Colorado Avalanche News - Joel Forman: Game #11 - Colorado Avalanche 3, Winnipeg Jets 2

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Game #11 - Colorado Avalanche 3, Winnipeg Jets 2

Ryan Wilson and Ryan O'Reilly celebrate with Matt Duchene after his 9th goal of the season

Goals:

COL - Matt Duchene (9) - from Steve Downie and Ryan Wilson (8:04 1ST)

WPG - Brian Little (6) - from Adam Pardy and Blake Wheeler (11:00 1ST)

WPG - Blake Wheeler (4) - from Brian Little and Grant Clitsome (10:02 2ND)

COL - Jan Hejda (2) - from Paul Stastny and Gabriel Landeskog (7:13 3RD)

COL - Paul Stastny (2) - from Gabriel Landeskog and Alex Tanguay (14:32 3RD)

WG - Semyon Varlamov (23 saves on 25 shots) LG - Al Montoya (33 saves on 36 shots)

The Avalanche are off to their best start in franchise history, improving to 10-1-0 on the season with a 3-2 come-from behind win over the Jets. The Avs finish October tied with the Sharks for an NHL-best 10 wins and only 1 loss, what a start for Patrick Roy's team. The Avs faced some adversity tonight; as it was the 1st time all season the Avs trailed going into the 3rd period. The result? They responded with one of the best periods of the season, as the Landeskog line got the tying and winning goal in a dominant 3rd period. The Avs came out flying in the first, nearly scoring several times in the opening minutes but Al Montoya made a series of great saves on Duchene and Landeskog. Matt Duchene then opened the scoring for the Avs, converting on Steve Downie rebound for his team leading 9th goal of the season. However, the Jets would tie the game 3 minutes later as a weird bounce off the back-boards went right to Brian Little who beat Varlamov before he could slide over to the other side of the net. The Avs would end the period tied 1-1, outshooting the Jets 10-8. The 2nd was a bad period for the Avs; they seemed sloppy and took 4 penalties in the period. Blake Wheeler put the Jets up 2-1 seconds after a PP expired, as Blake Wheeler beat Varlamov with a slap shot five-hole (Varly's 1st weak goal of the season). Shots were tied 19-19 after 2 periods, with the Jets up 2-1 and outshooting the Avs 11-9 in the period. If the Avs wanted to continued their winning streak, they needed to respond and push back. That is exactly what thee Avs did as they came out flying in the 3rd period, Patrick Roy clearly said something in the intermission because the Avs looked like a different team then in the 2nd. Jan Hejda would tie the game at 2-2, as a nice shift by the Landeskog line led to Hejda ripping a slapshot off the cross-bar past Montoya. The Avs would then take a 3-2 lead seconds after killing of their 5th penalty of the night, as Paul Stastny converted a Gabriel Landeskog pass for the goal with 5:28 left. The Avs would hold on for their 5th straight win, outshooting the Jets 17-6 in the 3rd and 36-25 in the game. The Avs had a strong game defensively, winning 30 of 51 faceoffs and blocking 19 shots (Cory Sarich a game-high 4). Most importantly, the PK was very integral to the Avs success tonight as they stopped all 5 Jets PPs and have now killed off 18 straight overall. What a month of October for the Avs, who stand at 10-1-0 withn 4 days off until their next game on Friday.

Paul Stastny celebrates his 3rd period goal

Three Stars:

3. Gabriel Landeskog - Landeskog has been on a roll the past few games, and he was a big part of the comeback win tonight as he picked up 2 assists on the tying and winning goals.

2. Paul Stastny - Stastny had a very strong game tonight, assisting on Jan Hejda's tying goal and scoring his 2nd goal of the season with 5:28 left to give the Avs the lead.

1. Matt Duchene - Duchene continued his great start to the season with his 9th goal, which opened the scoring for the Avs. Duchene now has 9 goals in October, tying Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Chris Stewart as the most in October in Avalanche history.

Play of the Game - Stastny's goal gets it tonight, a great passing play from Tanguay to Landeskog to Stastny for the game-winning goal.

Game #12 - The Avalanche now have 4 days off until their next game, as they start off November with a road game vs. the Dallas Stars on Friday night (@830PM ET)