|
Avs let a point slip away in Minnesota |
|
|
|
|
|
With an awful first period and seven minor penalties, the Avs let a point slip away in Minnesota, losing 3-2 in a shootout.
That Avs came out slower than the zombies in Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video and it took them about 18 minutes for them to get their legs moving, outside of the top line and the 18 year olds.
By the time they had, they were down 1-0 on a Burns powerplay goal and had taken four minor penalties. It was only through the combined efforts of the penalty killers and Craig Anderson that this game wasn't a three or four goal lead for Minnesota after the first.
In the second, once again powered by the young guns- Duchene and O'Reilly- the Avs started controlling the play.
Early in the second, Darcy Tucker took a nice feed from O'Reilly, came down the middle, put a wrister on goalie Niklas Backstrom the fluttered past him and into the net. Then, the Avs really took it to the Wild. They put shot after shot on Backstrom, which he stopped. That was until Duchene's fantastic play. at the 18 minute mark of the second period, Matt Duchene stopped a Wild rush up the ice at the Minnesota blueline.
He then fed it to Wolski coming down the middle who fed it to McLeod coming down the right wing. McLeod put a quick shot on net and Quincey picked up the rebound right between the circles and scored to give the Avs 2-1 lead.
However, the Avs had a repeat of the first period. After outshooting the Wild 18 to 4 in the second, they stopped moving their feet in the same way they did in the third and, again, took more penalties.
This would lead to the Wild tying the game on a Mikko Koivu tip in shot with Wolski off for a delay-of-game penalty.
The Avs should have dominated this game but their penalties and effort in the first and third kept them from really taking control.
Three Stars
1. Niklas Backstrom- stopped 33 of 35 shots and all three shootout attempts
2. Craig Anderson- Kept the Avs in the game with a bunch of key saves.
3. Kyle Quincey- Had a goal and an assist, plus two hits in 28:00 of ice time.
Facepalm of the game
Marek Svatos gets the award tonight. He was the worst player on the ice. He didn't hit, he barely shot, did too much with the puck, turned it over and took a stupid cross checking penalty in the third period. Not a single redeeming quality to his game tonight. Wonder when he'll be benched for game and Duchene will be given a right winger who puts 100% effort in every shift, every night.
Colorado Avalanche Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»