:: Avalanche 5, Stars 3 ::
Craig Anderson made 48 saves, including many clutch stops in the final minute of play, as Colorado clung to a late lead and defeated the Dallas Stars, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon. The Avalanche will be back in action on Tuesday when they take on the St. Louis Blues, then again on Wednesday in Denver against the Calgary Flames.
Our LIVE AVS CHAT was wildly entertaining, especially in the game’s dying moments, as THE AVALANGELIST joined our panel and provided readers with on-the-fly analysis and comments during the game. Be sure to join us on Tuesday for another live chat, as we do these ever road game and invite Avalanche bloggers to be a part of the panel!
MARC MOSER has another post-game podcast up on Altitude’s website and as usual brings fans some great quotes from the locker room. If you aren’t following him on TWITTER already, be sure to do so. This guy is a character and a great voice on the air and in the Avalanche community!
ANYONE BUT DETROIT had a short and sweet game recap, while Derek over at MILE HIGH HOCKEY has a good recap on the game as well. Adrian Dater was sick for the first time in what must be forever, so there was no coverage from him in this game. But you can read the AP report that appeared on the DENVER POST website.
Finally, for a great recap of the Avalanche’s play over the last few games, Jay over at AVS HOCKEY PODCAST finished his 50th post on Saturday morning, so be sure to check it out!
Besides the first two games of the season, this may have been Craig Anderson’s best game of the season. Even though the Avalanche had a 5-3 lead in the final 90 seconds, every save he made was of the clutch variety. There’s no other way to say it – he stole the show in Big D today. It was a brilliant display of focus, desperation and hard work, as a number of sequences included desperate swipes, toe saves and snow angels.
Injuries were easily the low point in today’s game. Cody McLeod blocked a shot off of his left leg and had to crawl to the bench and Stephane Yelle went face-first into the boards on a check attempt and skated off slowly somewhat hunched over. Both tried to skate it off later in the period, but were unsuccessful.
Although you have to give a ton of credit to the Avalanche for turning the power play issues around by going out and getting Peter Mueller, it looks like the next hurdle for the team to overcome is the consistent defensive effort. Dallas completely dominated the game in many areas, including a 51-22 shot advantage, so all three pairings need to tighten up with their decisions in their own zone.
I think it’s about time the defensive pairings get straightened out to the point where they stay the same for at least 3-4 games. I’m not sure how effective it was to scratch a big body like Ryan Wilson over Kyle Cumiskey, who was effective when the speed was needed, but not when bodies needed to be cleared in front of Anderson.
