{{pre}}
Well, imagine that. For the first time in weeks, I'm getting the Altitude feed tonight. I haven't seen the Altidudes in ages. That annoyingly repetitive guitar riff almost sounds fresh again. Not. In the pre-game, Mike Haynes and Peter McNab talk about the Kings game as if they defeated an NHL powerhouse. Guys, it was the Kings.
Joe Sakic is out again. Theodore vs Nabokov tonight.
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{{1st}}
20:00 Statny, Smyth and Hejduk take the opener. Hannan and Clark are out there together, although Quenneville often does an oddball pairing to start the game.
19:05 Altitude is listing the 2nd line as Arnson, Hensick and Wolski. Richardson, Brunette and (guh) Smith and Guite, Hlinka and McCormick are the 4th line. The list Hannan and Clark as a pairing and, I'm not sure if I can type this without crying, Cumiskey and Skrastins as the 2nd pair. THAT should be interesting.
18:55 I forget to ask Dario in my write up on the King's game if he noticed Liles and Cumiskey out together for a shift.
18:21 McNab says that something new is Clark and Hannan as a defensive pair. He tried to think back, but could not remember them playing together. Um, Peter, try thinking back to the first 7 games of the season…
16:46 It's shocking, I know, but the Sharks score early on Jose Theodore. Cheechoo feeds Michalek in front of Theodore. Theo seems slow to react, and doesn't get enough of the puck with his pads.
16:34 And Hejduk skates in on the right wing, fakes out the defenseman and beats Nabokov glove side. Just like that, we have a 1-1 game.
16:24 Hensick gets called for a high stick – his first NHL penalty.
14:16 Hensick came out of the box and Arnason tried to spring him to duplicate Hensick's first goal, but this one is broken up.
13:38 Liles, with time, fails to clear. I just don't understand. Is it a mental block?
12:05 Stastny's backhander is stopped by Nabokov.
10:19 Hlinka has a nice looking rush up the west wing. Facing pressure, he stops to buy time, and turns back towards the middle. He's definitely got skill.
8:48 Most times the Sharks get into the Colorado zone, they are being pushed to the perimeter. Lots of hard work along the boards by both clubs tonight.
7:53 Setoguchi trips Liles behind the Colorado net to put the Avs on the PP. Honestly, he should have just skated hard towards Liles and wait for him to make a mistake. I know that's not very nice of me.
4:55 Guite runs over #27 for the Sharks.
3:25 Craig Rivet FLATTENS Tyler Arnason as the Avs break into the zone. Arnason gets up, and Rivet skates over and hits him again (this 2nd one should have been a penalty, but it was still impressive to watch).
The period ends 1-1 and, really, was rather even all around.
{{2nd}}
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18:41 Avs get called for too many men. Hlinka serves it.
17:24 Cheechoo trips Wyatt Smith to kill the Shark's PP.
17:04 Liles turns it over to Pavelski. Pavelski skates in on Theodore, and Theodore makes a good stop to save Lilies' bacon.
16:26 McNab: "Theodore may be as good as any goaltender the Avalanche have had on breakaways".
12:51 Big save by Theodore on Michalek point blank. Several good saves from Theo tonight.
10:40 I had to right that. Hannan turns over the puck. Bernier takes a shot that is blocked by Clark. He gets the puck back and beats Theodore. Maybe the answer is to just let the Sharks make breakaway chances. 2-1 San Jose.
8:07 Big save by Nabokov on Arnason after an excellent feed from Wolski.
7:08 Another penalty on the Avs. Smyth for hooking. Offensive zone.
5:25 The Sharks are intentionally missing the net from the point, with the rebounds bounding in front of the net. I remember Hejduk scoring a goal last year on such a play, on a shot from Skrastins (of all people).
2-1 San Jose after 2.
{{3rd}}
18:16 Both teams are playing solid hockey tonight. It doesn't have the physical play that Friday's game did, though.
16:33 Hejduk takes a turnover and has room to get a good shot off with Guite screening Nabokov. No goal. That was a key chance.
13:16 The Brunette line with Skrastins and Cumiskey has a terrific extended shift. Skrasting tries the wide shot / rebound thing and Richardson hits the post. Again, it's not the first time Skrastins has tried that. The joke's on me regarding the two D – they've been impressive tonight.
11:30 Grier lets an innocent shot fly against the net. It may or may not have hit deflected off Mitchell's stick, takes several funny bounces, and goes in. Not really much Theo could do there – that one took the most bizarre bounce ever.
10:30 It’s too bad; the Avs had been so close to tying up the game and now they're in a 2-goal hole against a good defensive team. I'm quite sure they'll score one more goal and end up losing 3-2.
8:16 Sigh. Clark gets 2 minutes for a trip on Cheechoo. Cheechoo gets cut on the play somehow.
3:05 Brunette scores off the draw. It makes it interesting, but I think it's too little too late.
1:58 If Colorado could get out of the zone…
1:32 Rivet crushes Hlinka into the boards. I had no idea this guy could hit like that. It's clearly interference (Hlinka never touched the puck) and the 2nd obvious interference call missed tonight.
1:23 Brunette argues with the ref about the non-call. Meanwhile, a red-faced Quenneville is shouting "that's fucking bullshit" from the bench. I can't say that I disagree.
1:04 Theo is off.
0:00 The Avs come up short. Grier's goofy bouncer turns out to be the winner.