Avs Talk - A Colorado Avalanche Blog

Yes! They pull one out and take away a big win over Carolina. Sucks to be a Canes fan as they walk away from the West with one measly point. This is going to be a quick post as I could neither watch NOR listen to the game. I was on my way to Northbrook, IL for half the game, the other half was spent unsuccessfully trying to install Windows Media Player on the Mac I brought with me. Shoulda brought the PC instead.

From the sounds of it, the Avs played a decent game. They unravelled a little bit towards the end of the second and start of the third but a diving goal by Brunette brought them right back into it. They followed it up 3 straight PP goals includinga give-and-go beauty by Liles, Sakic snapping one home and Turgeon potting his 2nd in 2 games

Budaj started (much to my chagrin) and played well although the second goal was questionable. Sounds familiar. As long as the Avs get the win, I'm happy but I would have liked to have seen Theodore in net for this one. It would have been a huge win for him to get, if he would have achieved the same result. though Budaj did great and earned the first star of the game. So I guess Budaj "earns" the nod in goal for the next game. Then he'll lose at some point and the circle of life continues. I hope in the meantime, Theodore works his ass off for his next start.

Turgeon had 5 shots on net to go with his goal. To be honest with you, I'm not sure if a goal off your skate counts as a shot for you. It must b/c it counts as a goal, but the definition of a shot is...off a stick. I'm just glad he's contributing. I wasn't looking forward to his return but he seems to be doing all right so far and could help lend some stability to the team.

Wolski also had 5 shots on goal though none resulted in putting him up on the scoresheet. He also had 2 hits, one takeaway and one giveaway. I also heard he made a couple lazy plays in the game. So it seems he's fairly inconsistent so far. Let's try and remember that it's his first full season. He'll learn soon enough that there is no room for slacking in the NHL. Well, there is but you'd like it not to happen.

Richardson is still getting under 10 minutes a game which is unfortunate. I guess Q doesn't see the same thing that others see in him. I see a Sakic-like wrist shot and a lot of poise out there on the ice. Hence why he gets lots of PK time. I guess he may not have as much offensive upside as other players on our team right now.

Vaananen was the d scratch tonight so maybe I miscounted on the scratch rotation. Or a trade is coming. Skrastins got more ice time today than he had in the last couple games. Hmm... Or it was more likely a result of Leopold getting injured midway through the third (Liles, Klee, etc all had more ice time than usual). From what I heard on the message board, Leopold was spotted doubled-over clutching his mid-section which can't be a good sign.

It's hard to this, particularly the bad part, without having seen some of the game but here goes:

The Good
- 5 goals
- 3 PP goals
- bounceback win
- grit and determination in the third

The Bad
- Leopold injured
- Hejduk out
- Svats out

The Ugly
- not being able to see/hear the game