to start with and lost ground as the night went on. They were outshot in every period and the margin got wider as the night went on: 11-8 in the first, 13-6 in the 2nd, 18-4 in the 3rd. I'm not really picking on the Avs here, as it was clear they didn't have much in the tank and did their best to hang on against an onslaught from a sharp St Louis team. All in all, the Blues fired 79 shots, with 44 of them making it on net. The Avs took 35 shots, with 19 getting through to Brian Elliott.

Although several Avs looked okay tonight - O'Reilly and Landeskog (again), Johnson, David van der Gulik in a strong cameo role - the Avalanche story tonight was Semyon Varlamov. The first Perron goal was kind of shaky (he seemed to have it stopped but then lost the puck into the net when shifting his pads), but he appeared to gain strength as the night wore on while his teammates were wearing down. There was a shift midway through the 3rd where the Avalanche were stuck in their zone for a LONG time (Jan Hejda ended up on the ice for 2:54); I was fairly certain that was going to end poorly, but Varly made some huge saves and kept his team alive.

The Blues eventually scored late in OT (on a deflected knuckler that fooled Varly), but the fact that the Avalanche managed a point tonight is a testament to the strong play of Varlamov. Next time, hopefully they'll have some fresher legs so they can get him that much needed must-win.

• 3rd period Varlamov (18 saves)
• 2nd period Varlamov (13 saves)
• 1st period Varlamov (9 saves)
  

• Landeskog - O'Reilly - Mueller
• Jones - Stastny - Hejduk
• Winnik - McClement - Kobasew
• McLeod - van der Gulik

• Quincey - Jones
• Hejda - O'Byrne
• O'Brien - Barrie
• Wilson

Wasn't watching the Avs' feed, so not sure where Galiardi was tonight. Healthy scratch?

• Milan Hejduk played in his 967th regular season game, tying him for 2nd on the franchise all-time list (about 400 behind Joe Sakic). However, for just Avalanche totals, Hejduk is #1.
• The next active Avalanche players on the list? Paul Stastny (402) and Cody McLeod (323), followed by David Jones (214), Ryan O'Reilly (211) and Matt Duchene (200). Crazy.
• Tyson Barrie had just 11:44 of ice time, lowest of the 7 D the Avs dressed

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

NW matchup on Wednesday, with Avs in Vancouver. Oh fuck.

Military Appreciation Night started (on the ice) with a string of dump-ins, icings, and offsides as the Avalanche seemed to be starting late again. The visiting Hurricanes generated some one-and-done chances, but Colorado netminder Jean-Sebastien Giguere stood tall. A good shift by the T. J. Galiardi line was followed up shortly after be a great shift from the Paul Stastny line at about 7 minutes into the period. Toward the tail end of that shift, the Hurricanes pushed the tempo back the other way and a short shift saw everybody on the home team watching or chasing the other Stewart (Anthony) out of the corner. He found Tim Brent alone in the slot for the quick shot past Giguere for the 1-0 lead on Brent's 8th of the season.

Not long after, a freshly-over-the-wall Cody McLeod drove to the back of the Carolina net and tripped trade-rumor-target Tuomo Ruutu for the first PK sighting of the game. The Avs killed it off with some good work down low and some better work by Giggy on some sweet Carolina (BUH, BUH, BUUUM) plays. The Avalanche responded with a good shift from the Stastny line but nobody could finish. Not long after another good series by the Ryan O`Reilly line resulted in nil on the board, Stastny got called for a slash as he tried to generate something in the offensive zone. The 'Canes pressed hard but couldn't bury one past Giguere even though the Avalanche looked to be firmly entrenched in survive-the-period-mode.

Surprise!! A great forecheck by Peter Mueller and Gabriel Landeskog resulted in a typical why-pass-when-I-can-shoot shot from Landeskog who beat a somewhat-surprised Cam Ward with just over a minute left in the game. Another surprise!! The next shift down by the 'Canes resulted in scrambly d-zone entry work and Jan Hejda provided a quick screen for a Jiri Tlusty shot to beat Giguere. Carolina had regained the one-goal lead as the period came to an end. Lackluster play and two power plays resulted in the Avs getting outshot 12-6 in the first frame.

The second period started with some backpeddling and Giguere was called on early and often as the 'Canes were shooting from everywhere. Colorado finally got a good breakout from their own end and the Stastny line decided that would be a good time to put on a clinic. A passing and goalie undressing clinic that is. Hejduk-to-Jones-to-Stastny-to-Hejduk for the tying goal (for those scoring at home). That was a beautiful goal by the throwback line from the beginning of the season. Lots of sauce on that play.

Carolina answered with some decent pressure and rolling chances before a spectacular shift by the Jay McClement line around the 9 minute mark resulted in a Tyson Barrie shot that got redirected between Cam Ward's pillows but trickled juuuuuuuuuuust wide. Then the game shifted to a back-and-forth affair with chances at both ends, but lots of consistent pressure and good opportunities from the hometown Burgundy and Frostbite Blue. With just over 6 minutes left in the game, Mueller was the benefit of a giveaway behind the 'Canes' net. He threw the puck in front to Landeskog who tried to slip it in farside but missed.

A quick carry-in by Ruutu and a good net drive by all three Carolina forwards resulted in a bad bounce finding its way to Eric Staal's stick with just over 4 minutes left in the period. He didn't miss on the empty net as Giguere had slid to his right trying to follow the pass through traffic. That goal was just Staal's 14th of the season. Then, at almost exactly 1 minute left in the period some great hustle and work from David Jones behind the net got the Avalanche back even. Jones pulled the puck off the boards after carrying it deep and passed it to a streaking Stastny who put the puck on a string and tucked it past a sliding Ward for HIS 14th goal of the season. Colorado went into the 2nd intermission tied on the scoreboard but being badly outshot (33-21).

Much more balanced start to the third. Lots of neutral zone possession and both teams did a better job of standing up at their own blueline. The Avs get about a minute of strong possession in the 'Canes' zone after a set play off a faceoff resulted in Tyson Barrie flying into the zone and pushing the play below the circles. Treated to Hejduk playing D for a pinching Shane O`Brien toward the end of that same shift. Ward was forced to make a couple of tough saves through traffic.

A bad entry play by Hejda generated a 3-on-1 the other way but Giguere made a tough blocker save. Scary moment alert when a hustling Hejda tripped over a sprawled Ruutu and went into the boards awkwardly but appeared OK. O`Reilly had a golden oppertunity off of a turnover that was picked up and dished to him by Landeskog but he hit the post with a yawning net in front of him at about 9 minutes gone in the period. Not long after Ruutu drew a penalty as he got crowbared between the legs by Jones at the blueline.

At the start of the penalty kill, Radar goes on a steal-and-shooting spree like a crack head on Devil's Night but Ward stood (butterflied) tall. Radar then took his rage out on the bench door. Dude was nuclear pissed! The team responded because it looked like everybody seemed to have some jump as they wanted to bury a goal for him. Stastny and Jones were flying in the offensive zone and then Landeskog was driving the net while holding off a defender. Carolina answered with pressure of their own in the last few minutes of the period. Landeskog and O'Reilly nearly netted a winner with a strong net drive. Jan Hejda also handled his business by erasing a Tlusty rush at the other end. Both teams survived for the end of regulation point and the game went to overtime. The shot differential had closed a lilttle by that point, 40-31 in the Hurricanes' favor.

Giguere was forced to make a good save on a tipped shot about a minute into the 5-minute OT. Barrie drove in and got a good look at Ward on the next shift. Most of the extra frame had been in Carolina's favor. Some sphincter-clenching neutral zone 'play' with less than two minutes left in bonus time generated some more good possession time for the 'Canes before Ryan O'Reilly decided to end the game. He stripped Justin Faulk in the neutral zone, pushed the play into the Carolina zone, tee'd it up, and let slip the Dogs of War with a slapshot fueled by rage and frustration that beat Ward short side with less than TWO SECONDS TO GO IN OT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm spent...

• O'Reilly, was a boss in the third and OT
• Stastny, assist and the game-tying goal + 70% in the circle
• Landeskog, who I'm convinced is trying for a double-double in shots and hits every night
  

• Landeskog - O'Reilly - Mueller
• Jones - Stastny - Hejduk
• Galiardi - McClement -Winnik
• McLeod - van der Gulik - Kobasew

• Johnson - Quincey
• Hejda - O'Byrne
• Barrie - O'Brien

• Giguere

• Scratches: Hunwick, Wilson, Porter
  

• Carolina seemed to be shooting wide deliberately ALOT from the point to try to get Jiggy moving out of the net.
• Barrie seemed to struggle with the aggressive Hurricane forecheck and had a couple of rookie mistakes in his own end. He upped his offensive/skating game in the third and OT though.
  
• Jiggy was generating more rebounds than a drunk point guard.

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

The Avalanche travel to St. Louis for a tilt against the Blues tomorrow night @ 6:00 pm.

Two teams riding 5 game winless streaks battled it out in Denver tonight as the road weary Blackhawks fell to the Colorado Avalanche, 5-2 at Pepsi Center. The Avs broke their 5 game losing streak along with a nasty goal scoring drought.

Lots of up and down play in a speedy first period. O'Brien had a quality chance walking in and talking a pass from Winnik from the goal line, but a Chicago defenseman got a stick on it to change direction. The Avs best chance came with about 7 seconds left in the period as Stastny and Kobasew broke in on a 2 on 1 but Kobasew's shot hit the outside of the net. If Kobasew is a legit top six guy, that shot goes in. In the end, neither squad could cash in on the fast paced play and the period ends knotted at 0, shots tied at 9, chances even at 3, and odd man rushes 3-0 in favor of the home team.

The scorelessness ended 30 seconds into the middle frame when the puck got lost in a crowd and popped out to Seabrook all alone on the outside. By the time everyone figured out where the puck was, it was too late. 1-0 Blackhawks. But the Avs answered with their 5th odd man rush of the night finally hit pay dirt as O'Reilly stole the puck and he and Mueller rushed up ice. O'Reilly faked the shot and then made a perfect pass over to Mueller who had his stick on the ice and directed the rubber disc home to tie the game at 1. Two actual top six forwards on an odd man rush = goal!

The tally sparked the Avs and just seconds later Hejduk stole the puck from Duncan Keith at the Blackhawks' blueline, creating a three on one. The Captain took his time before sending a pass into the slot where David Jones buried his 11th of the season. 2-1 Avs. Timeout Chicago. That's 3 goals scored in 4 minutes after a scoreless first period. Locker room pep talks? Orange Slices spiked with Human Growth Hormone? Who can tell.

Less than 3 minutes later, Patrick Kane continued the barrage of goals with a wicked backhander that somehow found a path past Giguere. Seriously, he may have been the only person in the building that could make that shot. I heard he sleeps with oven mitts on to protect those purdie hands. Game tied at 2. Toews almost gave the Hawks back the lead when he juked Quincey out of his pads and cut in front sending a backhander on net, but Giguere stayed with him and made the stop.

The Avs grabbed the lead just 38 seconds into the 3rd period on a big shot from Landeskog top shelf glove side as he entered the zone trailing Stastny. Avs on top 3-2. All 3 Colorado goals were scored off of Chicago turnovers. It's nice to be on the other side of that equation for once. The Avs got caught on a bad miss match with their 4th line out against the Hawks top line (PSSST. Sacco, you have the last change dude. And you can totally use it. For real), resulting in a Blackhawk's powerplay, but the Avs killed it off allowing no shots in the process.

Shortly after the Avs killed off another Chicago powerplay, David Jones flashed images of his old self as he flew up the ice on the right side and beat Emery with a wicked wrister to make it 4-2. That is vintage (has he been around long enough for us to say that?) Jonesy. Hopefully 3 goals in the past two games snaps the good doctor out of his funk. Our boys would go on to score an empty netter as Quincey banked one off the boards that had enough on it to travel all the way into the Blackhawks' vacated net. Coach Q perhaps pulled Emery a tad early with over 2 minutes to go and it sealed the win for the Avs.

The Avs skated hard tonight and really out worked the Blackhawks. The visitors also helped out by supplying a bevy of turnovers and odd man rushes to help the Avs break out of their losing streak, but the Avs were the better team tonight and crawled within a point of 8th place Minnesota.

• Jones, 2 goals
• Landeskog, GW Goal, all around badass
• Giguere and The Penalty Killers, 3 for 3 and aggressive all night
  

• Landeskog - O'Reilly - Mueller
• Winnik - Stastny - Hejduk (Winnink and Jones changed places in the game)
• Galiardi - McClement - Jones
• McLeod - van der Gulik - Kobasew

• Johnson - Quincey
• Hejda - O'Byrne
• Barrie - O'Brien

• Giguere

• Scratches: Hunwick, Wilson, Porter
  

• Happy 21st Birthday Ryan O'Reilly!
• Barrie played well in his debut. Miniscule sample size, but he seems like a more complete player then Stefan Elliot.
• Paul Stastny had 2 assists in the game (11 points in his last 10 games), but looked like he may have sustained an injury late in the third. Not sure I saw him on the ice after that....

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

The Carolina Hurricanes blow into Denver on Friday, February 10th, for a 7pm puck drop between the league's top two natural disasters.

The Colorado Avalanche headed into today's game against the Canucks needing a win in the worst way. They had not only lost 4 games in a row, but all 4 games were lost by one goal.

Coming out of the gate the Avs looked ready. They came out with a lot of speed and grit early on. It led to a tremendous scoring chance for Gabriel Landeskog, unfortunately he caught nothing but iron.

Then when it looked like the Avs were going to be getting a 4 minute power play after Daniel Winnik had his bottom lip cut open by Kevin Bieksa's stick, TJ Galiardi was called for elbowing. That call put the NHL's number one power play unit on the ice and they normally don't need many chances to capitalize. Fortunately the Avs were able to kill this one off.

Just after the penalty expired though, the Canucks would take the lead. With Jean-Sebastien Giguere screened, Ryan Kesler sent a shot toward the net that found the back of the net to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game. Like some games in the past though, the Avs didn't get down on themselves and kept putting pressure on the Canucks.

That continued pressure is what led to the Avs getting two chances on the power play during the first period and were able to cash in on their first chance of the game. Paul Stastny, a player whom I've been especially critical of, sent a terrific saucer pass right onto the tape of David Jones, who smashed home his 10th goal of the season.

The Avs would carry the momentum they had created from the first period into the second. It would prove especially crucial because they had to kill off nearly a minute and a half of carry over penalty time, which they did.

Shortly after the penalty had expired, the Avs would take advantage of a very costly turnover by Kevin Bieksa behind his own net. Daniel Winnk was able to corral the puck behind the net and center it out in front for a streaking Jay McClement who fired it past a sprawling Robert Luongo to give the Avs a 2-1 lead less than 5 minutes into the second period.

Heading into the second period the Avs were going to look to continue to get great scoring opportunities and a ton of shots on net. And that's exactly what they did. At one point during the second the Avs were out shooting the Canucks 27-12. The Avs finished the second period leading 30-17 in shots on goal and 2-1 on the scoreboard.

Fortunately for the Avs they were able to carry a lead into the third period, because the Canucks are 21-0-0 this season when heading into the 3rd period.

Early on the third period was pretty evenly matched, with neither team gaining any momentum over the other. There was lots of heavy hits on both sides of the puck and in all areas of the ice. Then just over halfway thru the third period, Daniel Winnik was called for holding has he hauled down Kevin Bieksa, who just seemed to be all over the ice for Vancouver. It would be the Canucks 5th power play of the game and fortunately for Colorado, they were able to kill it off.

The Avs had a couple of glorious scoring opportunities to put the game out of reach with just over five minutes to play as both Daniel Winnik and Gabriel Landeskog had small breakaways on Roberto Luongo. Unfortunately for Avs fans, the Canucks net minder stood tall on both chances to keep his team within one of Colorado late.

With just a over a minute and a half to play in the game the Canucks pulled Roberto Luongo to make one final push to get the game tied up and they did. First Kevin Bieksa made a diving save to prevent the Avs from sealing the game with an empty net goal, then comes back to tie the game at 2 with just over 30 seconds to play.

With the game heading to overtime, the Avalanche absolutely needed the full two points for a win. The one point definitely helps, but following the Avs loss to Minnesota in regulation Thursday night two points is a MUST.

During the overtime both teams had great chances to end the game, but both goalies held their ground and gave up nothing. Heading into the shootout the Colorado Avalanche had dominated in the shootout so far this season and were looking to go 8-0. Unfortunately the Avs were not able to get a shot past Luongo in the shootout and fell in a heartbreaker to the Canucks as Mason Raymond was the only player to score during the shootout.

The Avs have now lost 5 one goal games in a row.

• 1 Jean-Sebastien Giguere, 27 saves in regulation and overtime.
• 2 Gabriel Landeskog, a game high 9 shots
• 3 Jay McClement, 1G, 12 of 21 in the face-off circle tonight.

• 1 Landeskog-O'Reilly-Hejduk
• 2 Jones-Stastny-Kobasew
• 3 Galiardi-McClement-Winnik
• 4 McLeod-Van der Gulik- Porter

• 1 Johnson-QUincey
• 2 Hejda-O'Byrne
• 3 Hunwick-O'Brien

• 1 David Jones power play goal in the first period broke the Avs' 176:27 scoreless drought against Vancouver.
• 2 Prior to the game Stefan Elliott was sent back down to Lake Erie and Tyson Barrie was recalled to the NHL.
• 3 Peter Mueller didn't dress for today's game due to not feeling well. Thankfully it's because of flu like symptoms and nothing related to his past head injuries.

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

The Chicago Blackhawks come to town on Tuesday night, where the Avalanche will be playing for their playoff lives.

Sorry for the delay on this one - the great SBN network blackout last night prevented me from getting the job done. Oh, and you know who also didn't get the job done last night? The Colorado Avalanche offense.

For the 9th time in 11 games, the Avalanche failed to score more than 2 goals. In this case, 2 goals would have won the game. 1 goal would have at least gotten them a Bettman Bump. No luck. Instead, Nik Backstrom turned aside all 37 shots and the Avalanche offense - you know, the one that didn't hasn't needed any high priced acquisitions in the last couple of years - was shut out for the 5th time this year. The Avs fired 75 shots toward the net. Some were blocked, some were missed, some were turned aside. All were futile.

The frustrating lack of offense is frustrating because the Avs were solid defensively all night long (again), allowing just 20 shots on net and J.S. Giguere was his normal self, turning aside almost everything he faced. His only hiccup came early in the first period when a weak Greg Zanon wrister from the point meandered through traffic and found the back of the net. So ends the scoring summary for the night.

The Wild made a number of questionable hits on Avalanche players, like Devon Setoguchi on Paul Stastny, Cal Clutterbuck on Ryan O'Reilly; I could see an argument on both plays as to whether they were a penalty...but either way they looked cheap and the Avs really failed to step up and do anything about it. It wasn't until Darroll Powe leveled David van der Gulik on another questionable play (the only one to get an actual penalty) that someone finally answered the bell - heavyweight Chuck Kobasew. Kobasew ended up with two fights in the game and Cody McLeod would later tangle with Clayton Stoner. Those were the only two with any sort of pugilistic propensity. Everyone else just seemed to put their head down an look the other way when their brothers were getting pushed around. I know this team isn't built for blood feuds, but there are players who could - and should - have stepped up to put an end to the questionable stuff.

I would have also accepted "scored a retaliatory goal or two" as an answer as well. No dice. Amazingly, the Avs have lost 4 straight in a tight playoff race but have barely lost any ground. That doesn't make me feel any better about the Avs' chances this year. 2.38 goals per game (and falling) just isn't going to cut it...especially when you lose to one of the few teams that scores less.

• Gigure
• Landeskog
• Kobasew
  

• Galiardi, Stastny, Mueller
• Landeskog, O'Reilly, Hejduk
• Porter, McClement, Winnik
• McLeod, van der Gulik, Kobasew

• Hejda, O'Byrne
• Quincey, Johnson
• Wilson, Elliott
  

• Landy had 6 hits
• Quincey led the Avs in shots with 5
• Jay McClement was 9 of 12 in the faceoff circles

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

Woohoo - another NW team on Saturday (Vancouver). Yay for us!

A myriad of playoff implications were in play tonight as multiple teams in the 12th-to-8th spots in the Western Conference got back to action following the All-Star break. One of those games was between the 9th place Avalanche and the already-out-of-it Edmonton Oilers. Semyon Varlamov made his first start in net since January 16th and Ryan O`Reilly made his return from illness. The Avs hoped to get to .500 against a lackluster Northwest division foe but dug a hole early and couldn't get back out.

The game started with some quick, back-and-forth action with the Avs controlling the majority of the possession and had some great opportunities with O'Reilly's and Stastny's line both getting some good pressure. Unfortunately, that pressure didn't amount to much. Not content to discuss the game, the Altiboobs decided they'd introduce their man-crush for this game: Jordan Eberle. Of course he responded with a goal just short of the five minute mark. He drove the back of the net, selling the wraparound before reversing for the stuff. Varlamov got his leg back for the first save, but didn't have the leverage to prevent Eberle from tucking the rebound in. Sam Gagner and OKC stalwart Phillipe Cornet got assists.

Jan Hejda drew a penalty after a nice hip check earned the ire of Ben Eager. One GREAT shot from O'Reilly was tipped on net by Peter Mueller but genetic aberration Devan Dubnyk made a great save. That was pretty much the highlight of the period for Colorado at even strength. The Avs decided to treat the Edmonton faithful to an extended look at the home team power play after plenty of back-and-forth action in the middle chunk of the period as T.J. Galiardi got tagged for a four minute penalty due to a high stick on Theo Peckham. The Oilers moved the puck around the zone well and Eric Belanger sent a slapshot past a screened Varlamov to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead. The goal occurred in the first half of the double minor, but the Avs managed to kill the last half of it (and the remainder of the period) before heading to the lockerroom with a 11-6 shot differential to Edmonton's favor. The Alberta crowd was treated to a Chuck Kobasew's fumbled puck on the short-handed breakaway with a Dubnyk pokecheck to cancel out that moment of excitement for the visitors.

The Avs came out with some jump to start the period and less than two minutes in a Frankenline of Paul Stastny, Chuck Kobasew, and Mueller hit paydirt after Kobasew threw a puck across the crease. Mueller held his ground for the tip in to get Colorado on the scoreboard and back in the game. Stastny credited with the other assist on the goal. The Avalanche followed up the great start with even more pressure as the forecheck went into overdrive. They spent most of the next 6-to7 minutes in Edmonton's zone. Dubnyk got his second ping of the night during one of those sustained stretches.

By the nine minute mark the Avalanche had closed the shot gap to 12-12 with constant pressure and multiple chances. The period settled in a little and the Oilers pushed back with some aggressive forechecking of their own. Varlamov made some quality saves during this stretch, including a good glove save on Eberle as well as some solid work through traffic. Lots of neutral zone play commenced before a great read and hustle play by Stastny at the Edmonton blue line drew a penalty with a broken stick due to a two hander from Golden Fingers Eberle. A WEEEEEEAK start to the Power Play (the passing was indicitive of broken wrists and faint hearts) and one soft dump on net were the only things worth mentioning. Jay McClement's line generated a good shift at the end of the frame, but the Colorado went to the intermission with only half of the goal differential made up (shots: 18-19 Oilers).

The third period started much the same as the 2nd with sustained pressure by Colorado. Stastny had a a great net-drive from the corner and the Avs force Dubnyk to be solid in the first three minutes of the period. He continues to stand tall and after a great shift in the Oil end by Stastny's line, the play quickly went down the to other end and a bad-angle Ales Hemsky shot off of Varlamov's right pad landed on a streaking Taylor Hall's stick for the slam dunk with about 6 minutes gone in the period. 3-1 Oilers.

The Avalanche, to their credit, answered with more sustained pressure and were rewarded. Some great passing and reads by the O'Reilly's line (namely his rebound-inducing shot to the far side leg pad) and a net drive by Milan Hejduk (of all people) left Gabriel Landeskog with a chance to bury the backhand past a well-out-of-his-net Dubnyk. Landeskog extended his point streak to 4 games with that goal. 3-2 Oilers with shots at 23 apiece and nearly half of the period remaining.

More sustained possession throughout the remainder of the period with great plays by David Jones to pin it deep, a good check on Hall by Quincey, some good back-checking by Landeskog, and a near miss of a deflected shot from Stastny.The Avs were all over the Oilers at this point. In particular, O'Reilly made a great play at the point to keep a puck alive and then had a sure goal taken away by Dubnyk as he slid over and trapped the puck in the seven hole.

An Edmonton high-stick garnered an offensive zone faceoff and coach Joe Sacco took his timeout. He pulled Varlamov and ran 5 forwards with Johnson. They generated some intermittent possession, but don't do much quality with it. Lots of scrambling to the buzzer, but ultimately nothing to show for it except another loss to a shit less than outstanding team, this one in their own division.

• Landeskog
  
• Mueller
• O'Reilly
  

• Landeskog - O'Reilly- Hejduk
• Galiardi - Stastny - Mueller
• Winnik - McClement - Jones
• McLeod - van der Gulik - Kobasew : Kevin Porter is the forward watching from the pressbox with O`Reilly returning.
  

• O'Byrne - Hejda
• Quincey - Johnson
• O'Brien - Wilson: Elliott and Hunwick are both healthy and both on nacho duty.
  

• Varlamov

• His errant stick earned Galiardi a whopping ZERO for TOI in the 2nd. Kobasew was rewarded with his spot and O'Reilly double-shifted on the 4th. I thought it worked pretty well.
  
• Landeskog had a good game IMO. He shoots every time the puck is on his stick, he hits, he battles, and he forechecks like a beast. He has a point streak because he works his tail off. I hope we don't see a rookie wall this season because he's a treat to watch.
  
• Taylor Hall got roughed up in this game. Two big hits in the 3rd period in particular had him on the bench wincing. He finished the game though.
• SCORING EFFECT ALERT!!!: Final SOG totals: COL 33 EDM 23

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

Colorado welcomes fellow Winter Classic shaft-ee on Thursday when the face the Minnesota Wild in the Pepsi Center at 7:00pm.

8th place in the west was up for grabs tonight in the final game for both squads before the All-Star break, and the game began with some palpable urgency as both teams attempted to make a statement. In the end, the Avs statement was something like "oops".

The Avs were without Ryan O`Reilly tonight as he came down with an illness right before the game. With Ryan Wilson coming back and a plethora of defensemen eager to dress, Coach Sacco decided to roll with 7 defensemen in the absence of the Avs' leading scorer. The shortened forward corps made from some new line combinations, and one of those, the line of Landeskog - Galiardi - Hejduk, struck early. After a dominating shift by the Paul Stastny line, T.J. Galiardi and company brought the puck into the visitor's zone with some speed and Galiardi sent a bad angle backhander up and over Backstrom for the early lead.

A few penalties eventually led to a Minnesota powerplay goal that looked as if it changed direction off of Landeskog on it's way past Giguere. 1-1. Shortly after the goal, Erik Johnson dropped NHL hit leader Cal Clutterbuck with a sampling of his own medicine. Cal looked up at the refs to see if it was a penalty - no Cal, that's just what it feels like to get hit. Now get up please. Go back and play with your friends.

With just under 4 minutes left in the first, the Avs fell victim to another breakaway (Bobby Ryan had at least 3 of his own last game in Anaheim), as Kyle Brodziak broke in alone on Giguere after Jan Hejda got pummeled at Minnesota's blueline and no one was back to defend. Giguere made the save, but more disheartening than the initial breakaway was that no one hustled back to pick up the trailing Dany Heatley who snapped Brodziak's heads-up pass up and over Giguere far side. 2-1 Mild.Timeout Avalanche. Period ends with the Avs being outshot 13-4 and out-face-offed 13-5. The Avs fell asleep after the first goal - maybe they thought the game was over?

The Avs sniffed some smelling salts during intermission and promptly tied things early in the second when Daniel Winnik's wrister squeezed through Backstrom and rolled along the goalline before Chuck Kobasew punched it home. If that play had happened in the first period, no Avalanche player would have been near that loose puck, but luckily, Chuck the veteran, woke up.

A little bit later, Winnik got straight up boarded - NO CALL - and since the refs didn't want to do their job, Daniel decided to police things himself and immediately challenged his assailant. Both went off for 5 mins, but DW also got 2 mins for a slash to kick off the scrap. Nuts and bolts. Nuts and bolts. We. Got. Screwed. Avs step up and kill the penalty, but the majority of the rest of the period is spent in their own zone. Another bad penalty (Shane O`Brien) gave Minnesota their 5th powerplay of the game. All these penalties stifled any momentum the Avs could have mustered and they were lucky to get out of the period still tied at 2. Shots 22-11 Land of 10,000 lakes. The NBC play-by-play man kept blurting "Colorado survives!" - and that's what it felt like, by the skin of their teeth.

With 12:16 to play, Shane O'Brien tried to do too much and gets stripped of the puck leading to a two-on-nobody. Wild score to take a lead 3-2. Horrible play. All 5 Colorado players sat on the blueline as O'Brien tried to stick handle the puck into the offensive zone. Nobody back to play D. It's a 2-2 game, you don't need all 5 players jumping up into the play. That also makes 5 breakaway goals against in the last two games. Teams are making the Avs pay for their mistakes.

• Giguere, 31 saves, played well and bailed his team out of most of their breakdowns
  
• Johnson, solid all around game, 4 hits
  
• Kobasew, why not.
  

• Jones - Stastny - Mueller
• Winnik - McClement - Kobasew
• Landeskog - Galiardi - Hejduk
• McLeod - van der Gulik

• O'Byrne - Hejda
• O'Brien - Johnson
• Quincey - Wilson
• Elliot

• Giguere

• In our first glimpse of the Avs without the new and improved O'Reilly, it was painfully apparent how much they need his steady and calm presence on the ice - and his faceoff prowess.
• Johnson had a good game tonight. Good work with his stick and his body (TWSS). He seems to be developing a bit of some baditude as he's playing with some nastiness and a visible scowl on his face.

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

Avs are off till next Tuesday, the 31st, when the take on the Oilers in Edmonton, 7:30pm.

Avs came out strong and drew a penalty. Barely set up before a bad turnover resulted in a breakaway for Bobby Ryan. Short-handed goal.

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Power play goal by Ryan Getzlaf off the rebound of a Teemu Selanne wrap around bid.

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Getzlaf caught the Avs on a change and sent a pass up to a breaking Ryan, score.

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Last five minutes, Avs turn it on, get goals by Ryan O'Reilly and Milan Hejduk, but can't get that last one to send the game to OT.

Seriously, this game was sleep-inducing until the last five. Avs outplayed the Ducks in every area except scoring goals and taking advantage of opportunities. Not too upset about this one. The Ducks are on a huMANgous hot streak right now, and the Avs did almost everything right. It sometimes happens when the lesser team gets the win (see Avalanche, 2009-2010 season).

• 1 J.S. Giguere - saved the boys' bacon at key moments
• 2 Ryan O'Reilly - scored the Avs' first goal and won 59% of his face offs
• 3 Milan Hejduk - slick hands, man. Slick hands.
  

• 1 Avs outshot Ducks 45-18
• 2 VDG had team high 4 hits
• 3 McClement won 6 of 8 face offs for 75% win rate

NHL.com recap

Game Summary

Event Summary

There's one more game before the All Star break, and it's on Tuesday at the Pepsi Center against the Wild.