After tying a franchise record 7th straight home win, the avs are suddenly back in the playoff picture in the west. It took nearly a month, but the team is back at .500 with a 17-17-1 record, and have now won 3 straight on this 4-game home-stand. Tonight was another defensive minded hockey games, full with momentum swings and good goaltending. The avs got off two a fortunate start with Stastny scoring on a tip 4 minutes in. Just over a minute later, Kevin Porter dumped the puck on net and Elliot tried to quickly move it to Kevin Shattenkirk (both former avs) and he fanned on it leaving a puck wide open for McLeod to score his 2nd of the season. After that the game slowed down, and the avs killed off 3 straight PK to end the period. Once again the avs came out strong in the 2nd, with Winnik hitting the post seconds in. After that however, St. Louis picked it up and goals from Backes and former av Chris Stewart tied things up. With around 6 minutes to go, McClement and Malone had a two on one and McClement threw the puck out front off a defender and past Elliot as the net came off. A lengthy review saw the goal count and a 3-2 lead. The avs then played a balanced 3rd period, with Giguere standing on his head, and were able to win another game. J.S Giguere is playing his best hockey in a while, having won 3 straight on this home-stand and not giving up more than 2 goals each game. It isn't the stats that amaze me about him however, he brings a prescence that seems to get this team going. Giggy made 37 saves on 39 shots, including 11 saves when the avs were outshot 11-1 in the 3rd. On offence, I felt that no particular line was the best tonight but the top 3 lines (Duchene Stastny Winnik, O'Reilly Hejduk Landeskog, McClement Galiardi Malone) were all effective in their role. On defence, I thought that all 3 pairings were good, with Johnson-O'Brien and Hejda-O'Byrne logging major minutes. A perfect game for a coach, 3 different goals from 3 different lines and 9 different players with a point (as well as a D man assisting on every goal). Overall, not the prettiest game but its the two points that matter and Coach Sacco has seemingly woken his team up of late as they now sit just 4 points out of the 8th playoff spot.
Avalanche Three Stars:
3. Brad Malone - Making the most of his recent call-up, Malone has played aggressive hockey that has been lacked in players game such as Kobasew, Yip, Porter etc. Not only that, he seems to have found some chemistry with McClement and Galiardi in an effective checking line, and he assisted on the GWG
2. Jay McClement - Scored the GWG against his former club, and had a solid game on the PK and even strength all night
1. J.S Giguere - Starting his 3rd straight game, Giggy walks away with the 1st star for the 3rd time. He has been by far the avs best player on this 3-game winning streak, and has really woken this team up. I don't know if they just play better in front of him, but Giguere has effectively reached his teammates and they are responding well. He made 37 saves on 39 shots
Play of the Game - Giguere's glove save on Alex Pietrangelo gets it, late 3rd period and clutch save for Giggy
Misplay of the Game - Matt Hunwick's weak checking of Berglund leading to the tying goal
Game #36 - The avs look to go 4-0 on this 4-game home-stand, as well as set a new record for their 8th straight home win, as they meet the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night (@9pm).
-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News
No comments:
Post a Comment