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| Matt Duchene celebrates with the Avs bench after his 1st period goal |
WPG - Blake Wheeler (8) - from Tobias Enstrom and Bryan Little (0:24 1ST)
WPG - Michael Frolik PPG (8) - from Jacob Trouba and Grant Clitsome (5:25 1ST)
COL - Matt Duchene (13) - from Ryan O'Reilly and Nate Guenin (15:08 1ST)
COL - Ryan O'Reilly (10) - from Matt Duchene and Cory Sarich (14:47 2ND)
COL - Matt Duchene (14) - from Nathan MacKinnon (19:58 2ND)
WPG - Blake Wheeler PPG (9) - from Mark Scheifele and Grant Clitsome (10:00 3RD)
Shootout winner - P.A. Parenteau (COL)
Goalies:
WG - Semyon Varlamov (34 saves on 37 shots: 14-8-0) LG - Ondrej Pavelec (23 saves on 26 shots: 10-12-4)
The Avalanche needed a big game from their top guys and got it from Matt Duchene tonight, who scored twice and added an assist in a 4-3 shootout win over the Jets. The Avs faced some adversity tonight, down 2-0 5 minutes in they were able to fight their way back and eventually win it in a shootout with goals from Duchene and Parenteau and 2 saves from Varlamov. The Jets opened the scoring 24 seconds in, as Blake Wheeler's shot banked off an Avs defenseman and past Varlamov. The Jets would then make it 2-0 on the PP, as Michael Frolik tipped a Jacob Trouba shot past Varlamov. Patrick Roy then got his team going in the TV time out, and you could see from this point on the Avs dug deep. Duchene would get one back with 5 minutes left in the period, an incidental collision between Nathan MacKinnon and Blake Wheeler opened up some space in the neutral zone and Duchene had a give and go with Ryan O'Reilly. Duchene then deked instead Dustin Byfuglien's stick and past Pavelec, a big goal for the Avs but even bigger for Duchene (1st goal since November 14th). The shots were 14-4 for the Jets in the 1st, but momentum seemed to swing in favour of the Avs from the Duchene goal. Patrick Roy got the team going in the intermission, as the Avs came out flying in the 2nd. Ryan O'Reilly would tie the game with 5 minutes left in the 2nd, a nice play by Duchene behind the net to spin and feed O'Reilly who made no mistake. Duchene would then get his 2nd of the game with 2 seconds left in the period, as MacKinnon made a nice rush and Duchene put home the rebound. The shots were 14-4 for the Avs in the 2nd, and 18-18 overall. The Jets would tie it on the PP in the 3rd, as Blake Wheeler put a rebound past Varlamov. Shots were 14-5 Jets in the 3rd, but the score remained tied 3-3 going into OT. Both teams had their chances to score, but Varlamov and Pavelec were up to the task. The Jets would shoot first in the shootout and Setoguchi was denied by Varlamov. Matt Duchene then shot next and opened up Pavelec with a deke and beat him five-hole. Andrew Ladd was then stopped by Duchene leading to P.A. Parenteau's chance to win it, and he made no mistake deking to his backhand and beating Pavelec. Can't say enough about Matt Duchene tonight, he was by far the best player on the ice. This was the Duchene we were used to seeing in the early season, and after returning from his injury a few weeks ago he seemed to have had a hard time adjusting back to the game. The Duchene-O'Reilly-MacKinnon line has started to form some great chemistry, this line could be a force for the Avs for the foreseeable future. A big 4-3 win for the Avs, they had lost 3 of 4 games coming in and need this one. The Avs head home up 21-9-0 on the season, a big 2 points tonight.
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| Matt Duchene, Cory Sarich and Nathan MacKinnon celebrate with Ryan O'Reilly after his 2nd period goal |
3. Ryan O'Reilly - The Factor had 1 goal and 1 assist for the Avs tonight
2. Blake Wheeler - Wheeler was the best Jet on the ice tonight, scoring 2 goals.
1. Matt Duchene - Dutchy was a beast tonight, scoring twice and adding an assist as well as scoring the decisive shootout goal.
Play of the Game - Matt Duchene gets it tonight with his beautiful end-to-end goal:
Game #31 - The Avs head home for a 2-game home-stand starting with a game against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night (@9PM ET)
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| P.A. Parenteau celebrates his shootout winning goal |
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