A huge win last night was overshadowed by a massive injury, as the teams best player Matt Duchene left early in the first with a real awkward looking injury. Duchene went to finish his hit, and sort of hit a rut in the ice and awkwardly limped off the ice. After the diagnosis, it seems Duchene is out a minimum of a month, which is a terrible loss for a team playing as well as they are right now. With that being said, there is no feeling bad for the team and they responded very well with a 3-2 win. The avs got things started off in the first, as Kevin Porter tipped home the Paul Stastny pass for his 2nd goal in as many games. The coyotes responded several minutes later, as Mikkel Boedker beat Varlamov glove side. However, several minutes later the avs attacked on a 4-2 and returning to the lineup Kyle Quincey fed Stefan Elliot who blew it by Labarbera for a 2-1 lead. The 2nd period saw the avs put serious attack, but no goals and eventually Phoenix tied it off the stick of Boedker again with a very similar goal. In the 3rd period, the avs continued to pressure and a great play by also returning Chuck Kobasew set up Landeskog for the game winner. Semyon Varlamov was very solid all game long, stopping 25 of 27 shots. The avs outshot them 35-27 and won 36 of 57 faceoffs. On forward, I thought that both Kevin Porter and Chuck Kobasew stepped up huge with Porter stepping into Duchene's spot and Kobasew returning from injury, however the best player on the ice was Landeskog. On d, a returning Kyle Quincey boosted Stefan Elliot's play as they were the best pairing. A big 2 points for the avs, but it comes at a huge price in the loss of Duchene.
Avalanche Three Stars:
3. Stefan Elliot - The young d had a great game, and scored a beautiful goal to give the avs the lead. Paired with Kyle Quincey, he was able to jump up into the play more and be as active as he needs to be, as he had 4 shots on goal
2. Semyon Varlamov - While Giguere has been stealing a little of the spotlight recently, Varlamov has played very well his last few games and this game was no exception. He made 25 saves on 27 shots, but most importantly stopped all 15 in the 3rd to preserve the 2 points
1. Gabriel Landeskog - The young forward continues to score big goals in his early career, and this one was a huge goal. Landy set up the first goal, and scored the winner with 4 shots and 3 hits in the game. He continues to evolve as a mature player despite being 19
Play of the Game - Landeskog's winner gets it tonight, great hustle by Kobasew to beat 3 guys and feed Landeskog infront.
Misplay of the Game - Losing Duchene really hurts this club, but they must move on
Game #40 - The avs head on the road for their last game of 2011, where they meet the struggling Anaheim Ducks Saturday on New Years Eve (@8pm).
-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News
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