The Avs won an exciting game against San Jose tonight in the Pepsi Center. Jamie McGinn finally got his win over his former team (fourth time’s the charm!), and the Avs earned another important two points. Matt Duchene was once again the most exciting player on the ice.

It was Duchene who scored the first goal of the game. His first powerplay goal of the season got the team off on the right foot. I’m not wild about a five forward powerplay, but if it keeps scoring like this, it’ll do pig. The team worked hard and continued to create chances in the first. (Ryan Wilson returned with a bang, with three hits on a single shift early in the period.) In the second, Ryan O’Reilly scored his second goal in as many games. He tipped a nice Palushaj pass (take that, people who said Palush wouldn’t help ROR produce) and helped the team get a two goal lead over the Sharks.

It looked as though the Avs would head into the lockerroom at the end of the second with a two goal lead, and Varls nursing a shutout, but Patrick Marleau scored in the final minute. It seemed like a kind of odd goal for Varlamov to let in, but at the same time, it did seem to hit a couple things and change trajectory. Still, the team had a lead.  In the third, the Avs took another couple of penalties, and things were swaying the Sharks direction. I was hoping the Avs could hold on, with three minutes left in the third, but some slow play in their own zone, and then a quick takeaway and pass led to Logan Couture’s goal that tied things up.

Overtime was crazy, with the teams exchanging a lot of quality chances. With 0.2 seconds left, Matt Duchene scored the gamewinner, roofing a juicy Parenteau rebound. The Avs played another solid game, and while it’s a shame they had to take extra time, they got the win, the most important thing.

Other Thoughts

-P.A. Parenteau extended his point streak to 6 games, which is a new career high.

-Matt Duchene had his eighth multi-point game this season, most on the team.

-Ryan Wilson and Erik Johnson, in their first and second games back, looked really good. I’m glad they were partnered together again, and that they were successful with the large amount of icetime is really important. They make the Avs that much more dangerous.

-This is the second overtime win for the Avs, and the second with a late goal (David Jones scored with 16 seconds left against St. Louis.)

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