photo courtesy of David Zalubowski
If there are only two things that we've learned from this ridiculous roller coaster of a season, they are: 1) Jose Theodore is money in the shootout, and 2) Peter Forsberg is money every time he touches the ice. Both of those things made the 4-3 Avalanche shootout victory over the Wild yesterday possible. Unfortunately, there are no shootouts in the playoffs and Foppa might be a ticking time bomb. But whatever.
The victory gave the Avalanche two points, more than enough to jump Calgary in the standings and claim the sixth playoff seed, so the game was essentially a preview of the Minnesota-Colorado first-round series that starts on Wednesday. That's good for the Avs, since they won.
All the points in regulation were scored by Forsberg (3a), Milan Hejduk (1g, 1a), Joe Sakic (1g, 1a) and Paul Stastny (1g, 1a). Sakic also scored in the shootout along with Wojtek "Seriously, Bench Me Again" Wolski, who also led the team with four hits. Theodore stopped 34 of 37 shots (and both he faced in the shootout).
The Avs scored two power play goals on three chances. That's impossible to comprehend.
Marian Gaborik had a rough night, literally, drawing simultaneous roughing penalties from both Cody McLeod and Ian Laperriere in the third period during a scrum between the teams. Lappy had Gaborik's number all night long, and even ticked him off so much that Gaborik tried to sucker punch him at the end of overtime and the two got into a brief boxing match. The refs broke it up, which is good for the Wild ace because he's no fighter. Hopefully Coach Q plays Lappy's line against Gaborik's throughout the first round series, because Lappy had no trouble shutting him down.
The Avs finish the season with the exact same record they finished with last season: 44-31-7. It's the third season in a row that they've finished with 95 points. Apparently that's all Coach Q's good for.
I'll be recapping the regular season and previewing the first round matchup between the Avs and the Wild today and tomorrow. Woo hoo.
Stars of the Game:
- Joe Sakic (1g, 1a)
- Jose Theodore (34sv, .919)
- Peter Forsberg (0g, 3a)
Kittens Killed: 