In a close in-conference game with the visiting Kings, the avs refused to go down a goal and allowed 1-0 and 2-1 leads to vanish before taking the 3-2 lead for good on a beautiful Matt Duchene goal. In a game where Duchene was needed at his best, he stepped up in the spotlight and delivered the game winning goal when his team called upon him and this could be the beginning of an offensive outburst for the young centre. The avs scored 3 goals in 3 different ways tonight, starting with a SH goal from Kobasew, a PP goal by Milan Hejduk and the 3rd even strength by Duchene. While they allowed two PP goals tonight, the avs played a very solid 5-on-5 game and really limited the scoring chances for the talented LA forwards (despite being outshot 32-16). The leagues #1 faceoff team (avs) met a very similarly good team tonight, but were able to win 55% of the draws in 27 of 49 faceoffs. Once again Semyon Varlamov had an extremely good night in net, stopping 30 of 32 shots and only allowing two PP goals - one out of mid air by Parse and the other on a 5-3 PP by Kopitar after making the initial two saves (both not his fault). Varlamov has earned the respect of his teammates after a great first month, but the main positive attribute is that he trusts his defence and that is one thing that we never saw last season - the avs defence play a commanding and tough defensive game in front of Varly, while also jumping in to the play to create scoring chances. Kyle Quincey is really starting to standout on this team, after missing most of last year he picked up another 2 assists tonight to give him 2 goals and 6 assists, but also a 4 game point streak. It is obvious that EJ and Hejda are the top pairing on the team, but I have been absolutely impressed with the pairing of Quincey and O'Brien as not only Quincey is clicking on offense but Shane O'Brien has just been a force around the whole rink. He doesn't seem like he was more than a rough defence in his past, but so far with the avs he has shown serious improvements with his skating and puck moving, really jumping into plays and making great reads on passes. Throw in Wilson and O'Byrne who are the tough pairing, and all 3 defence pairs have not only stuck together all season but have really made room for the avs forwards to use their speed. The lines were shuffled pre-game, and I think they really worked tonight as I was particularly impressed with T.J Galiardi. Returning from missing the last game, he skated with Stastny and Hejduk and really played well at both ends of the ice, something that Galiardi didn't have a chance to do on the 4th line. The OWL line played well as usual, but I really felt that the line of Duchene Jones and Lindstrom was their best tonight, and it paid off with the winning goal off of Duchene's stick. Jones is a force on the puck, and really gives Duchene not only a solid winger to pass to but someone that will create space for him which has been needed in the past. Coach Sacco finally took Kobasew out of the top 6, and I thought he played better in a 4th line role with McClement and McLeod (also paid off as he scored a SH goal). Overall, I thought that this was a very well played team game, one that Coach Sacco should be happy with after two terrible losses.
Avalanche Three Stars:
3. Kyle Quincey - Has been the avs best D the last few games, and its paying off for him as 2 assists tonight give him points in his last 4 games. As stated before, Quincey and O'Brien have formed a great D pairing for the avs so far
2. David Jones - Stepping into a new line tonight, Jones did more than asked for in setting up two of the three goals. He dumped the puck on the PP which led to the bounce for Hejduk's goal, but made a beautiful pass to Duchene to set up the game winning goal
1. Matt Duchene - I'm sure I, along with all avs fans, have been waiting for Duchene to step up and he did it against the right team. Duchene played a very solid game all around, but was the difference scoring early in the 3rd on a beautiful wrist shot. Hopefully this is the start of an offensive outburst for Matt
Play of the Game: Easy choice, Matt Duchene's game winning goal was just an absolute snipe past Jon Quick. Taking a feed off the boards from Jones, Duchene flew into the zone and beat Quick over the glove. Honourable mention goes to Kobasew for his SH goal, as he took a nifty pass from Landeskog and swooped around the net to tuck it past Quick
Game #12 - The avs play their first game in November on Wednesday, as the Phoenix Coyotes are in town (@930pm).
-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News
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