Game #8 - Colorado Avalanche 4, Buffalo Sabres 2

Matt Duchene, Ryan Wilson and Steve Downie celebrate with Ryan O'Reilly after his 1st period goal

Goals:
COL - Ryan O'Reilly (3) - from Matt Duchene and Steve Downie (8:44 1ST)
COL - Gabriel Landeskog (2) - from Erik Johnson (11:57 1ST)
COL - Matt Duchene PPG (6) - from Ryan O'Reilly and Andre Benoit (0:56 2ND)
BUF - Cody Hodgson (2) - from Drew Stafford and Thomas Vanek (5:31 2ND)
COL - Paul Stastny (1) - from Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan Wilson (8:34 2ND)
BUF - Marcus Foligno (2) - from Henrik Tallinder (1:05 1ST)

The Avalanche improved to 7-1-0 on the season with a 4-2 win over the 1-win Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres were non-existent in this game until the 3rd period, as it took them 14 minutes to get their 1st shot on goal in the game. Ryan O'Reilly opened the scoring in the 1st, as a nifty spin move and pass by Duchene left O'Reilly wide open in front. The Avs would make it 2-0 on a great individual effort by Gabriel Landeskog, as he drove the net wide and went around the net net, wrapping the puck into an open net on the other side. The Avs outshot the Sabres 14-3 in the 1st, and really controlled the pace of the game. Things stayed the same in the 2nd, as a PP to start the period would result in the score being 3-0. Matt Duchene tipped a Ryan O'Reilly shot past Ryan Miller for the goal, 2nd point for both Duchene and O'Reilly. The Sabres would get one back a few minutes later, as a blast from the point by Cody Hodgson beat Giguere up high to make it 3-1. Just minutes later the Avs would restore their 3-goal lead, as some nifty passing lead to Paul Stastny scoring his 1st of the season. The shots 11-8 Sabres in the period, and 22-14 overall for the Avs. The Sabres would cut the lead to 2 in the 1st minute of the 3rd, as Marcus Foligno beat a sprawling Giguere up top to make it 4-2. The Avs played great through 2 periods but looked really sluggish in the 3rd, as the Sabres found life but couldn't beat Giguere after the Foligno goal. The Sabres would outshoot the Avs 16-4 in the 3rd, but the Avs would hold on for a 4-2 win. What a performance by Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly tonight, both players were a force all game long.

J.S. Giguere makes one of his 28 saves on the night

Three Stars:
3. Gabriel Landeskog - Landeskog continued his hot play of late, scoring his 2nd goal of the season and adding an assist on Paul Stastny's goal
2. Ryan O'Reilly - O'Reilly opened the scoring for the Avs in this game, and added an assist on Duchene's PP goal.
1. Matt Duchene - Dutchy continues to be the Avs best player this season, as he recorded his 6th goal of the season (the GWG) and added an assist. Duchene now has 9 points in 8 games to lead the Avs

Play of the Game - Ryan O'Reilly's goal gets it tonight, what a great spin move and pass by Matt Duchene to find O'Reilly wide open for the goal.

Game #9 - The Avs look to continue their hot start with the 2nd game of the road trip, as they face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night (@730PM ET)

-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News

Game #7 - Detroit Red Wings 4, Colorado Avalanche 2

DET - Johan Franzen PPG (1) - from Henrik Zetterberg and Jakub Kindl (6:08 1ST)
DET - Pavel Datsyuk (3) - from Danny DeKeyser and Daniel Alfredsson (15:00 1ST)
COL - Erik Johnson PPG (1) - from Semyon Varlamov (2:36 2ND)
COL - Gabriel Landeskog PPG (1) - from Paul Stastny (14:42 2ND)
DET - Johan Franzen PPG (2) - from Justin Abdelkader and Daniel Alfredsson (7:10 3RD)
DET - Pavel Datsyuk (4) - from Daniel Alfredsson (13:35 3RD)

The Avalanche are undefeated no more, their 6-game winning streak snapped by the rival Detroit Red Wings. Although it was a tough loss, the Avs played a very solid game outshooting the Red Wings 40-28. The game started with a little controversy, as 2 minutes in Cody McLeod hit Niklas Kronwall from behind resulting in Kronwall being taken off on a stretcher. Very dangerous play by Cody, he plays with a tough edge to his game but he went too far with this one. Here is the replay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GmG3hLI2gg. McLeod faces an in-hearing suspension which means 5+ games, and with Kronwall out with a reported concussion things look bad for McLeod. The Wings opened the scoring after receiving a 5-minute PP from the hit, as Avalanche killer Johan Franzen scored. Franzen has been an Avalanche killer for the past 5 or so years, and he was again tonight. The Wings made it 2-0 near the end of the period, as Pavel Datsyuk scored. The Avs regrouped and started to put the pressure on in the 2nd, as a nice end-to-end rush by Erik Johnson on the PP resulted in his 1st goal of the season. On another PP late in the 2nd, Gabriel Landeskog took the puck and beat Gustavsson five-hole for the 2-2 tie. The Avs would come out hard in the 3rd, but Gustavsson was their to answer each shot. The Wings took the lead for good with another Franzen PP goal, as he rooked it high glove. Datsyuk made it 4-2 later in the 3rd, and the Wings would win 4-2 despite a furious last 2 minutes by the Avalanche.

Three Stars:
3. Daniel Alfredsson - Alfredsson had 3 assists on the night.
2. Pavel Datsyuk - Datsyuk scored the 2nd and 4th Wings goals on the night.
1. Johan Franzen - The Avalanche killer strikes again, scoring the 1st goal of the game and the game winning goal in the 3rd period.

Play of the Game - Erik Johnson's goal gets it tonight, beautiful end-to-end rush for the goal.

Game #8 - The Avalanche look to get things back on track with the 1st of 2 straight road games, as they play the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday Night (@7PM ET)

-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News

Game #6 - Colorado Avalanche 3, Dallas Stars 2

Avs Head Coach Patrick Roy

Goals:
DAL - Rich Peverley (1) - from Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn (4:18 1ST)
COL - Matt Duchene (4) - unassisted (11:43 1ST)
COL - Jan Hejda (1) - from Nathan MacKinnon and P.A. Parenteau (19:53 1ST)
DAL - Cody Eakin PPG (1) - from Ray Whitney and Erik Cole (10:58 2ND)
COL - Matt Duchene (5) - from P.A. Parenteau and Erik Johnson (14:18 2ND)

Another game, another win for the Avalanche who remain unbeaten to start the season at 6-0-0. Patrick Roy has tied an NHL record with the most consecutive wins to start a NHL Head Coaching Career, tying Mario Tremblay who did it with the Canadiens in 1995-1996. What makes this even more ironic was the fact that Roy was the goalie on that Canadiens team, and his famous altercation with Tremblay led to Roy being traded to the Avs and winning the Stanley Cup that season. What makes this situation even more intense is that the Avs next game is against their biggest rival, the Detroit Red Wings, and we all know how much Patrick wants this one. Once again the story was Semyon Varlamov, who was outstanding making 39 saves while also allowing more the 1 goal for the 1st time this season. The Stars opened the scoring in the 1st, as Rich Peverley got behind Jan Hejda/Erik Johnson and beat Varly on the breakaway to make it 1-0.  The Avs would get even later in the period, as a sloppy Sergei Gonchar turnover left Matt Duchene wide open in the slot and he made no mistake beating Dan Ellis. The Avs would then take the lead with seconds remaining in the 1st, as a long shift by the McGinn-MacKinnon-Parenteau line lead to Jan Hejda scoring his 1st of the season with 7 seconfs left. The Avs outshot the Stars 10-6 in the period, leading 2-1 heading into the 2nd. The 1st was slow and sloppy from both teams, but things changed drastically in the 2nd as both teams used their speed and starting skating hard. The Stars would tie the game on the PP, as Cody Eakin beat Varlamov five-hole with 1 second left on MacKinnon's penalty, marking the first time all season the Avs let in a PP goal. The Avs would then take the lead minutes later, as another long shift by the MacKinnon line lead to the a delayed penalty. As the play went on, the Avs 6th attacker Matt Duchnene took a Parenteau pass at Center and made a few nices moves before roofing it over Ellis for the 3-2 lead and his 2nd goal of the game, 5th of the season. Another highlight reel goal by Dutchy, and it was also his 200th NHL point which is extremely impressive considering he is still 22 years old. The Stars would outshoot the Avs 18-5 in the 2nd, but the Avs remained in the lead. The 3rd period was a lot like the 2nd period, as the Avs tightened up defensively and had a great period from Semyon Varlamov. The Stars made a final push, including Alex Chiasson with a shot point-blank on Varlamov at the buzzer, but the Avs would hold on for their 6th consecutive win. Once again it wasn't the prettiest game, but simply put the Avs are getting it done and playing hard as a team. You can see how much each player is buying into Patrick Roy's system, the plays know how much he cares and they are feeding off it. This was the team that was supposed to score but have weak goaltending and defense; well they are definitely scoring but it has been the play of Semyon Varlamov and the Avs D that has been the biggest surprise this season. The Avs are 6-0-0, tied for top of the NHL with the San Jose Sharks (6-0-0) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (6-1-0).

Avs F Matt Duchene celebrates his 2nd of 2 goals on the night, his 200th NHL point

Three Stars:
3. Tyler Seguin - Seguin was the Stars most dangerous player all night, he picked up an assist and had several chances to score tonight.
2. Matt Duchene - Dutchy picked up the Avs 1st and 3rd goals of the night, his 4th and 5th goals of the season. Duchene's 2nd goal was also the game winner, and his 200th NHL point.
1. Semyon Varlamov - Seeing a pattern here? That is now 5 straight starts for Varlamov, 5 straight wins and 5 straight 1st Star performances. This was the 1st time he allowed more than 1 goal in a game, but he was very effective making 39 saves on 41 shots.

Play of the Game - Matt Duchene's GWG was also another highlight-reel goal: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/matt-duchene-scores-beautiful-goal-perfect-avs-delayed-031515501--nhl.html

Interesting Stat of the Night - Matt Duchene now has 200 NHL points in 272 games at age 22.

Game #7 - Patrick Roy goes for an NHL record with 7 consecutive wins to start a Head Coaching career, and he does so at home against the Avs bitter rival the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night (@9PM ET)

Game #5 - Colorado Avalanche 5, Washington Capitals 1

Nathan MacKinnon celebrates his 1st NHL goal with Gabriel Landeskog and P.A. Parenteau

Playing against his former team for the 1st time was challenging enough, but having to play infront of the crowd that he used to play for was even harder for Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov, and he goes out and has his best performance of the season to lead the Avs to their 5th straight win, and sweep their 3-game road trip. The Avalanche are 5-0-0 for the first time in Avalanche history, outscoring opponents 18-4 in the first 5 games under new Head Coach Patrick Roy. The craziest part about this run is that the two things the Avs were said to be there weaknesses going into the season, goaltending and defense, are the reason they are winning games right now. So far the combination of Semyon Varlamov and J.S Giguere has went 5-0 allowing only 4 goals in that stretch, Varlamov playing 4 games and only allowing 1 goal in each (in contrast Varlamov won only 1 road game all last season and now has 2 road wins in 2 tries). The Avs got on the board first as Alex Tanguay beat Neuvirth to give the Avs a 1-0 lead in the 1st. They would double their lead towards the end of the period, as an end-to-end rush by Matt Duchene was an absolute beauty and he beat Neuvirth to make it 2-0. The Avs would finish the period up 2-0 and outshooting the Caps 12-10. The story of the 2nd period was Semyon Varlamov and Nathan MacKinnon, as the Caps outshoot the Avs 19-7 in the 2nd but couldn't beat Varly. On a PP late in the 2nd, Nathan MacKinnon found some room infront of the net and Paul Stastny got him the puck, he made no mistake beating Neuvirth as he finally scored his 1st NHL goal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9pLmqrIdrE). The Avs took a 3-0 lead into the 3rd, but they were also getting outshot 29-19 after two. In the 3rd there was 3 goals in the first 2:24 of the period, as Alex Tanguay got his 2nd of the season shorthanded to make it 4-0. The Caps scored their lone goal 44 seconds later, as Eric Fehr got the puck infront and beat Varlamov. The Avs rebounded with their 5th goal of the game, this one a nifty passing play from MacKinnon to Parenteau to McGinn to the back of the net for his 3rd of the season. The Avs would win 5-1, with Varly burning his former team making 40 saves on 41 shots for his 4th win of the season. The Avs continued to be perfect on the penalty kill this season, going 2/2 tonight and improving to 12/12 on the season. Whether you realize it or not, but Patrick Roy in 5 games has completely changed the culture of this team, his players want to play for him and they want to play hard. The Avs are finding ways to win games, and it has all started with the goaltending from Varlamov and Giguere. Simply put, its a new era in Avalanche hockey, and Patrick Roy is 5-0-0 as an NHL head coach.

Matt Duchene celebrates his 3rd goal of the season

Three Stars:
3. Alex Tanguay - Tanguay scored his 1st and 2nd goals of the season tonight, including getting the game's all important 1st goal. Tanguay has been a great veteran presence in his 2nd sting in Colorodo, a great player for the young forwards.
2. Nathan MacKinnon - MacKinnon continued his hot start to his 1st NHL season, finally scoring his 1st NHL goal and adding an assist. MacKinnon now leads the Avalanche with 6 points in his 1st 5 games, a very impressive feat for a kid who just turned 18 last month.
1. Semyon Varlamov - 4th start for Varlamov, 4th game allowing only 1 goal, 4th 1st Star of the game. However, this was the best of them all, just standing on his head against his former team. Varly made 40 saves on 41 shots, and was simply brilliant again tonight.

Play of the Game - Matt Duchene's goal gets it tonight, another highlight reel goal by Dutchy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL3LDNSoxIk

Stat of the Night - For the 4th start in a row, Semyon Varlamov has picked up the victory allowing only 1 goal.

Game #6 - The Avs return home for a 2-game homestand, starting off with the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night (@9PM ET).

-Joel Forman - Colorado Avalanche News