Game #4 - Colorado Avalanche 2, Boston Bruins 0

Avs F Patrick Bordeleau celebrates with G J.S. Giguere after the Avs 2-0 win

Going into the game I had some concerns of J.S Giguere starting his 1st game of the season against a talented Boston Bruins. After the game? No doubt in my mind, Giguere was in net for the right reason, what a performance tonight to lead the Avs to a 4-0-0 start. Patrick Roy wants the NHL to take the Avs seriously, and at 4-0-0 he has everyones attention for sure. Tonight was a very good hockey game, an aggressive one from both teams and one that featured a solid goaltending battle between Tuukka Rask and J.S Giguere. The Avs opened the scoring on a PP late in the 1st, as Ryan O'Reilly tipped an Andre Benoit point shot past Rask for a 1-0 lead. It was Benoit's 1st point as an Avalanche, well deserved for a guy who has been rock solid so far. The Bruins would press heavily in the 2nd, outshooting the Avs 15-6 in the period but were unable to solve Giguere. The 3rd was a very tight-checking period, the Bruins pushed for the tie but the Avs committed to team defense and wouldn't let that happen. Matt Duchene would ice the game into the empty net, and the Avs walked away from Boston with a 2-0 win. The big story of the night was 36-year old J.S Giguere, who made 39 saves for his 37th career shutout. Giguere was making his first appearance of the season after Varlamov won the 1st 3 games, and he was simply rock-solid all night long. The Avs also continued their strong start on the PK, going 3/3 tonight and improving to 10/10 on the season not allowing a single PP goal through 4 games. The season is still early, but you couldn't have asked for a better start to the season for Patrick Roy and his team! Go Avs Go!

Avs players Andre Benoit, Matt Duchene, Steve Downie and Alex Tanguay celebrate with Ryan O'Reilly after his PPG goal in the 1st period

Three Stars:

3. Tuukka Rask - Rask was the best player for the Bruins all game, making 28 saves on 29 shots. 

2. Matt Duchene - Duchene had a huge game for the Avs, picking up an assist on the 1st goal and scoring the empty-netter to clinch the win for the Avs.

1. J.S Giguere - What a performance by the 36-year old Giguere, making 39 saves for his 37th career shutout.

Play of the Game - J.S Giguere's glove save on Jordan Caron gets it tonight, what a big save by Jiggy. Runner-up goes to Duchene for his effort on the empty-netter, chipping it past the defense and beating him to the puck for the goal.

Stat of the Night - J.S Giguere picked up his 37th shutout of his career, and 3rd shutout with the Avs. 

Game #5 - The Avalanche look to finish off their 3-game road trip undefeated, as they take a 4-0-0 record (and 2-0-0 on this road trip) to Washington for a meeting with the Capitals on Saturday Night (@7PM ET)

-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News

Game #3 - Colorado Avalanche 2, Toronto Maple Leafs

Avs celebrate a 2-1 win in Toronto

A great win by the Avs has them at 3-0 for the first time in Avalanche history, and it was even sweeter being able to catch the game first hand and see the big W. The crowd at the ACC was restless tonight, the Leafs played sloppy hockey and the Avs were able to get 2 big goals by Sarich and Parenteau to lead them to victory. Both goalies were phenomenal tonight, as Varlamov was the 1st star and Bernier the 2nd. The first period was a very slow one, and no goals were scored (shots were 12-10 Leafs). The Leafs opened the scoring in the 2nd, as a bad MacKinnon pass led to a goalmouth scramble and Joffrey Lupul jammed it home for the 1-0 lead. MacKinnon is young and will make mistakes like this, and Roy definitely let him know on the bench, but it is important for him to grow as a player by learning from these type of mistakes. The Avs would tie it up late in the 2nd, as Cory Sarich took the puck along the boards and made an aggresive move to the net, as he took his shot Bernier was cheating to the middle and Sarich beat him high over the shoulder for the 1-1 tie. It was Sarich's 1st goal as a Colorado Avalanche, a huge goal, and his 1st since January 10th, 2012 during the 11/12 season. The score remained 1-1 after 2, with the Avs outshooting the Leafs 15-7 in the 2nd. The Avs would seize the momentum in the 3rd, and they would make the Leafs play after a bad turnover by Paul Ranger. Nathan MacKinnon caused a turnover at center ice, and Jamie McGinn got the puck and blew by Ranger for a 2-on-1, as he fed it across the ice Parenteau tipped it past Bernier for the 2-1 lead. It was PA Parenteau's 3rd goal in 2 games, and Nathan MacKinnon's 4th assist in 3 games (he's had a point in every game so far). The Leafs would have a few more chances in the 3rd, but Varlamov was up to the task each time and the Avs won 2-1. The Avs are 3-0 on the season, outscoring opponents 11-3 in that stretch. While tonight was a very sloppy game, I thought the Avs were by far the better team defensively and had more zone time offensively (33-28 shots for the Avs). Overall great win, and even sweeter to be there!

Pictures I took at the game tonight. Duchene on the left, MacKinnon on the right.

Three Stars:
3. PA Parenteau - Parenteau scored his 3rd goal in 2 games tonight, and it was the game winner. So far 3-games in Parenteau has shown great chemistry with Jamie McGinn and Nathan MacKinnon.
2. Jonathan Bernier - Bernier was the lone bright spot for the Leafs tonight, he was solid all game making 31 saves on 33 shots.
1. Semyon Varlamov - 3rd straight win for Varly, 3rd straight game with only 1 goal against...3rd straight game as the 1st star. Simply put, Varly has been outstanding so far this season, hopefully he keeps it up.

Play of the Game - Parenteau's goal gets it tonight, great play by MacKinnon to cause the turnover, McGinn to start the play and Parenteau with the nice finish.

Stat of the Night - Nathan MacKinnon now has 4 points in 3 NHL games, all assists and has a point in all 3 games so far this season.

Game #4 - The Avs continue their 3-game road trip and play next on Thursday night, a meeting with the Boston Bruins (@7PM ET)

-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News

Game #2 - Colorado Avalanche 3, Nashville Predators 1

PA Parenteau and Jamie McGinn celebrate Parenteau's 1st Period Goal

The Avalanche continued their strong start under new Head Coach Patrick Roy, beating the Nashville Predators at home 3-1. The Avalanche are now 2-0-0 to start the season, scoring 9 goals and only allowing 2. The Avalanche opened the scoring for the 2nd straight game, as PA Parenteau converted on a rebound to put the Avs up 1-0 heading into the 1st intermission. The Avs would then go up 2-0 thanks to a great shift from their 4th line, as a Nate Guenin point shot was deflectd by Patrick Bordeleau past Rinne for his 1st of the season. The Predators would get one back towards the end of the 2nd, as Paul Gaustad beat Varlamov on a rebound. The Avalanche withstood the Predators pressure in the 3rd period, and winger PA Parenteau would ice the game in the empty net for his 2nd of the game. For the 2nd straight game Semyon Varlamov was fantastic, he made 26 saves on 27 shots and made some big saves to keep the Avs in the lead. Varlamov had a lot of question marks on him entering the season, but so far through 2 games he has been the Avs best player no question about it. The Avs outshot the Predators 36 to 27, as well as they killed off all 3 Predator powerplays (went 0/5 on the powerplay themselves. Overall not the prettiest game but an important win for the Avs, these are the types of games they lost last season and it seems they are learning how to play with a lead. The Avs have also scored 1st for the 2nd straight game, something they rarely did last season and thus always played from behind.

Three Stars:
3. Pekka Rinne - Rinne was the Predators best player tonight, making 33 saves on 35 shots and really keeping the Predators in the game
2. PA Parenteau - Parenteau was a force tonight, scoring 2 goals, +2 with 4 shots in 16:14 of icetime.
1. Semyon Varlamov - For the 2nd straight game Varlamov was the best player on the ice for the Avs, and once again he only let in 1 goal making 26 saves on 27 shots to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Play of the Game - Patrick Bordeleau's goal gets it tonight, a nice cycle by the 4th line led to a nice tip-in goal by Bordeleau, a guy who doesn't score very often

Stat of the Night - Semyon Varlamov allowed only 1 goal for the 2nd straight game

Game #3 - The Avalanche have 3 days off before they hit the road for 3 games, the first stop being in my hometown of Toronto. They have a meeting with the Maple Leafs on Tuesday Night (@7PM ET), and I will be in attendance wearing this jersey:

-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News

Game #1 - Colorado Avalanche 6, Anaheim Ducks 1

WHAT A GAME! WHAT A PERFORMANCE BY THE AVS ON OPENING NIGHT! Sorry for the caps, but its an exciting time to be an Avalanche fan, truly is the start of a new era in Avalanche hockey. The Avs dominated the Ducks from start to finish in this game, scoring 6 goals on route to a 6-1 win (Ducks ruined Varly's shutout with 7 seconds left). Ryan O'Reilly got things going in the first, intercepting a Francois Beauchemin pass he went in all alone on Viktor Fasth and made no mistake. The Avs would take the 1-0 lead into the intermission, as they outshot the Ducks 14-7 in the period and really pushed the pace of the game. Things stayed the same way in the 2nd, as the Avs would score 3 straight goals. Steve Downie made it 2-0 on the PP, as he converted a Ryan O'Reilly rebound for his 1st goal since February 25, 2012. John Mitchell would make it 3-0 during 4-on-4 play, as Tyson Barrie fed Mitchell the puck and raced down the ice for a 2-on-1, Mitchell made no mistake beating Fasth. Jamie McGinn would make it 4-0 towards the end of the 2nd, as a nifty pass from rookie Nathan MacKinnon setup McGinn for his 1st of the season. That was also Nathan MacKinnon's 1st NHL point, in his 1st NHL game. McGinn would make it 5-0 in the 3rd, as he took another feed from MacKinnon and beat Fasth, a nifty tic-tac-toe from Parenteau to MacKinnon to McGinn. Matt Duchene made it 6-0 on the PP, another nifty tic-tac-toe from Tanguay to Downie to Duchene. The Ducks would score with 7 seconds left, as new Duck Jakob Silfverberg beat Varlamov on a rebound. The game ended with some serious bad blood, as Ben Lovejoy tripped up Nathan MacKinnon with a dirty knee-on-knee the Avs were not happy, especially Patrick Roy. As the game ended Roy was screaming at Bruce Boudreau, even getting right up against the glass between the benches and it fell over into the Ducks side. Roy had some serious fire in his eyes, this guy cares about his job and his players and he isn't going to take nonsense like that. MacKinnon was okay after the incident, and what a performance in his first NHL game. What a game from the Avs, from the stellar play of Varlamov to the 6 goals to the solid defensive performance. The Avs 3 new D-pairings were all good tonight, Johnson with Hejda, Barrie with Guenin and Sarich with Benoit. I particularly liked the play of Andre Benoit, he was calm and cool in his own end but really jumped up into the play offensively quite often. Offensively the Avs were solid on all 4 lines, in particular the line of O'Reilly-Duchene-Downie was a handful for the Ducks every time they took the ice. I also liked the play of McGinn-MacKinnon-Parenteau, they were solid offensively and were strong on the forecheck. The Avs won the special teams battle, scoring 2 PP goals in 5 chances and killing off both Ducks PPs. Semyon Varlamov deserves full credit for his performance, he was brilliant from start to finish making key saves that allowed the Avs to get their chances offensively. Overall a phenomenal performance on opening night, what a game!

Three Stars:
3. Ryan O'Reilly - Factor got things rolling for the Avs, scoring the 1st goal of the season in the 1st. He would add an assist in the 3rd, and finished the game with 1 goal, 1 assist and 6 shots on goal as well as a game-high 4 takeaways.
2. Nathan MacKinnon - Talk about a great NHL debut, the #1 overall pick in this summer's draft was all over the ice tonight. He collected his first NHL point with a nice feed to Jamie McGinn, and set up McGinn again in the 3rd for 2 assists in the game. He also got into a nice scrum with Ben Lovejoy in the 1st, gettign a rough penalty for his work. Overall a great NHL debut
1. Semyon Varlamov - In a game with 6 goals how is the goalie #1 star? Simple, Varlamov deserves it 100% for his play tonight. He was simply brilliant from start to finish, allowing only 1 goal with 7 seconds left in an otherwise flawless victory. He made 35 saves on 36 shots, collecting his 1st win of the season. Varlamov is really benefiting from the prescence of Head Coach Patrick Roy, and he looks to have a rebound season his year.

Play of the Game - Matt Duchene's goal gets it tonight, a brilliant tic-tac-toe from Tanguay to Downie to Duchene to the back of the net. Tanguay made a ridiculous cross-ice pass from the point to Downie at the doorstep, who fed it to Duchene across the crease and he made no mistake

Stat of the Night - Patrick Roy earned his 1st victory as an NHL Head Coach, way to go Patrick! Nathan MacKinnon had 2 assists for his first 2 NHL points in his first NHL game.

Game #2 - The Avs have 1 day off before the Nashville Predators are in town on Friday night (@9PM ET). This will mark the first time that Seth Jones plays vs. Nathan MacKinnon, a storyline that will follow these 2 kids for the rest of their career.

-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News