Avalanche Fall to Islanders, Lose 4-2

The New York Islanders, the worst team in the league, outplayed the Colorado Avalanche tonight. And by what I felt was a large margin. So what does that make the Avalanche? Don't answer.

Jon Sim? First three-goal game of his career. Jesse Joensuu? First goal of his career. Shane Giroux? First embolism of his life.

What does this team need for motivation? Heading into this game they had lost four in a row and looked abysmal while doing so. Coach Granato runs the team through a hard practice, Ryan Smyth calls the current situation misery and...nothing. No spark.

The only bright spot is that this could be enough to make Giguere wake up and realize that he can't simply write this season off due to injuries. Joe Sakic is the only regular still riding the pine and the team continues to look utterly confused on the ice.

There were times where Cody Mcleod - playing as a winger - was behind the Avalanche goal chasing an Islanders forward. Now, this might be some newfangled approach to defense that I've never heard of, but when was the last time a defensive coach told his wingers "Yeah, go deep in the zone. Don't worry about covering the point or helping us break out of the zone. Fuck it, we're trying something new!"

My TV is shuddering in a corner after the expletives I treated it too tonight.

But congrats to Ryan Smyth on sticking it to the boo-birds with a two-goal night. Suck it, NY. He's our slightly overpriced forward.

D-day
The Kings, Coyotes and Avalanche are the three official "sell! sell! sell!" teams in the West to go along with the Senators, Lightning, Thrashers and Islanders in the East. Seven teams selling, 23 teams buying. I like those odds.

Deals will go down on Wednesday and while I still fully expect Ryan Smyth to stick around, I'm getting nervous about Ian Laperriere. I really hope Lappy is here after the 3:00pm ET bell on Wednesday and I hope Giguere gives him the two years he's looking for quick, fast and in a hurry.

But hey, who needs leadership when you've got competent coaching, right?

Avalanche Defeat the New York Dipietros

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The first period was ok, the second was good, the third was awesome and OT was the icing on the cake. This game just got better as it went on and, contrary to what Marek Svatos said in his post-game comments, it was not a boring game by any stretch.

Sure it was a low scoring game but there were plenty of chances at both ends and more than enough action to keep fans entertained. Or maybe I'm just in a good mood after Canada pulled out a 4-peat at the WJHC today. Come on, you knew I'd sneak that in at some point.

The only reason it was a low scoring game was thanks to the heroics of Rick Dipietro. He certainly earned his money in this game as he stopped 37 of 39 shots, many of those being prime scoring opportunities. For now, the 15-year contract is looking like a solid investment. For now. Anyone want to do the math on how much money he made for each save tonight?

Jose Theodore had the start at the other end much to my surprise. But after giving up an early goal where he was slightly off the angle, he shut it down for the rest of the night, particularly in the third period. He even pulled off a Statue of Liberty glove save midway through the third to electrify the crowd.

The Avalanche forwards had a very different look today as recent call-up Johnny Boychuk and speed demon Kyle Cumiskey were playing on the wing today. That's right, the team called up a defenseman to play on the wing. Weird. They didn't get much ice-time but when they did they had solid shifts.

Wojtek Wolski was an absolute beast tonight as he seemed to have a magical connection between his stick and the puck. He started off centering a line with Cumiskey and Boychuck - yes, a left wing playing center - but was quickly moved to the top line with Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk. He not only fired off 4 shots in 20+ minutes of ice-time but his solid play with the puck directly contributed to the game winning goal.

And how about Marek Svatos scoring his team-leading 16th goal of the season. He also tied Wojtek Wolski for the team lead in game-winning goals with 4. Now that's the Marek Svatos we want and again it was an opportunistic goal. He had a dangle chance today and failed. He had an opportunistic chance and cashed in. Keep it simple, Marek. We love your goals no matter how pretty or ugly they look on SportsCentre.

Lines
Wolski-Stastny-Hejduk
Brunette-Hlinka-Svatos
Mcleod-Guite-Laperriere
Cumiskey-Hensick-Boychuk

Notes
- who bought Quenneville that tie for Christmas? Methinks it's a re-gifter candidate
- when (and why?) did Guite shave the Fu?
- I want Dipietro to go back to his old pads from 2 versions ago
- in Q's pre-game he mentioned that he hopes Theodore takes the goaltending reigns and goes on an extended run...and he didn't seem to be joking
- a disgruntled Isles fan gave Svatos a double-finger salute after scoring the winner

Related Links
ColoradoAvalanche.com Recap
In the Cheap Seats Game Notes