Colorado Avalanche News - Joel Forman: Game #13 - Colorado Avalanche 4, Montreal Canadiens 1

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Game #13 - Colorado Avalanche 4, Montreal Canadiens 1

Adam Foote makes a speech before his #52 is retired

Goals:
COL - Gabriel Landeskog (5) - from Marc-Andre Cliche and Patrick Bordeleau (11:14 2ND)
MTL - Brendan Gallagher PPG (7) - from P.K. Subban and Alex Galchenyuk (3:38 3RD)
COL - Nathan MacKinnon (2) - from Gabriel Landeskog and Jan Hejda (8:01 3RD)
COL - Ryan O'Reilly (4) - unassisted (11:31 3RD)
COL - P.A. Parenteau (4) - from Matt Duchene and Andre Benoit (19:22 3RD)
WG - J.S. Giguere (29 saves on 30 shots) LG - Peter Budaj (27 saves on 30 shots)

On a night when the Avs honoured longtime Avalanche D Adam Foote, the Avs channeled their inner-Foote and played a feisty, tough game against the Montreal Canadiens beating them 4-1 and improving to an NHL-best 12-1-0. The Avs honoured Foote with a lengthy ceremony in which Foote spoke and thanked a ton of people that helped him along the way, most notably Joe Sakic, Ray Bourque and Patrick Roy (and a special appearance by his former D-partner Alexei Gusarov). The best part of the speech was when Foote thanked the fans for being so great "when we kicked Detroit's ass," as well as noted that the best part of his career was watching Sakic pass the Stanley Cup to Ray Bourque.

Now to the game, the first period was very fast-paced and both teams had several chances to score but couldn't beat either goal. It was a battle of the back-ups in Giguere and former Av Peter Budaj, and both goalies played strong in the 1st (shots 11-8 Avs). In the 2nd the Avs were able to get on the board, as Landeskog hopped off the bench to an open puck and beat Budaj hit short-side. The Avs would take a 1-0 lead into the 3rd, as the shots were 10-8 for the Avs in the 2nd. In the 3rd the Habs came out looking for the tie, and on their 3rd PP of the game they finally beat Giguere as Brendan Gallagher (who was everywhere tonight) put in a rebound. It was the first PP goal allowed by the Avs after 22 straight successful PKs, a great example of how the Avs have changed their defensive style under Roy. The Avs could have sat back and looked waited for their chances, but after the Gallagher goal they stepped it up and pushed back. MacKinnon would make it 2-1, playing in Alex Tanguay's spot (who left with a knee injury in the 2nd and didn't return) he would put a backhand past Budaj on a Landeskog rebound.

The Avs would then make it 3-1 minutes later, as a bad turnover by Subban led to O'Reilly beating Budaj. The Avs would ice it into the empty net, as a great shift by Duchene set up Parenteau for the empty net goal. J.S. Giguere was so calm in net tonight, making 29 saves on 30 shots and really being the veteran netminder Patrick Roy has asked him to be. Giguere is now 4-0 on the season, allowing only 3 goals in 4 games (pretty impressive for a goalie many people called "past his prime" and "washed up"). Just when things looked to go in favour of the Habs, the Avs responded with a great 3rd period and shut the Habs down after making it 3-1. Avs fans are so used to seeing the Avs in the past chase in the 3rd and lose games like this, but now they are winning these games and shutting down other teams. Can't say enough about how strong the Avs are playing as a team defensively, Patrick Roy has done a phenomenal job with that.

Foote joins Forsberg, Sakic, Roy and Bourque in the rafters at the Pepsi Center

Landeskog celebrates his 1st period goal

Three Stars:
3. Nathan MacKinnon - MacKinnon had a very strong game tonight, and he was rewarded with his 2nd goal of his NHL career in the 3rd. It also was his 1st GWG of his NHL career
2. J.S. Giguere - Jiggy was rock-solid yet again, improving to 4-0 on the season after making 29 saves on 30 shots tonight.
1. Gabriel Landeskog - The Captain lead by example tonight, scoring the 1st goal of the game and assisting on MacKinnon's GWG. Landeskog has played great hockey on the Avs latest 6 game winning streak, his line has been a force out there.

Play of the Game - Nathan MacKinnon's goal gets it tonight, great individual effort by Landeskog on the rush and MacKinnon getting to the rebound to score.

Game #14 - The Avs look to continue their hot start to the season, and they have 3 days off to rest up. They play the 2nd of a 4-game homestand against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night (@930PM ET)