Colorado honored former Av (& surprising sex symbol) Mike Ricci before Saturday's game
Wojtek Wolski broke out of his slump, Craig Anderson shut out the Oilers for the third time this season, and the Colorado Avalanche got a much-needed win Saturday night.
On a night that Colorado honored former mucker and fan-favorite Mike Ricci, the young Avalanche put in a workmanlike effort of their own. The 2nd period resembled one long power play for Colorado even though neither team committed a penalty. After dominating the first half of the game, Wolski finally put one home on a beautiful drop pass from Matt Duchene. Matty’s feed to Wojtek was the result of an outstanding pass from Scott Hannan that sailed from the defensive zone over three Oilers and straight onto the stick of a streaking Duchene.
That goal proved to be the game-winner, even though Edmonton was very much in it until the final minutes. The Avalanche’s 42 shots on goal did not include a pile of other missed opportunities that sailed wide of open nets. The Oilers saw their fair share of scoring chances as the 1-0 tally carried well into the 3rd period. It wasn’t until just inside the three-minute mark that the Avalanche had any kind of breathing room. A hard slap-shot from rookie defenseman Ryan Wilson snuck through Edmonton goalie Jeff Deslauriers and trickled across the goal line. Brandon Yip sealed the deal on an open-netter with just under a minute to play.
The 3-0 win kept the Avalanche on-pace behind NW Division leader Vancouver. The Canucks grabbed two points of their own with a shootout victory over the sliding Bruins in Boston earlier in the day.
