 |
| Cole Harbour native's Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby battle for the 1st time |
The majority of people looked at tonight's game as an automatic win for the Penguins; despite how good of a start the Avs have had many people questioned Patrick Roy's decision to start J.S. Giguere over Semyon Varlamov. The result? A 34-save shutout, his 2nd shutout in 3 starts and 3rd win overall. Not bad for the 36-year old goaltender many people called "washed-up" or "old." The Avs may not be winning pretty every night, but the bottom line is this team has shown the ability to grind out wins early in the season. Its hard to jump to conclusions considering it is only 9 games in, but talk about an ideal start for an Avs team that looks completely different under Patrick Roy. Tonight was also the first meeting between Cole Harbour native and 1ST overall pick's Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, despite Crosby outplaying MacKinnon score 1 for the rookie. The Penguins outshot the Avs 34-14 in the game, except the lone goal came from Avs Captain Gabriel Landeskog. Landeskog, coming out of the penalty box, got the puck at the blue line after a nice pass by Ryan Wilson, and he threw it on net which beat Fleury low-glove. It looked like it may have tipped, but regardless a huge goal for the Avalanche. The Penguins peppered the Avs in the 3rd outshooting them 16-5 but unable to solve Jiggy. The Avs killed a season high 7 penalties, including 4 in the 1st period. The PK has been the biggest difference this season compared to the last few years, Roy has gotten the message across and the Avs are playing smart, aggressive penalty killing. Credit Giguere for making some really clutch saves, none bigger than 2-on-1 with Malkin and Crosby as he made a great glove save off Sid. After a slow start, Captain Gabriel Landeskog has really responded scoring goals in 3 straight games. Another played that deserves a round of applause is Jan Hejda, who had a monster night defensively logging 27:32 of ice time with 4 hits and 6 blocked shots (both game-high). Once again not the prettiest win, but the Avs are surprising the NHL and continue to keep things rolling.
 |
| Avs Captain Gabriel Landeskog celebrates his 2nd period goal |
 |
| The Avalanche celebrate with G J.S. Giguere after a 1-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins |
Three Stars:
3. Sidney Crosby - Crosby was the best player on the ice for the Pens, putting up 7 shots on goal but Giguere wouldn't let anything past him on this night.
2. Gabriel Landeskog - Landy had another big-time performance, scoring the lone goal for the Avs which was enough for a big 2 points. Gabe now has goals in 3 straight games.
1. J.S. Giguere - What can you see about the Avs goaltending this season, the tandem of Semyon Varlamov (4-1) and J.S. Giguere (3-0) has been arguably the best in the NHL early on. Giguere had his 2nd shutout in 3 games, making 34 saves tonight. What is even more impressive about the 36-year old's performance this season is that both of his shutouts have come against 2 elite NHL teams: Boston and Pittsburgh.
Play of the Night - J.S. Giguere's glove save on Sidney Crosby gets it tonight, possibly the scariest 2-on-1 combination in the NHL with Malkin and Crosby and Jiggy stands tall with the big glove save. Runner-up goes to Jamie McGinn's play on Sidney Crosby on the PK, saving a goal for sure.
Game #10 - The Avs head home for a 3-day rest as they don't play until Friday night in the 1st of back-to-back home games. The Avalanche (8-0-1) meet the Carolina Hurricanes (4-2-3) in Denver on Friday night (@9PM ET)
-Joel Forman - Colorado Avlanche News
No comments:
Post a Comment