Game #5 - Colorado Avalanche 5, Washington Capitals 1

Nathan MacKinnon celebrates his 1st NHL goal with Gabriel Landeskog and P.A. Parenteau

Playing against his former team for the 1st time was challenging enough, but having to play infront of the crowd that he used to play for was even harder for Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov, and he goes out and has his best performance of the season to lead the Avs to their 5th straight win, and sweep their 3-game road trip. The Avalanche are 5-0-0 for the first time in Avalanche history, outscoring opponents 18-4 in the first 5 games under new Head Coach Patrick Roy. The craziest part about this run is that the two things the Avs were said to be there weaknesses going into the season, goaltending and defense, are the reason they are winning games right now. So far the combination of Semyon Varlamov and J.S Giguere has went 5-0 allowing only 4 goals in that stretch, Varlamov playing 4 games and only allowing 1 goal in each (in contrast Varlamov won only 1 road game all last season and now has 2 road wins in 2 tries). The Avs got on the board first as Alex Tanguay beat Neuvirth to give the Avs a 1-0 lead in the 1st. They would double their lead towards the end of the period, as an end-to-end rush by Matt Duchene was an absolute beauty and he beat Neuvirth to make it 2-0. The Avs would finish the period up 2-0 and outshooting the Caps 12-10. The story of the 2nd period was Semyon Varlamov and Nathan MacKinnon, as the Caps outshoot the Avs 19-7 in the 2nd but couldn't beat Varly. On a PP late in the 2nd, Nathan MacKinnon found some room infront of the net and Paul Stastny got him the puck, he made no mistake beating Neuvirth as he finally scored his 1st NHL goal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9pLmqrIdrE). The Avs took a 3-0 lead into the 3rd, but they were also getting outshot 29-19 after two. In the 3rd there was 3 goals in the first 2:24 of the period, as Alex Tanguay got his 2nd of the season shorthanded to make it 4-0. The Caps scored their lone goal 44 seconds later, as Eric Fehr got the puck infront and beat Varlamov. The Avs rebounded with their 5th goal of the game, this one a nifty passing play from MacKinnon to Parenteau to McGinn to the back of the net for his 3rd of the season. The Avs would win 5-1, with Varly burning his former team making 40 saves on 41 shots for his 4th win of the season. The Avs continued to be perfect on the penalty kill this season, going 2/2 tonight and improving to 12/12 on the season. Whether you realize it or not, but Patrick Roy in 5 games has completely changed the culture of this team, his players want to play for him and they want to play hard. The Avs are finding ways to win games, and it has all started with the goaltending from Varlamov and Giguere. Simply put, its a new era in Avalanche hockey, and Patrick Roy is 5-0-0 as an NHL head coach.

Matt Duchene celebrates his 3rd goal of the season

Three Stars:
3. Alex Tanguay - Tanguay scored his 1st and 2nd goals of the season tonight, including getting the game's all important 1st goal. Tanguay has been a great veteran presence in his 2nd sting in Colorodo, a great player for the young forwards.
2. Nathan MacKinnon - MacKinnon continued his hot start to his 1st NHL season, finally scoring his 1st NHL goal and adding an assist. MacKinnon now leads the Avalanche with 6 points in his 1st 5 games, a very impressive feat for a kid who just turned 18 last month.
1. Semyon Varlamov - 4th start for Varlamov, 4th game allowing only 1 goal, 4th 1st Star of the game. However, this was the best of them all, just standing on his head against his former team. Varly made 40 saves on 41 shots, and was simply brilliant again tonight.

Play of the Game - Matt Duchene's goal gets it tonight, another highlight reel goal by Dutchy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL3LDNSoxIk

Stat of the Night - For the 4th start in a row, Semyon Varlamov has picked up the victory allowing only 1 goal.

Game #6 - The Avs return home for a 2-game homestand, starting off with the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night (@9PM ET).

-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News