Game 38 Recap: Avs 1 - Jets 2 (OT)

First Period:

20:00 - Looks like it's a blueberry night tonight. And Landy's hair is just too perfect. It's not even fair anymore.

19:20 - Good steal by Landy. We started the game mostly in their end tonight. O'Reilly's already had a nice chance.

18:07 - Point shot by Benoit, tipped by Stastny. Montoya just barley got that. McNab then talked about how the point shot is becoming less and less important for defensemen because they don't have as much time or space as they used to.

16:36 - 4 shots Avs, 1 shot Jets. We've dominated possession so far, but WPG is going to end up with a lot of hits tonight.

15:05 - Good chance by the Jets. Wheeler almost had that rebound. Scary moment for the Avs, but Varly was up to the challenge.

14:57 - PING by Pappy.

14:00 - Sustained pressure by the Jets. After that TV time out, they've come out much stronger.

12:19 - The Avs still haven't been able to get the puck back. Varly just made a nice save on Frolik.

11:20 - We finally got possession back around Montoya. Decent shift by the 3rd line.

10:20 - McGinn is on the 4th line tonight. Eesh. Somebody's not made Roy happy.

9:36 - Barrie just went sliding into the boards after a Kane hit. He seems to be okay, but he hit the corner pretty hard.

8:05 - Nice glove save by Varly. The game is fairly back and forth at this point, but neither team is really establishing much. Lots of neutral zone play.

6:46 - Barrie made a nice rush up the ice, makes a nice pass to MacKinnon, who dishes it to Duchene. Good save by Montoya. That's the first shot the Avs had had in a while.

6:11 - Oh look, O'Reilly got a takeaway. Also, water is wet. Snow is cold.

5:25 - That was a pretty horrible pass, Parenteau. Who were you aiming for? It was easily picked off in the slot down in front of the Winnipeg net.

5:11 - Big EJ slapper. It's great seeing him add that back into his game. Now, if he could aim for something other than the goalie's logo, that'd be outstanding.

4:02 - Nasty hit by Mitchell on a Jets player in their zone. I'm surprised they didn't call that. Zero penalties called for either team so far.

3:30 - And there's Mitchell trying to do everything by himself again. The Avs end up icing the puck.

2:28 - Another EJ shot, followed by a Hejda one about 10 seconds later. It's good seeing our defense jumping into the play.

1:55 - Nice pass by Landy to the slot, followed by a shot by Parenteau. Still no go.

0:40 - McGinn is out with Mitchell and Talbot again. And look, he even had a shot! Talk about an ice cold player right now. Hopefully he starts stepping up.

0:15 - Bit of a scary moment down around Varly. WPG just had a nice shift.

Shots are 12-10 WPG after the Avs dominated the first 1/3 of this period. Score is still 0-0. Overall, if you're rewatching this game, you might as well skip this frame. They traded chances, but nothing too impressive happened for either team. There's zero flow and not much speed, but even the hits are pretty ho-hum. The Avs are playing a fairly disciplined game, but it's been bland so far.

Dater reported that Kane went off the ice in some pain after a Hejda hit. It will be interesting to see if he's out for the 2nd. Also, the Penguins and Leafs are the scouts in the building tonight.

Second Period

19:42 - Altijinx: "There haven't been any penalties.... 'til now." Hooking on Brian Little, Avs to the power play.

18:48 - Oof, Ladd almost scored shorthanded there. That was the best scoring chance of the PP so far.

18:08 - A shot by Wilson was tipped, but Montoya got lucky.

17:42 - Hide your VCRs. WPG kills it, then takes over possession.

16:23 - Good shift here by the 3rd line. They at least kept the puck in the WPG zone for a bit.

15:19 - EJ jumped into the rush and had a great shot right in front of Montoya. It was one of the better chances tonight. Are we sure he's not a forward?

15:09 - Wheeler backhander off the crossbar! That was close.

14:10 - Mac gets tied up with a Jets player and goes to the box for interference. The Jets now get their man advantage.

12:55 - The Avs have been doing a good job clearing. Lots of neutral zone play on this PK.

12:33 - Cliche and Talbot almost had a good chance there shorthanded.

12:10 - Good kill. Didn't allow a single shot and spent some time down in their end too.

10:55 - EJ hounded a guy so much that he cleared the puck by himself. Good defensive play there.

10:27 - Massive hit by Landy in the far corner. Trouba will feel that one tomorrow. Welcome to the league, rook.

9:00 - Pappy's now tripping over the puck. He's looked... off... this season.

8:17 - Puck gets kicked around in front of Varly, and he has to scramble to find it. Not a lot of velocity on that shot, but still a good save by Varlamov.

7:17 - The Avs haven't had a shot in a while. WPG has the puck down in our zone again.

6:33 - Even the Altidudes think EJ is having a good game tonight. He's just been everywhere. Definitely our best player so far. And now he's lost an edge to his skate and is getting it looked at on the bench. Wilson out with Hejda right now.

5:54 - McNab almost got nailed by a puck. It goes out of play, and we get commercials as he tosses it over the glass to a fan.

5:15 - The Jets have been shutting down Duchene very well tonight.

4:57 - HUGE glove save by Varly! The Jets had a few good chances in the crease, but the puck popped up to Kane around the right dot and Varly just stoned him.

4:07 - Another decent shift by the 3rd line. Talbot drew the defense to him a bit at least. The Jets have been doing a good job shutting down our top 2 lines, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's our 3rd that breaks the scoring stalemate.

3:40 - Parenteau is hurt. He's down at center ice and not putting pressure on the left leg as he gets up. He twisted his knee... that could be an ACL tear. He goes right to the locker room. I hope it's not as bad as it looked.

3:18 - The lines are now:

McGinn - Duchene - O'Reilly

Landeskog - Stastny - MacKinnon

McLeod - Mitchell - Talbot

2:33 - Nice try by Duchene! O'Reilly passed him the puck right in front of the net. He tried to wrap it right under Montoya's pads, but the goalie just barely got it.

1:40 - There seems to be more energy from the Avs now. Benoit with a good shot, but that entire Stastny line had a good shift.

0:44 - Shot by McLeod. That's the 3rd good shift in a row by the Avs. Shaking up the lines has really helped us.

0:10 - Duchene with a breakaway, but WPG shut that down. Again. Some more.

Okay, so... largely more of the same as the first. Shots are 22-17 WPG, and the score is still 0-0. It's a very tight defensive game that honestly feels a bit like a Minnesota matchup. I've yawned more than once tonight. That Parenteau injury looks serious though. I'd be surprised if he's back in the lineup anytime soon. Tanguay, we need you!

After the injury though, the Avs have looked better than they have all game. If they can keep that up heading into the 3rd, we might be okay. Varly's looked strong tonight, even if he hasn't faced that many chances.

Rycroft is loving EJ's play tonight. Lots and lots of highlights of shooting, defending, passing, and hitting. Rycroft also likes the consistency he's brought this year and thinks he should be Top 4 on the US Olympic squad this year. He's certainly making his case tonight.

Third Period

19:45 - Shot by O'Reilly misses. Good opening shift by the Duchene line. Barrie had a shot there too.

19:00 - Kane almost got completely Mack Trucked there. Wilson's looked better tonight.

17:46 - There were 52 hits in the first two periods and only 39 shots. And Parenteau will not return with a knee injury.

17:04 - Nice rush by the Avs, but it gets poke checked away from Wilson at the last minute. We've been applying more pressure this period.

16:17 - Shot by Byfuglien just goes wide with some help from McLeod.

14:40 - Big hit by Ladd on Wilson. Then another one on MacKinnon, who responded with one of his own without his helmet. Kid has some courage.

13:51 - Kane gets a good look, but Varly smothers it.

13:40 - Another good shift by the Jets. Frolik, Scheiffle, and Byfuglien all had shots.

13:10 - Jokenin had a shot too. They're putting some pressure on right now.

12:20 - Trouba had an open net after Varly came out to try to smother the shot, but he missed. Landy ended up taking a penalty to keep him from scoring. Big PK coming up.

11:40 - Another big save by Varly, but he can't cover it. He finally does at 11:27. The Jets have had a number of shots.

10:20 - The Avs managed to kill that off. Thanks Varly.

8:18 - WPG GOAL. Blake Wheeler set it up behind the net, then passed it to a wide open Andrew Ladd in the slot. EJ's first defensive mistake of the night ends up in the back of our net. 1-0 WPG.

7:49 - COL GOAL! MacKinnon shot it from the top of the right circle, and Landy may or may not have tipped that. 1-1 tie!

7:35 - And there's a good chance there by Duchene. Montoya made the save.

7:14 - Nope, that's Mac's goal. Landy and EJ with the assists.

6:04 - Good chance by Cliche, then McLeod had a good chance on the reound.

5:24 - Wheeler got hit, then Stastny did too. Both were shaken up on that play and slow to get up. Stastny just headed to the locker room. He was bent over but coasting on both legs. He got bopped in the nose by a stick.

5:20 - Stastny's back out on the ice. Phew!

4:13 - Really scary chance there by the Jets! They've had a couple good looks on this shift.

3:28 - Terrible pass by McGinn. Who were you aiming for?

3:21 - Another good chance for the Jets. They've been bringing the pressure for the past couple minutes.

2:27 - Chance for Stastny. No go.

0:57 - Nice pass by McGinn, but he just missed O'Reilly standing in the slot.

0:34 - Rush by Landy, but he waited too long to get the shot off. Shallow angle, save by Montoya.

0:06 - Landy just hit either Montoya or the goal, spun around, and hit the boards. Be okay.

Tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. It's OT time!

Loser Point Period

4:48 - Varly makes the first save of OT just 12 seconds in.

4:14 - Two screened shots by the Jets tested Varly, but he came up with the saves. Eesh guys, let's go play on the other end here for a while.

3:39 - Duchene held onto that puck across most of our zone, but he just missed the top right corner on his eventual shot.

2:43 - Offsides WPG. Good defense by 61 and 16, henceforth known as the Palindrome Pair.

1:40 - Dutchy, Mac, Barrie & Wilson out for the Avs, but we're having trouble getting into the zone.

1:04 - Another big stop by Varly.

0:40 - Benoit chance, then O'Reilly just missed!

0:25 - Sarich shot from the point, no go.

0:12 - Mitchell steal, then a turnover by the Avs.

0:01 - WPG GOAL - F***! Wheeler gets it.

BUFUGLIEN PUNCHED VARLY IN THE HEAD AS HE SKATED AWAY! Asshole. Varly took exception, but the game was over. Nothing he could do.

Damn. Varly deserved that one.