Game 5: Avalanche 5, Blue Jackets 1

by Joe @ MHH on Oct 14, 2007 11:53 AM MDT in News Comment 7 comments

photo courtesy of Will Powers/AP

I don't believe Joe Sakic is really 38 years old.

Despite getting a slow start to the season, the Colorado Avalanche captain took off in a big way against the Columbus Blue Jackets, scoring a hat trick and leading his team to a 5-1 victory at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

For the first time this season, the top offensive line led by Super Joe was able to score at even strength. They did it twice against the Jackets, in fact. The second line, which continues to consist of Milan Hejduk and Ryan Smyth on the wings with Paul Stastny in the center, also had another good outing. Hejduk scored at even strength at 9:34 in the second period.

The Avalanche power play scored twice, once by Sakic and another by Hejduk, with Smyth, Stastny, John-Michael Liles and The Duke earning assists.

For the first time the Avalanche penalty kill was perfect, stopping five Blue Jackets power plays. And as far as defense in general, the Avs were strong. Despite the loss of Jordan Leopold to a hip injury (here we go again), the Colorado blue line played very well, led by standout performances by Scott Hannan, Liles and newly-crowned Mile High Hockey favorite Jeff Finger. Finger continues to make his mark with physical play along the boards and a hard-nosed style that the Avalanche have lacked for several seasons.

The Blue Jackets were looking for a good performance from their young goalie Pascal Leclaire, who had two shutouts in as many games prior to facing the Avalanche last night. Unfortunately for him, Colorado wasn't going to let him stop the onslaught.

The goalie who did have a great night was Peter Budaj, who again showed everyone that he should be the starting goaltender for his team by stopping 24 of 25 shots (the lone goal was a fluke deflection off teammate Kurt Sauer's skate). He showed perfect positioning throughout the game and had nearly perfect rebound control. The player most frustrated by Budaj had to be Rick Nash, who had several excellent scoring chances and just couldn't get the biscuit in the basket despite his best efforts. Budaj had his number all night.

The Avalanche continues to play very well at home, winning all three games played at the Pepsi Center by a margin of 16-7. They play Calgary at home on Tuesday but then depart on a four-game road trip that includes three divisional rivals---Calgary again, Edmonton and the so-far undefeated Minnesota Wild. In the two road games the team has played so far, the Avalanche is 0-2 with a scoring deficit of 1-8. Obviously, that will have to improve.

Stars of the Game:

Joe Sakic

Milan Hejduk

John-Michael Liles

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Comments

let's not forget...

that a lot of the victory had to do with wolski being back on the top line. Not that wolski was that great -- but the chemistry of the line is easily visible. Sakic's 2 on 1 goal is a good example of this chemistry -- Wolski was where Bruno wanted him at the exact right moment, and Sakic and Wolski connected perfectly on the pass.

I'm still advocating Arnason being traded/moving to winger/moving to 4th line. He's worthless, and when Richardson comes back, doubly so.

Lastly, as much as we dog on him around here, Skrastins played pretty well last night. If he plays like last night consistently, I'm ok with him.

by thedoctor on Oct 14, 2007 4:26 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Re: let's not forget

I'm not sure how I managed to leave Wolski out of my game recap. He played very well against Columbus, and he's played very well in almost every game so far.

I'm actually a fan of Tyler Arnason, and when he's got his head in a game, he's actually a very dangerous offensive player. He's not much on defense, but he's not worthless. I'm not sure I'd make the argument that Brad Richardson is a better player, but I'm not really opposed to moving Arnason down and seeing how things work out. As of right now, he's not exactly blowing up the scoreboard.

by Joe @ MHH on Oct 15, 2007 4:16 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re:

every time poeple talk about Arnason, the phrase, "when he's trying he's an amazing offensive player" or "when's he's got his head in the game he's as good as anyone on the roster offensively" rolls around like it justifies keeping him around.

it doesn't.

this is one of the most gifted offensive teams in the league without the 3rd or 4th lines, as we've already seen this year. if this team was the vancouver canucks or the dallas stars where goals were extremely hard to come by, yeah, I could see keeping Arnason around because those games when he DID show up, he could win you a game pretty easily with that kind of team defense and goaltending.

but the avs don't need that -- scoring is simply not the issue with this team. they need faceoff wins and consistent D to compliment their scoring from the top 2 lines.

And I have a hard time believing that a 3rd of hlinka - richy - svatos (or play richardson as a winger and hlinka as a center, which would be my preference) will experience issues scoring. that's a 2nd line on a lot of teams in this league, and one that wins faceoffs and is solid defensively.

by thedoctor on Oct 15, 2007 9:21 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Arnason

You know, you make a really excellent point. I keep thinking about Arnason as a member of LAST YEAR'S team, when he contributed decently to the offense because he had to. This year, he doesn't have to. You're right, the Avs need what 3rd and 4th lines have always provided: face off wins and consistent D, just like you said. Arnason isn't doing that, at least not consistently.

I still like him as a player, but I'll agree with you that the Avalanche is not necessarily the best team for him to be on right now.

by Joe @ MHH on Oct 15, 2007 10:37 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Skratch

See I don't think Skratch is a bad player, he just doesn't seem to fit well in this lineup. I can never Say "Oh he looked bad" but The Avs just look so much better when He's the odd man out in defense.

I disagree about LeClaire. I thought he looked pretty good, despite the 5 goals. The defense in front of him was awful, and gave up way too much. Really it seems like the Avs could move Skrastins to Columbus for a draft pick or something and both teams would be better off. The Blue Jackets would get a solid defensemen. Skratch would go to a team he could contribute to, and the Avs would get something to help them in the future. It's wins all around.

by Jibblescribbits on Oct 15, 2007 9:05 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs