(Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
The game started off on a sour note as Peter Budaj let in a brutal goal 6:19 into the game. Couple that with the Avs being outshot 7-1 in the first 10 minutes and it could have been a brutal night.
But being outshot is easily countered by outscoring and that's exactly what the Avs did.
Ryan Smyth got the Avalanche going with an unexpected goal. Stastny fired a pass to Hejduk who whiffed on the shot but the puck went straight to Smyth's stick, much to Labarbera's chagrin.
Patrick O'Sullivan put the Kings up again early in the second but that only made Milan Hejduk angry. And you won't like Milan when he's angry. Less than a minute after O'Sullivan's goal, Hejduk stole the puck, swept down the wing and fired a wrist shot over Labarbera. Classic Hejduk.
David Jones then gave the Avs the lead with a slapshot from the top of the circle after a steal in the Kings end. I think he was angry I had just dropped him from my fantasy team.
Add in Smyth's beauty goal at the end of the second and the Avs looked to be cruising for a victory.
Drew Doughty made it close early in the third but the Avs survived a late flurry to get the win. Wojtek Wolski had a key forecheck in the waning seconds to keep the puck deep in the Kings zone.
Ryan Smyth scores a beauty
Ryan Smyth scores a beauty
Once the highlights clips are out, I'll post up Smyth's second goal. It was beautiful. Smyth dipsy-doodled past Drew Doughty, then shelved the puck on a backhand as he went sprawing over Jason Labarbera. But words don't to it justice.
Clear the net people!
The Avalanche had a tough time clearing the puck from the front of their net today. The Kings second goal came on a third chance as Cody McCormick and Ruslan Salei watched Jordan Leopold try to clear the puck with three Kings jerseys less than a foot from Budaj.
Jones gets his first of 30
As mentioned, Jones got his first goal of the season after I dropped him from my fantasy team. Sorry for jinxing him this long, folks! One down, 29 to go.
As mentioned, Jones got his first goal of the season after I dropped him from my fantasy team. Sorry for jinxing him this long, folks! One down, 29 to go.
Sakic's streak ends, Stastny still going strong
Joe Sakic failed to get a point for the first time this season, ending his streak with 1 goal and 7 assists over the first five game.
Paul Stastny kept rolling as he had 2 assists on the night, bringing his streak to 1 goal and 9 assists in six games.
That puts him at #3 in the NHL's scoring race. (He's #16 as of this writing but will climb up there once the stats of the game are finalized)
Team Canada done proud
The Kings have two players in their lineup from the 2008 World Junior team for Canada. Wayne Simmonds and Drew Doughty were part of the Gold medal winning squad this past Christmas and look to be doing fine in their first NHL seasons. Good job, boys!
Did I mention that was the team who won Canada their fourth consecutive World Junior Gold?
That's about all I can get out of my brain at this hour! I might toss up a few more thoughts tomorrow morning. Or I'll go to work and do something productive. It's a toss up.
EDIT: Productivity wins the day. The Avs don't play again until Thursday against the Oilers at 9:30 ET, 7:30 MT. The game is broadcast on TSN for us Canadians, eh. For folks south of the border, you'll get Haynes and McNab in Altitude HD.
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3 Comments:
Not being super-familiar with Smyth's caliber of skills (pardon my ignorance), I always just thought he was a guy who worked hard down low, threw screens, and hit home rebounds and garbage in front of the net. I always heard he had mad skillz, but until this game, I guess I wasn't convinced (I'm only familiar with his play on the Avs, I didn't follow him at all in Edmonton). His two goals were awesome! The one from Stastny was sweet - a case of being in the right place at the right time, but his individual effort goal was filthy. I have no more doubts and I have been enlightened - thanks Smyth!
Smyth has mad skillz but you're right, he's usually the guy working hard down low.
He was lucky to take advantage of an 18-year old defenseman who got caught trying to locate the puck rather than following the man.
I listen to your pod casts and agree with you to a point on a number of issues. Goaltending OBVIOUSLY is a concern for our organization. Frankly, I'm surprised we didn't start Raycroft for this last game. I always feel uneasy when Peter is in goal, kind of the same feeling I would get with Jake Plummer as QB for the Broncos,"constantly making mistakes". Also I felt the avs were back on their heels for a big portion of the Kings game... You ought to start taking calls and recording the conversations on the podcasts dude! Tell my big brother Riebau I said hi...
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