Oil Spill in Avalanche Country. Edmonton 4 Colorado 1. Game 44 Recap

You might have thought the Colorado Avalanche would put up a fight in this one after a good effort Monday against the Columbus Blue Jackets but if you'd looked carefully, you would have seen that the Avs were set to face-off against Colorado kryptonite Devan Dubnyk. Though the Avalanche were not particularly dangerous on the night, Dubnyk still turned away 33 of 34 shots against (.971 SV%) to give the Oiler's their 4th win in 5 games against the Avalanche. According to Shane O'Brien "for whatever reason this team seems to have our number," well let me offer two reasons: 1) this team doesn't take the Oilers as seriously as they take other teams and 2) Devan Dubnyk.

Period 1:

- The Avalanche started with a bang as Landeskog sent the Oilers on the Power Play just 30 seconds into the game. Satisfied with their penalty killing performance, the Avs let Taylor Hall dance through the whole team before scoring the go ahead goal just 3 seconds after the power play expired.

- The Avs responded well with a backhand shelf goal from P.A. Parenteau off a very nice feed from defenseman Bobby Orr Shane O'Brien.

- With just 5:00 to go in the period, Jordan Eberle came into the zone untouched, spun around and fired a backhand at the Avalanche net where it was tipped past Semyon Varlamov by defenseman Justin Schultz.

- The Avalanche fired 19 of their 34 shots on net in the first period, but most of them were aimed directly at Devan Dubnyk's chest.

Period 2:

- 5 minutes into the period Jamie McGinn blew his assignment on the backcheck allowing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to walk in the high slot and put the Oilers up by two.

- With a little over 5 minutes to go in the period Brad Malone borrowed Milan Hejduk's only to lose his man in the crease and give Jordan Eberle room to undress Semyon Varlamov for the final goal.

- Playing from behind the Avalanche managed a staggering 6 shots on net.

Period 3:

- The Avs worked hard to catch up and fired a ton of shots on net (or 9 shots, thats a lot right?).

- The Avs had some good sustained pressure on the 6 on 4 power play near the end of the game but Dubnyk made an impressive goal line stop to hold the score.

- Don't forget to sign up for your 2013-2014 season tickets! As Altitude reminded us during this inspiring effort.

Quick Hits:

- Coach Sacco was "happy with the effort in the first period." You know, the one they took a penalty in the first minute of, gave up an early goal in and eventually lost 2-1. Content with mediocrity? Nah.

- Important loss for the Avalanche as they remain 3 points out of last place with a game in hand and only 2 points out of 27th.

- The Flames have climbed their way out of the NHL basement with 5 wins in their last 10 games. Avs fans should root for Florida, Carolina, Tampa Bay and Nashville to get points on a nightly basis.