Colorado Avalanche News - Joel Forman: Game #19

Friday, March 1, 2013

Game #19 - Colorado 5, Calgary 4

Avalanche forwards Matt Duchene and PA Parenteau celebrate Duchene's game-winning goal in the 3rd period

Talk about the idea of momentum, how much it can affect a team and how often it can change is something that shows how good the level of hockey is in the NHL. The Avs started with no energy, with no help from a dismal "lifeless" crowd and saw the Flames score just over 4 minutes in and then again 33 seconds later to take a 2-0 lead 5 minutes in (Bouwmeester and Cammalleri). The Avs had started slowly on a regular basis this season, and it looked even worse when the Avs learned earlier today that unsigned C Ryan O'Reilly had been signed to an offer-sheet by Calgary, the team they were facing and playing terribly too. The Flames would make it 3-0 near the end of the period (Iginla), however Avs fans got a huge momentum boost away from the rink because nothing was going right at the Pepsi Center. The Avs learned that GM Greg Sherman quickly matched the offer sheet on O'Reilly, 2 year 10 million, and this seemed to really fire up the Avs. They were outshot 11-8, but the second that the 2nd period started the Avs pushed back and really started to play with some grit. The Avs scored 5 minutes in as the Duchene-Parenteau-McGinn line had a strong shift, and Duchene fed O'Byrne who slapped it on goal and tipped off a Flame stick and past MacDonald to make it 3-1. A couple minutes later, the Avs had another long shift in the offensive zone, this time Landeskog-Stastny-Jones. Stastny fed Landeskog from behind the net and he was stopped by MacDonald, however Jones banged in the rebound to make it 3-2. The Flames would get one back a few minutes later, as Jones had a terrible turnover at the blue line and Iginla buried his 2nd of the game. The Avs ended the period outshooting the Flames 15-7, and really looked to carry some good momentum into the 3rd. The Avs came out firing in the 3rd, and just 23 seconds in Gabriel Landeskog had a great individual effort and finished the goal with one-hand to make it 4-3. Around 5 minutes later, The Landeskog-Jones-Stastny line was at it again as Landeskog drove the net and took a shot, it bounced off MacDonald and off Stastny's skate into the net. It would go to review, but the goal counted (no distinct kicking motion) and the game was tied 4-4. The Avs completely dominated the play in the 3rd, and would take the lead as Matt Duchene scored his 7th of the year. As Jamie McGinn took a Parenteau feed he fired a hard wrist shot that stung MacDonald, as McGinn got the rebound he found a streaking Duchene who buried it into the empty-net. The play was all started by PA Parenteau, who knocked the puck of out mid air at the blue line to start the play, an extremely skilled play by the RW. The Avs would continue to play well, but back-to-back penalties by Shane O'Brien saw the Avs killing 2 penalties in the last 7 minutes. The Flames could get nothing going on the PP, as the Avs did a great job killing off 2 straight penalties and 4/5 on the night. The Avs would win 5-4, a great team effort and remarkable comeback from a team who looked completely lifeless in the 1st. The first note I have from this game is about Gabriel Landeskog, who might have had his best game in his 1st 3-point game of his career. 2nd: The line of Landeskog-Stastny-Jones was fabulous, all scoring goals and with multi-point games. The Avs top 2 lines really played strong, and despite a bad first period the Avs locked down defensively and played hard in the 2nd and 3rd. The Stats were as follows: Shots 36-23 Avs, Avs won 42 of 75 faceoffs (Duchene and Stastny 33 of 42 faceoff wins for the Avs), Avs outhit the Flames 23-9 (Landeskog and O'Brien game high 4 each) and Avs had 20 shot-blocks to the Flames 16. I can't stress enough how happy I was with the effort tonight, and now the Avs will welcome back Ryan O'Reilly at .500 (8-8-3 with 19 points).

Three Stars:
3. Paul Stastny - Stastny and Jones had been called out lately for their play, and along with Landeskog they were the Avs best line tonight. Stastny had a goal and an assist, including the game tying goal, and also played a big part in the Avs going 4/5 on the PK. He won 16 of 28 faceoffs, and played just under 20 minutes in a solid game
2. Matt Duchene - Duchene returned from injury style, assisting on the Avs first goal that got them going and scoring the game-winning goal in the 3rd. Duchene played a stellar 2-way game, especially him and Landeskog on the PK were a force. Duchene won 17 of 28 faceoffs, and played very solid in 21:05 icetime
1. Gabriel Landeskog - Landeskog was a force out there tonight, in his best game of the season (and possibly career) he had a goal and 2 assists in 18:39 of icetime. Landeskog was a force at both ends of the ice, getting 3 points and playing a big part in the Avs PK (with Duchene). Landeskog also had 6 shots on goal and 4 hits, both game-highs, as well as 2 blocked shots. The Captain lead by example tonight, and he was certainly the 1st Star

Avalanche Play of the Game - Gabriel Landeskog's goal gets it tonight, with a brilliant one-handed goal of the Forsberg variety

Avalanche Misplay of the Game - David Jones had a brutal turnover leading to Iginla's 2nd goal, he needs to be better defensively despite having a very strong game offensively

Game #20 - The Avs have a day game vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday (@3pm)