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Giguere struggles; Avalanche comeback falls short |
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Rick Sadowski
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Well, this sure wasn't the way Colorado Avalanche goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere wanted his preseason debut to go Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center.
After facing one shot in the first period of the Avalanche's eventual 5-3 loss to the Dallas Stars, Giguere was pulled at 9:44 of the second period after allowing four goals on nine additional shots. The Stars scored their first three goals in a 91-second span.
Was it all his fault? No, but he just didn't look sharp. Matt Duchene saved what would have been a goal at 3:30 of the second period after Giguere misplayed the puck.
"It's something that I have to reassess and try to have a better practice," Giguere said.
The Avalanche outshot the Stars 10-1 and hit three posts in a scoreless first period before falling apart in the second.
"We had a great first period and my job is to keep the team in the game at that point," Giguere said. "Once they scored the first goal, it seems everything just went downhill. Obviously it wasn't a good outcome for me. I felt good shape wise, but I didn't feel good making saves."
Avalanche coach Patrick Roy didn't seem too concerned about Giguere, who played pretty well last year in what was a disastrous season for the team.
"Well, he's a veteran goalie and obviously he's seen things like this before," Roy said. "He's not alone. There's a few goals we could have done a bit better. This is a team game and I'm sure he'll bounce back."
Stars center Colton Sceviour had two goals and an assist in the second period and finished with a hat trick when he scored into an empty net with 1:40 left in regulation. Jamie Benn scored twice and Jordie Benn had two assists.
The Avalanche got goals from captain Gabriel Landeskog on a power move to the net on a late power play in the second period to cut the deficit to 4-1. Brad Malone, who is making a strong bid to make the team, and Paul Stastny scored third-period goals before Sceviour put the game away.
Rookie goalie Sami Aittokallio stopped all 15 shots he faced in relief of Giguere. The Avalanche killed off all five Stars power plays, including a two-man advantage that lasted 43 seconds.
Stastny had a goal and an assist in 17:27 of ice time with six shots. He won 11 of 21 faceoffs. Landeskog had five shots and two hits while playing 16:51.
"I'm very happy with my captain," Roy said of Landeskog. "Landy played a really good game. He worked hard and he was sharp. I think him and Paul played real well. Honestly, I can't say nothing against our team, except for maybe about 15 minutes of the second period. But overall we were resilient. The guys really want to please our fans. I could sense they were not going to give up in that game."
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Malone, who scored the winning goal Sunday in Anaheim, had three shots and three takeaways in 9:15 of ice time. He won three of four faceoffs and killed penalties.
"I've just been taking it day by day, just trying to go out and work hard," he said. "I've been fortunate to get a couple good bounces. When things go your way at the right time it's good, but there's still a long way to go here."
At 6-feet-2 and 207 pounds, Malone has the kind of physical presence the Avalanche could use on the fourth line. He centered Cody McLeod and Patrick Bordeleau against Dallas.
"Just be physical and be a big body," Malone said when asked what he needs to do to make an impression. "Scoring goals isn't what's going to keep me here; that's an added bonus. Just do the right little things and keep the puck in front of me."
Roy said that Malone would play in the final two preseason games, as would defenseman Nick Holden, who had a shot on goal and two blocked shots in 21:32 of ice time Tuesday.
"Holden is a very pleasant surprise," Roy said. "Right now he's not playing like a (minor league) call-up, he's playing really really well. Him and (Nate) Guenin are playing some solid hockey for us. I asked them to do a good impression and they're doing it. Same thing in the Malone case. We had a good talk early in the training camp and I really believe he's bringing his game to another level."
Holden and Guenin were signed as free agents in July. Holden, 26, is 6-4 and 207 pounds. He had nine goals, 30 assists and 58 penalty minutes in 73 games last year with Springfield in the American Hockey League.
Guenin, 30, is 6-3 and 207 pounds. He had four goals, 20 assists and 38 penalty minutes in 66 games with Norfolk in the AHL. He's played a total of 32 games in the NHL with stops in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Anaheim with two goals, two assists and 14 penalty minutes.
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As noted in my post this morning, first overall pick Nathan MacKinnon is scheduled to play Thursday in Dallas and Saturday in Las Vegas against Los Angeles. He's been nursing a hip flexor injury. He hasn't played since the opening preseason game as a "precaution," Roy said.
"He should play the next game in Dallas," Roy said after Tuesday's game. "That's the report that I have on him. If this had been a regular season (game), he would have played. We just want to make sure that we don't take a chance in a situation like this."
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This was the Avalanche lineup for Tuesday night's game:
Ryan O'Reilly-Matt Duchene-Steve Downie
Gabriel Landeskog-Paul Stastny-Marc-Andre Cliche
Guillaume Desbiens-John Mitchell-PA Parenteau
Cody McLeod-Brad Malone-Patrick Bordeleau
Andre Benoit-Cory Sarich
Matt Hunwick-Tyson Barrie
Nick Holden-Nate Guenin
Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Sami Aittokallio
Parenteau switched lines with Cliche in the third period when the Avalanche mounted its comeback and set up Stastny for a goal with 6:58 to play that cut the Stars' lead to 4-3.
Cliche played 15:03, had one shot on goal, won his only faceoff and helped to kill off all five of Dallas' power plays.
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Check out my Semyon Varlamov story at
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=683853
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