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New York Rangers |
6 MT / 8 ET / 1 GMT |
Colorado Avalanche |
| 24-23-7 | January 31st, 2010 |
30-17-6 |
| 55 pts | Pepsi Center |
66 pts |
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12th in East |
Denver, CO |
6th in West |
Thanks for nothing, Bruins, Rangers and Leafs. The Avalanche could have been helped by any or all of those teams last night. They didn't get it. The Leafs got up 3-0 on the Canucks, Luongo got the hook and Raycroft came on in relief and Vancouver came back to win 5-3. The Kings beat the Bruins in a shootout, with Ryan Smyth converting on a key attempt to keep LA alive. With that win, LA moved into 5th and dropped Colorado into 6th. And the Rangers lost to Phoenix. Looks like the Avs will have to take matters into their own hands.
I'm not quite ready to go to "must-win" territory, but this is game is really, really close. The Avalanche have lost two in a row and have lost significant ground in the standings (Vancouver, LA and Phoenix have won a combined 15 consecutive games). While we may disagree on how the Avs played in those two losses, I think we can all agree that the Avalanche were in position to win either (or both) of those. Instead, our Baby-Faced Burgundy Boys are trying to avoid losing three consecutive games in regulation - something that has yet to happen this year. This team needs a point even more badly than Green Valkyrie needs food.
I detest the Rangers and avoid pretty much anything having to do with them. As such, I don't know much about them except that Marion Gaborik has 62 points and 30 goals (more than double than any of his teammates). If the Avalanche have faced another team as reliant on a single player this year, I can't think of it. I'm really interested to see the match-ups Sacco uses against Gaborik defensively.
In other news, Chris Drury is back in town. Drury has 19 points, which would put him 9th on the Avs in scoring, 1 behind TJ Galiardi and two ahead of Radar O'Reilly..all for just $5 million more than what those two make. Combined.
Rangers vs Avalanche coverage