Hockey gods bless Avalanche again in 1-0 OT thriller
- Image by Dinur via Flickr
The Colorado Avalanche stole Game 1 in San Jose on a Chris Stewart shot that deflected off Sharks defenseman Rob Blake’s skate with 49.3 seconds left in the final period.
Game 2’s scoring began on a high, arcing bounce shot credited to Avalanche defender Kyle Cumiskey just over a minute in. The Avalanche would go on to lose in Overtime, but San Jose never led until that sudden death game-winner.
Then we have Sunday night’s Game 3.
Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson stopped all 50 shots faced in the first three periods of play. Andy would only need to withstand one more shot in Overtime before a bizarre goal credited to the poke-checking stick of Avalanche center Ryan O’Reilly ended the game. Colorado scraped by with a 1-0 win for a 2-1 series lead over San Jose.
It was O’Reilly’s first postseason goal in a stellar rookie season, but the force of the ‘shot’ came from San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle. Boyle attempted a clear around the end boards behind Sharks’ goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. Working from the side boards to Nabokov’s right, Boyle tried to throw the puck around behind his own net to clear the zone. O’Reilly, who had chased a TJ Galiardi dump into the Sharks’ zone, got a sliver of his stick on either Boyle’s stick, the puck, or both. The puck sailed hard behind the bend in Nabokov’s right knee, the only place his leg pad was not set firmly against the post.
O’Reilly looked to the Pepsi Center’s vaulted ceiling, threw up his hands, and dropped his eyes back to ice-level in time to get mobbed by Avalanche teammates.
But the real story of the game was Craig Anderson.
Anderson’s performance on Sunday mirrored cross-town counterpart Ubaldo Jimenez’ no-hitter for the Colorado Rockies in Atlanta on Saturday. Both men play the highest stress positions in their respective sport, and both tossed up shutout gems this weekend.
Craig stopped 8 shots in the 1st, when the Avalanche were taking the play at the Sharks hard. Periods 2 & 3 were all San Jose, though, and Anderson had to turn away 21 shots in each of the final two frames. The Sharks came at Andy from every direction, using every trick in their extensive, possession-heavy book of attacks. Anderson stopped 51 of 51 on the game before O’Reilly’s game-winning goal at 0:51 of the extra period.
When all was said and done, the rink clear except for an Altitude Sports reporter, Craig skated back onto the ice to accept his 1st Star nod. Instead of an interview, we got a solid minute of standing ovation as the best postseason goaltender to lock down the Pepsi Center since Avalanche legend Patrick Roy stood awkwardly, an enormous grin stretched across his face.
For those who have not had the pleasure of watching Andy work this season, Craig Anderson has arrived.
And for the Avalanche faithful who watched Andy carry this team from the season’s opener versus these Sharks at Pepsi Center (a 5-2 win) all the way to a playoff birth, through two epic games in San Jose, and back to Pepsi Center for a crucial Game 3 win, Craig Anderson has come full circle.
A career backup before coming to Colorado, Craig Anderson is a recognized hero at last.
