Game 3: Avalanche 6, Sharks 2

by Joe Dunman on Oct 8, 2007 5:09 AM MDT in NHL News

photo courtesy of Getty Images

Both the stellar past and the brilliant future of the Colorado Avalanche took center stage last night as the team thoroughly crushed the visiting San Jose Sharks, 6-2.

Joe Sakic, longtime Avalanche captain and sure-fire Hall of Fame inductee, scored a goal and an assist, moving him past Bobby Hull on the all-time goal list (611) and past Phil Esposito on the all-time scoring list (1591). He continues to cement his place in hockey history as one of the greatest, most complete players to ever hit the ice.

On the other end of the Avalanche timeline, young Paul Stastny, who made such a huge impact last season in his rookie campaign, continues to awe the league. He scored his first hat trick ever in the first Avalanche game of the season. Not to be outdone by himself, Son Of Stastny scored five points for the first time in his career by notching a goal and four assists against the Sharks last night. He now leads the NHL in goals and total scoring. Said Stastny of his accomplishments:

I don't think they're coming easy. I've gotten a couple of good bounces ... I'm playing with some good linemates.

Stastny assisted on both first period Avalanche goals, the first by Sakic and the second by Milan Hejduk, both on the power play. With the score 2-1 (Ryan Clowe scored in the second for San Jose), Stastny then scored a goal of his own less than a minute into the third period. The flood gates had opened. Three more Avalanche goals followed, scored by Hejduk, Marek Svatos and Ryan Smyth. Smyth's goal and an earlier assist were his first points ever scored in an Avalanche jersey.

The Colorado defense was impressive, led by Scott Hannan and Jordan Leopold in ice time, and rarely gave up decent scoring chances. Coach Joel Quenneville must be pushing fancy stick work in practice because the poke check was the weapon of choice among the Avalanche blueliners. Every single Sharks play seemed to be broken up by a perfectly placed Colorado hockey stick. Intercepted passes and successful clearing attempts were the norm.

Hannan and principal linemate Brett Clark completely shut down the top San Jose line led by Joe Thornton. They couldn't string together many scoring opportunities at all. The Avalanche defense also turned up their physical play with 19 hits, most of them from Jeff Finger, who took the place of Karlis Skrastins, who was a healthy scratch. Finger played very physically all night, while also scoring an assist when his slap shot from the point in the third period was redirected into the net by Svatos.

Peter Budaj looked better than he has at any point so far in the season, with extremely strong positional play. He stopped 24 of 26 shots for a save percentage of .923. Redeeming himself after the 4-0 loss to Nashville earlier in the week was critical, and he did that.

The Avs were once again horrid in the face-off circle, going 22-61. They took 25 shots on goal against the Sharks' 26.

The next game for the Avalanche isn't until this Friday, October 12th, against the St. Louis Blues.

Stars Of The Game:

Paul Stastny

Milan Hejduk

Ryan Smyth

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Comments

comments from rinkside

it was a good game to go to! the team really came to play. I guess I'll just go with all my random observations in order that they come to me.

The PK was awesome. I turned to my dad about a minute into the 4 min double minor to start the game and said "this is the most aggressive they've been on the PK in 10 years." that might be exaggerating, but they were far more aggressive, and continually forced poor decisions and passes by SJ with pressure on the puck handler.
As much as I'm a Clark apologist, he had a poor game. He lost the puck a few times and misplayed a couple chances to clear. That said, his errors didn't lead to goals and he had some nice plays as the game went on, including a massive hit right in front of us. that pairing is gonna be rock solid when they get their communication and timing down.
it was really cool to see Clark, Hannan and Budaj getting together after stoppages and during commercials to discuss the previous play and critique each other. they were very animated working out where they wanted each other to be and such.
the top 2 new lines were great. Sakic's line had some good chances, and obviously the second was stellar. I initially thought that Smyth should play on that line with Stastny and Hejduk since he's like a really super good McLean, and that's exactly what it was -- he won battles on the boards, then got his ass in the goalie's face when Stastny and Hejduk got some room. When Stastny's line stepped on the ice, it tilted. It was really impressive.
Stastny is indeed faster than last year, and it's really obvious in the defensive end. I can't say anything more than has been already said about him. He's just really really good and makes everyone better around him too.
The 3rd line of Arnason, Svatos, and Wolski should be called the coin-flip line. If they happen to get the puck into the offensive zone, they're probably good for at least a decent scoring chance. If they get pinned in their own end, they're probably good for at least an opposing scoring chance. As good as they are offensively, they need to be broken up.
Hlinka is fast, and a slick passer. he gets lost along the boards though.
If I was the coach, I'd move Wolski to the top line LW (Wolski, by the way, continued his good play) and move Hlinka to the 3rd, possibly moving Arnason to winger. Hlinka would add some defensive responsibility to that line and faceoff skill, and Wolski fits Bruno and Joey's style on the top line better than Hlinka's. Plus, Wolski appears to have really elevated his play -- he's hustling hard and using his body in the corners.
Leopold and Sauer are an excellent pairing. Sauer was physical and aggressive along the boards, and Leopold was physical and well-positioned all game long.
I'll preface this by saying I loathe Skrastins's play, but him being scratched was huge. Finger and Liles really click as a pairing, and Finger adds a physical presence the Avs really need. and he can actually skate, unlike Skrastins. please Q, keep Skrastins on the bench!