Colorado Avalanche News - Joel Forman: Game #24

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Game #24 - Colorado 3, San Jose 2 (OT)

The Colorado Avalanche celebrate Matt Duchene's OT goal (0.2 seconds left)

Matt Duchene 0.2 seconds left in OT! What a game, what a finish, Avs get revenge against a Sharks team who has got the better of them so far this season. I missed the 2nd period and first half of the 3rd at my own floor hockey playoffs (6-5 win last minute goal), but from what I saw of the game the Avs played a very strong game. The Avs newlook powerplay got things started in the first, as a nice play by Ryan O'Reilly to knock the Sharks clearing attempt out of mid air set up the goal. O'Reilly fed Landeskog who faked his shot and found Parenteau behind the net, he found a streaking Matt Duchene through traffic who fired it past Niemi for his 10th of the season. The Avs would finish the first with 15 shots to San Jose's 10, which is very good considering the Sharks usually dominate them in shots. In the 2nd both teams traded goals, as Ryan O'Reilly tipped in a Palushaj pass for a 2-0 lead 7 minutes in. The Sharks would respond in the last minute, as Patrick Marleau tipped home his 13th of the season off a Justin Braun shot. Marleau has been an Av-killer in the past, scoring big goals and this one was huge (Sharks outshot the Avs 16-9 in the 2nd). The 3rd period the Avs had some chances but started to sit back near the end of the period, taking a few penalties and luckily being rewarded by their hard-working penalty-kill (most-notable a Landeskog shot-block). However the Sharks had several good chances, and it was only a matter of time before they capitalized. With under 4 minutes left in the 3rd, Matt Hunwick made a lazy clearing attempt and Kobasew couldn't get the puck out, as Joe Thornton stole the puck. Jumbo Joe only needs a split second to make his pass, and he found an open Logan Couture who blasted one past Varlamov for the 2-2 tie. The game would go to overtime, where it was an absolute furious pace and a great finish. The teams traded chances, first with Duchene on a breakaway, then Vlasic with a wide open shot set up by Marleau, a diving Landeskog caught Marleau off his feet and away from the net, which was huge. Marleau alone on Varlamov could have been the game, but it was Vlasic and Varlamov stepped up and made a big save. The Avs would get a few offensive zone faceoffs in the last minute, and they were really pressing for the winner. The clock was ticking down and PA Parenteau made a rush with 15 seconds left, putting a shot right on net for a faceoff with 10 seconds left. Duchene won the faceoff over Joe Pavelski and went straight to the net, as Hunwick setup Hejda off the faceoff but his shot was blocked. Parenteau corralled the rebound and carried the puck to the blueline and passed it to off to Jan Hejda, who gave it back to PA Parenteau at the top of the blueline he let a shot go, and Duchene got the rebound and put it past Niemi for the OT winner with 0.2 seconds left. What a game, what a performance by Duchene (what else is new?), not just the best Avalanche on the ice but by far the best for either teams. Duchene scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season, both from PA Parenteau, and he now has a team-high 11 goals, 15 assists and 26 points (Parenteau 10 goals and 15 assists). Semyon Varlamov had a really strong game, as he made 36 saves on 38 shots including a huge glove save on Couture late in the 3rd. The stats were as follows: Avs outshot them 42-38, The Sharks won 32 of 79 faceoffs (Sharks won 59%, but Duchene went 19 for 30 with the most faceoff wins by 7), both teams had 12 blocked shots, and the Avs outhit them 19 to 9 (Bordeleau and Mitchell game high 4 each). Overall a great game, and a great stretch of game the Avs have played with back-to-back wins against the Sharks and Hawks, and really close losses to the Hawks and Wings before that. A very important 2 points for the Avs, who now find themselves at 10-10-4 with 24 points, 3 points out of a playoff spot with 1 game in hand.

Three Stars:
3. PA Parenteau - Parenteau had a great game, collecting 2 assists including setting up the OT winner. Parenteau played 21:42 of icetime, and is scoring at a point-per-game pace (25 points in 24 games)
2. Semyon Varlamov - Varly had another stellar game, and really weathered the storm the entire game for the Avs. He made 36 saves on 38 shots, and kept the Avs in it to get 2 points
1. Matt Duchene - What a phenomenal game by Duchene, 2 goals which were the opening goal of the game and the game winner. Duchene played a team-high 22:44 of icetime, getting 2 goals with 5 shots and 19 faceoff wins, including the clutch one at the end leading to his winner. Duchene has been by far the best player for the Avs this season, and tonight was by far the best on the ice period

Avalanche Play of the Game - Matt Duchene's winner gets it tonight, everything about the play: Duchene wins the draw, Parenteau gets the puck to the net and Duchene beats the buzzer, so clutch

Avalanche Misplay of the Game - Combined turnover of Hunwick/Kobasew leading to Couture's tying goal, just a soft play all around

Game #25 - The Avs look to cap off a perfect home-stand after wins vs. Chicago and San Jose, as they play the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night (@9pm)