It’s a good time to be a Colorado sports fan – Saturday, Ubaldo Jimenez mowed down the Braves with the first no-hitter in Rockies history. Then on Sunday, the Sharks peppered the “Ninja Yeti” Craig Anderson with 51 shots, and Andy stopped each of them on his way to a 1-0 overtime shutout in Game Three of the first round playoff series.
The Avalanche are as dangerous as any team in the league playing from behind. The Coyotes maintained an excellent flow from shift to shift right up to the closing minute of the 2nd Period, but Colorado never quieted down. The Avs continued to fight hard and that transitioned to good Offensive Zone possessions.
As tight a game as you’ll see between evenly-matched teams, and an entertaining reminder that the Stanley Cup Playoffs are just around the corner.
This game was a battle for 6th & 7th in the Western Conference, and both teams knew it. Los Angeles & Colorado came out to play, with the game featuring lots of give ‘n take play to go with tit-for-tat scoring.
It doesn’t matter who plays better longer, it matters who makes it count. The Ducks were in control for most of the game, but they couldn’t get the puck in the net. The Avalanche played a slow game by their standards, but when they had momentum they made the Ducks pay.
Coming off of twin 2-3 road losses, both of these teams are in desperate need of a win this evening to keep their playoff aspirations alive.
The Avalanche are anything but comfortable at third in the West. They have 62 points on 49 games, with Vancouver and Phoenix breathing down their necks in the division and conference respectively.
Two wins last week would have been nice, because the Avalanche start a tough week on the road in one of the toughest arenas to land a visiting win…
Here we go Avalanche… two wins in a lightly scheduled week, and the second half of the season starts looking very, very manageable.
Knocking off the Flames three times in three tries with a trio of three-to-two victories (two of them at Calgary) has the Avalanche alone atop the division nearing the halfway point in the season.
