Photo: Kerri Nicole Photography/Flickr.

Statistics: GP 48 G 18 A 25 P 43 +/- -11 PIM 38 Hits 50 BS 14 Giveaway/Takeaway Differential +11

» Continue reading “Player Review: PA Parenteau”

Ryan O’Reilly’s first goal in a while was an important one! Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

The Avs earned a nice win tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes, in their final road game of the season. Considering how poorly they’ve done on the road this year, it was nice to end that part of the season on a high note.

» Continue reading “Avs Play Excellent Game In The Desert”

The Colorado Avalanche ended their streak of good games tonight at four. Less than a minute into the game, Gabe Landeskog took a penalty. Colorado killed off the penalty…only to be scored on right after time expired. The team battled back, and P.A. Parenteau scored after Shane O’Brien made a beautiful pass. Unfortunately, the defensive breakdowns continued, and Jordan Eberle was given the opportunity to test out his Denis Savard-Patrick Kane spin-o-rama move, which led to a tip in front of the net.

Edmonton would score two more goals in the second. Varlamov was left out to dry on pretty much all of the goals (although I would argue that a confident, at-his-best Varlamov might have been able to pull off a spectacular save or two. During the third, the Avs continued to play poorly until the final three minutes. There have been too many games this season where the team has played “blah” (not horrible, but not great) for the majority of the first 57 minutes, and then they play their best in the last couple of minutes when the team is already down a few goals.

I do think the team will have a good response next game, as it will be “Military Appreciation Night” and I would hope that that would motivate the team.

Other Thoughts

-P.A. Parenteau now is the sole leader in goals for the team. He and Duchene were tied at 16, but P.A. now has 17. Last season, he had only 18 goals in 80 games.

-Milan Hejduk had a couple of good chances in his first game back.

-Shane O’Brien was the best defenseman for the Avs tonight.

I’m still on a total high from today’s game. Yes, the Avs are out realistically out of the playoffs. It doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a few good games before the season.

» Continue reading “Avs Beat Nucks In Thrilling Fashion”

Cody McLeod…what a BAMF. He single-handedly killed off about 30 seconds of a penalty. Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

The Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings played another fantastic game against each other. Unfortunately, the Wings won for the third time this season, but at least this one didn’t come until overtime.

In the first, it was Detroit (of course) who scored first. A few minutes later, some hard work by Palushaj and van der Gulik allowed Mark Olver to fly in on a breakaway, and bury a nice backhander. Sadly, the Avs only held the tie for a slightly pathetic 13 seconds. For the rest of the period, the Avs played really well, but they didn’t have a ton of quality chances. Throughout the second, the two teams played pretty tight defensive hockey, but it was still fast enough and physical enough to remain interesting.

Colorado really took control in the third, and had not only the majority of the chances, but some absolutely outstanding shots that I thought were going in. Jimmy Howard played spectacularly in that third, and was the only reason the Avs didn’t win this game in regulation. Particularly in the final 10 minutes, when the skaters for the Wings were running on fumes (not only from the altitude, but from the game the night before), Howard was crucial. Overtime continued similarly, with the Avs really dominating the play. Sadly, with 15.4 seconds left, Pavel Datsyuk poked a loose puck into the back of the net. It was kind of a sad way to end a game that featured some really great goaltending (sad as an Avs fan, but also sad if I look at the game objectively).

Well, a point is a point. The Avs aren’t making the playoffs, but I can be a proud fan after this effort. See y’all tomorrow after the Phoenix game.

Parenteau and Duchene continued to play en fuego tonight. Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

The Avs lost this game 4-1, but this was one of those rare occasions where the score does not reflect the game. The Colorado Avalanche were in control of this game, for the majority of the game. If it wasn’t for the heroics of Canuck’s goaltender Corey Schneider, the Avs would probably have scored four goals in this game. Unfortunately, they came up against one of the hottest goaltenders in the league right now.

The Canucks scored first (of course), and the only reason they held onto that lead was because of the heroics of their goaltender. Finally in the third, Matt Duchene broke through the Schneider wall. Sadly, a few minutes later, the Canucks scored when Varlamov was screened and there was the slightest miscue in the defensive zone. The final two goals came in the final 100 seconds, when the Avs were unable to defend an empty net during their six on five advantage. Vancouver is now 18-0-2 in their last 20 against the Avs. In the past three years, the Avs have outplayed the Canucks during at least half of their games (and failed miserably in the other half), and yet, somehow, the Canucks continue to come out on top. Canadian voodoo at its finest I guess.

There’s not really much to say about the Avs tonight. They need to win, for themselves and for the fans more than for the playoffs at this point. At the same time, as a fan, it was relieving to see a game in which the team actually played well. That’s what happens when your team is losing like crazy and almost certain to miss the playoffs AGAIN-you start to be able to differentiate between the feelings after a loss wherein the team played awful hockey, and a loss where the team plays good hockey.

Okay, we don’t have any birthdays for awhile after this, so you won’t need to see it again for a little bit.

Today is P.A. Parenteau’s 30th birthday. The right winger was picked up by the Avs over the summer, to the tune of a four year, $16 million deal. P.A. has been exactly what everyone hoped for when signed. In 30 games, he has 29 points (13g/16a). While the offense has struggled some nights, P.A. has brought a ton of points to the table. If this was a normal season, Parenteau would be on pace for 79 points (a career high) and 35 goals (15 more goals than his previous career high). Since joining the team, Parenteau has played in his 200th game, earned his 50th goal, and his 100th assist in the NHL. He and Duchene have had instant chemistry, and out of all the concerns Avs fans are voicing, 2/3 of the Duchene line for the next three seasons isn’t among them.

Here’s hoping the Avs can get a win for his birthday tonight!

Yesterday I said that the Avs would score either 3 or 6 goals, and Minnesota would score 4. I was right about the score being 4-6, however I was wrong about which team had which number. Minnesota decided to go for the 6 goals. It’s just embarrassing at this point.

Jean-Sebastian Giguere started the game, and he did not “calm things down”. I know that the Avs allowed a lot of shots, but all four of the goals Giguere allowed were awful. For some reason, Joe Sacco refuses to pull a goalie until the intermission. He only called his timeout after the Wild scored their third goal. The timeout worked temporarily, when John Mitchell scored his 9th of the season, but then Giguere allowed the fourth.

In the second period, the Avs scored two quick goals with Semyon Varlamov in net. Minnesota called their timeout, and soon after scored against Varlamov. Those would be the only three goals in the period. In the third, Minnesota scored their sixth goal of the game on a semi-breakaway. Chuck Kobasew would get a goal with less than two minutes remaining in the period, but they were unable to put another couple in the net with the goalie pulled.

I had an uneasy feeling as the team was set to start this home and home series, that if the Avs didn’t earn at least three points, their chances were gone for the playoffs. At this point, they’d need to go 16-5, or 15-3-2, or 14-1-4 to get to 56 points, which would probably get them into the playoffs. I expect them to try for at least one of those records, but at this point, as a fan, I think things look pretty bleak.

Other Thoughts

-Joe Sacco ABSOLUTELY should have pulled Giguere after the second goal in six minutes. This isn’t some “oh we’re five games in the season, let’s let him redeem himself” situation, or a “we’re sitting comfortably in the playoff picture, let him have a chance to redeem himself” situation. This is a “we need to win this f*&^ing game, and you only get playing time if you’re helping” situation. When he didn’t pull Giguere, it sent a message to me that said “we’re still okay if we lose this game”.

-Giguere was awful, and Varly was just okay. It’s just not fair to them though, how many shots they’ve faced.

-Ryan Wilson missed this game with an ankle injury…sounds like he reinjured himself.

-Milan Hejduk also missed this game, but there was no word on a possible injury.

-Matt Duchene and P.A. Parenteau are third and fourth in the Western Conference in points (Duchene at 30 points is just behind Patrick Kane/Ryan Getzlaf with 31.)

-Aaron Palushaj had a really good game-keep him in the lineup. I want Olver in too, he’s a sparkplug too.

-Mitchell, Parenteau, Landeskog, and Kobasew had the Avs goals.

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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Matty D was en fuego tonight.

END THE STREAK! END THE STREAK! END THE STREAK!

That was the cheer roaring throughout the Pepsi Center during the 18th and 19th minute of the third period in tonight’s game. In case you’ve been living under a rock, the Blackhawks have been on a tear. They earned points in 24 games, were on a franchise record 11 game win streak…pretty much, the Hawks were on top of the world.

» Continue reading “Avs End “The Streak””