Four goals were scored in tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars. When the first puck was dropped, the Avalanche were firing on all cylinders and played an all-around great game. They applied offensive pressure throughout, even in the 3rd period- a place where the Avs have been lacking a bit all season, playing mostly on their heels. This last series of games for the Burgundy Boys has started to turn that around.
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I’d like to give some credit to the special teams tonight. Every player did what they needed to do on both the power play and the penalty kill. In fact, on their first PP, the Avs converted with a shot from Brett Clark. After that, it was game over.
As I mentioned in the first paragraph, the Avs applied equal pressure throughout all three periods both offensively and defensively. T.J. Galiardi, at 11:30 of the 1st, stole the puck in the Avs zone and took it to Marty Turco. Turco blocked the first shot, but allowed a rebound which Galiardi put into the basket.
Paul Stastny had a big night as well. First, with his line mates Chris Stewart and Wojtek Wolski, Staz got an assist after Stewart buried a shot past Turco. Then, in the third period, Stastny backhanded the puck in on a power play for his 11th goal of the season.
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As for all-around playing, I’d give the award to Matt Duchene. The kid was all over the place tonight offensively and on the D. You can tell he’s going to be a monster of a player, and nearly is. You could see by his play that he was reading the game well, going for the puck when on defense and rushing the net and keeping it in the zone when on offense. Turco had one good save of the night and it was against Dutchy.
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Craig Anderson has been an absolute wall in the last three games. Out of 89 shots, Andy has blocked 88 of them. That’s a .989 save percentage, folks. On top of that, Andy has also notched his fifth shutout of the year. Referee Justin St. Pierre was at the game tonight and disallowed one goal, fortunately, it was from Dallas. Luckily, St. Pierre blew the whistle before the puck went in the net. If you recall, St. Pierre is one of those referees who loves the “I Meant to Blow the Whistle” ruling.
It was a big game for the Avalanche tonight as they maintained their grasp on the #1 position in the Northwest Division. The Vancouver Canucks are nipping at their heels, however. Calgary seems to be out of it lately since playing the Avs, losing their last 5 games. So right now, Vancouver is the biggest threat to the Avs and they don’t meet again until March 9th.
The Avs go up against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday at the Pepsi Center.
Related posts:
- Avalanche Blank Panthers 3-0
- Avs Redirect Lightning’s Spark in Shootout
- Avs Bag Another vs. Blues
- It’s the Little Goals
- Andy To Make 15th Straight Start
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