The suddenly hot avalanche have figured out their road play of recent, and most of the credit goes to the goaltenders. In the last month or so, both Giguere and Varlamov have played stellar in net and this game was no different. The Kings scored the first goal of the game in the first minutes of the 2nd, but all 60 minutes Varlmov was making huge saves to keep it at a 1 goal game. After that, the game rested on O'Reilly's stick once again as he buried a wrist shot with 6 minutes left in the 3rd to tie it at 1s. In OT, the avs killed of a crucial PP (4-4 in the game) and ended things with another shootout win (7-0 this season). While this game had little scoring, it had two excellent goalies in Varlamov and Quick and two teams playing north-south hockey. Coach Sacco must be pleased with his team's play of recent, especially since the loss of Duchene they have won 3 straight. On d, all 3 pairings are working equally hard but I thought Hejda/O'Byrne did a great job on the PK (same as Winnik/McClement on forward). On forward, O'Reilly led the charge one again and continues to produce points at clutch moments. The avs were outshot 32-21 and won 25 of 56 faceoffs. Overall not a game that has much to write about, but a very exciting game to watch and big 2 points for the avs.
Avalanche Three Stars:
3. Kyle Quincey - Quincey had a big game, keeping the puck in to set up the lone goal and picked up 2 shots, 3 hits and +1 in over 25 minutes of work. Quincey has excelled this season, but even more so of late being paired with Elliot
2. Ryan O'Reilly - Another clutch game tying goal, O'Reilly was at his best again in this game. He plays great most games, but in the last month or so he is physically asserting himself in big game situations and its paying off huge for this team
1. Semyon Varlamov - One of his best performances of the season, Varlamov was all over the place making save after save. He stopped 31 of 32 shots, but most importantly made the big saves to keep the avs in this game and let them claw their way back
Play of the Game - Kyle Quincey keeping the puck in leading to the tying goal, huge play for the avs. Honourable mention to Varlamov for several highlight reel saves
Misplay of the Game - T.J Galiardi gets it for failing to clear the puck leading to the Kings goal
Game #42 - The first game of the 2nd half of the season (@ 45 points currently), the avs play their 3rd of a 4-game road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night (@830pm)
-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News
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