To beat the Blues, the Avalanche will need to find ways to finish plays, as they have seen no shortage of scoring chances in recent games.
Andy came up big in the 3rd period to seal it, but it was 35ish minutes of dominating defense and another 15 of solid defense that is responsible for this shut out.
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.
In a perfect world, the Colorado Avalanche would get to play the Edmonton Oilers after every tough loss. Thursday’s 3-5 loss to the Nashville Predators cost the Avs precious points in a tight conference race, and handed the season series (primary playoff tiebreaker) to the Preds.
The quick, confident team that was creating space between itself and the hoards of conference playoff hopefuls has once again devolved into a tangle of rookies.
With the visiting Oilers pumped up to put some more hurt on the division-leading ‘Lanche, it was past time for the Avs to dominate a lesser hockey team in no uncertain terms.
It used to be that the Oilers coming to town was a sure-fire win for the ‘Lanche. In seasons past, I bought tickets to at least one Avs-Oilers contest in Denver based on the fact that I was assured the pleasure of a Colorado win. Not so much these days.
The story goes on to tell of a team that plays its best hockey after losing multiple games in a row, and over the course of a long regular season defined by incredible parody through the top half of the league… well, that’s a recipe for success.
NHL 1st Star for October Craig Anderson
The first month of the season saw the Avalanche touring the far reaches of the NHL landscape. Colorado traveled to every Canadian city except Ottawa (Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary & Vancouver), winning each game except the last. They played on both coasts and in three mid-western cities, and in [...]
Well kiss our pucks, NHL schedulers. The Avs are on the war path now, and it’s all thanks to you.
This week’s stretch of games will undoubtedly be the toughest yet, even as good as the club must be feeling about their chances. Each of these games could be a loss, and one of them is almost guaranteed to be.
