SB Nation - Peter Budaj

No Wheels Required: The Avs Are Still Contenders

Joe Dunman — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:34:06 -0000

The Colorado Avalanche had the best October of the team's history, going 10-2-2 to start this season. The good luck continued for a few more games, and after seventeen, the Avs' record was 12-3-2. Then, depending on how you look at it, the wheels fell off, as the Avs managed a sub-par, 5-6-3 November. But 5-6-3 isn't terrible, considering the Carolina Hurricanes went 2-10-2 during the same month. Things could have been worse.

Still, 5-6-3 is a long way from 10-2-2. Criticism was warranted. The good thing about starting the year so well is that the inevitable cooling-off period wasn't so damaging to the overall record. At the end of November, the Avs were still in second place in the Northwest Division, just two points behind Calgary and locked into a playoff spot.

Now, five games later, the Avs are tied for first place and face the Flames in their next game. The winner will take the division lead. So even if the team had hit a wall (and with so many injuries, their performance is still very impressive), they've recovered sufficiently to stay in contention.

What's been key for the Avs is their point production. Colorado has collected at least a point seven times in their last ten games. They've been pretty bad in OT and the shootout overall, but with the NHL still clinging to the charity point system, the Avs are staying put near the top of the conference standings by dragging games beyond regulation.

Another saving grace for the Avs was the solid play of Peter Budaj. In the four games he started in December, he didn't have a single bad showing. His save percentage was .940 or better and he managed a shutout. Craig Anderson has cooled off and the Avs' defense has struggled at times, but Budaj came through when Colorado needed it, proving once again that he's a solid backup goaltender.

After 34 games, the Avs have scored 100 goals. That's fifth-best in the NHL, and third-best in the West. They're currently on pace to score 241 goals this season, which would be a 51-goal improvement over their poor 2008-09 showing. Granted, they've only scored seven more goals than at the same point last season, but hopefully they'll avoid the second-half collapse the team endured last year.

Player-wise, the Avs are a mixed bag. David Jones was on fire but got hurt and will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Luckily, Chris Stewart has finally stepped up, scoring 12 points in his last ten games. As surprise stand-out Ryan O'Reilly has cooled off, slow-to-get-going rookie phenom Matt Duchene has heated up. Paul Stastny suffered a temporary drought but is again contributing to the offense and ranks near the top in the league in scoring. Wojtek Wolski has scored at least one point in 15 of his last 18 games.

Defensively, Kyle Quincey has lost his dominant edge, but Scott Hannan has played very well. Brett Clark is a puck-blocking but generally immobile pylon, while rookie Ryan Wilson is a solid +7 and continues to play well. The rest of the blue line is hit-or-miss, depending on the night, but generally nobody has been awful. Just like the offense, the performances vary.

Overall, the Avs have cooled but are still contending. They're a top-tier team in the Western Conference and have a strong chance to win in every game. If an 18-10-6 record after 34 games (by a team predicted to be in dead last) still qualifies as the wheels being off, we'll take it.

Alpine Lightning: Bolts at Colorado Avalanche preview (UPDATED)

John Fontana — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:19:27 -0000

WHERE: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
WHEN: 9 PM EST
MEDIA: Sun Sports (cable), 620 WDAE (Radio)

The big failure of the recent six of nine games at home was the lack of points picked up in the standings by the Lightning. Nine games, five points picked up in the standings. 2-1-4.

That is not going to cut it if the Lightning are serious about making the playoffs this season.

In fact the Bolts have been lucky. The Florida Panthers are still behind them in the standings, but the Kitties are within striking distance of passing the Bolts... Well, if they stop taking out their own players... Still, it's the Bolts who are guilty of under-performing in most (if not all) areas of their game, and it will come back to haunt them unless things change.

Tonight's the second match-up between the Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche this season, and within the past two weeks at that. You might recall the Bolts being goose-egged by the Avs in Tampa at the end of November. The Avs are in the midst of a lengthy home stand, playing seven of eight at home. They opened that series up on Tuesday with a shutout loss to the Wild. They'll be looking to get back into the swing of things tonight.

From DDC at Mile High Hockey:

Meanwhile, the Avalanche are expected to get Craig Anderson back from a neck injury suffered in Florida. Anderson hasn't finished a game since...November 30th against the Lightning. Peter Budaj has been better-than-solid in Anderson's place (1.26 GAA, .956 Sv%), but that doesn't mean the Avalanche won't get a morale boost from the return of Anderson.

The Avalanche are converting 18.9% of their power play opportunities at current, that's good for 18th in the league. The Lightning, in contrast, are converting 18.3% of power play opportunities -- that puts them at 23rd in the NHL. Now factor in the potential that Ryan Malone (4 PP goals this season) and Steven Stamkos (7 PP goals) will be out tonight (as of this writing, this had not yet been determined) and the Bolts are likely at a bigger disadvantage with a man advantage. PP 18, 80.7 PK -15

And on the penalty kill? Colorado has an 80.7 kill-rate, good for 18th in the league. Tampa Bay? 77.5 (26th in the league), along with the second-lowest kill-rate on the road (71.4). Playing that weak a man-down means the Bolts need to be extra vigilant against taking stupid penalties. Members fo the Lightning blue-line have been the usual suspects for being penalizd, but RW Steve Downie has been guilty of playing more reckless as of late - and with his reputation, this only leads to refs all-too-willing to send Downie to the sin bin.

We'll post the starting lineup for the Lightning later in the day. If the trend over the past 9 games holds, the Lightning will likely start Mike Smith in net...

[Note by John Fontana, 12/11/09 3:03 PM EST ] We've got a general guess on the lines tonight. Matt Smaby will be in (his second game this season) as well as Kurtis Foster on defense. Antero Niittymaki will between teh pipes for the Lightning and it LOOKS like Ryan Malone will play. Lukas Krajicek will not play because of his status with the team.

Other Previews

Tampa Bay Lightning official team preview

TSN

Mile High Hockey

Game 32 Recap: Avalanche 4 - Blues 0

David Driscoll-Carignan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:33:35 -0000

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

16 days ago: Colorado Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj deflects a shot on goal in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues, Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 in St. Louis.(AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

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Final - 12.7.2009	1	2	3	Total
Colorado Avalanche	1	2	1	4
St. Louis Blues	0	0	0	0

Complete Coverage >

Nothingness
Lonliness
Empty chest
And nothing lasts forever

-Living Colour, Nothingness

My first instinct is to make this recap a long, sarcastic diatribe about how Peter Budaj has sucked his way into a 1.34 GAA and .959 save percentage over the last 3 games (and, by the way, 2 key road wins). However, since I don't really know what "diatribe" means, I'm going to play this one straight.

As I stated in my recap tonight, the Avs were going to need a strong game from Peter Budaj to beat the stingy Blues' defense, and they got exactly that. Budaj turned aside all 35 shots he face (including 17 in the final frame) to earn his 1st shutout of the season. His defense played well in front of him (they blocked 20 shots to the Blues 4) for most of the night (3rd period thoughts to follow below), but let's give the credit to the #1 star of the game; Budaj played a hell of a game.

The Avs came out firing in this one, putting up 13 shots on Chris Mason in the 1st period. I saw mention somewhere that Joe Sacco is looking for his team to fire more, and Blues' reporter Bernie Federko was between the benches during the game and indeed said that Sacco was emphasizing this during the game. Despite the solid first period play, it looked like the Avalanche weren't going to have anything to show for it, especially when Mason made a stupendous glove save behind a screen on John-Michael Liles on a late first-period powerplay. Thankfully, on the faceoff immediately after this save, the Avs won the draw, got the puck back to Liles who dished to Kyle Quincey who fired a shot/pass to the net that Chris Stewart deflected into the top corner with just 11 seconds to go in the first.

That would be enough, but the Avs would tack on a few more. At 6:08 of the 2nd, Stastny scored a controversial goal set up by Wolski and Stewart. Wolski took advantage of a sloppy line change by the Blues and carried the puck in down the left wing. The Blues were scrambling to get back in position, and Stewart found space in front of the net. Wolski and Stewart exchanged passed and then David Backes cleared Wolski out of the crease...but he ended up running Wolski into Mason. Stastny came in late and tapped the puck into an empty net. The Blues were outraged, feeling that Wolski interfered with Mason. I've given up trying to figure out what is goalie interference and what isn't, but let's just say I was kind of surprised that one was allowed to stand, even if it's Backes' own stupid fault that Mason was taken out.

The Avs made it 3-0 later in the period, with Stewart deflecting a point shot into the net for the second time in the game (this time, it was Liles taking the shot). Stewart picked up his first 2-goal game of his career. He has 12 points in his last 9 games. Perhaps more importantly, he has 8 points in the 5 games since the David Jones injury, helping to fill a critical void. Matt Duchene effectively iced the game in the 3rd when Wojtek Wolski intercepted a pass and bumped it ahead to Duchene who skated in and fired a wrister through Mason's 5-hole. That goal was Downy soft on Mason's part, but was still a pretty slick shot for Duchene (who otherwise had a quiet night). It was also Wolski's 3rd point in the game. He's been taking a lot of heat this year, but he now has 30 points in 32 games, well on his way to a career year (his high is 50 points). As of right now, he's 19th in the league in scoring, tied with guys like Iginla, Nash and Zetterberg.

The Avs play in the 3rd period continues to mystify me. Actually, after the strong 1st period, the Avs managed just 9 shots the rest of the way- 6 in the 2nd and 3 in the 3rd. Luckily, they made those shots count and Budaj made some big saves to preserve the shutout, but it wasn't very pretty to watch. The Avs didn't look sharp in the 3rd - pucks were turned over in the neutral zone, battles to the puck were lost, etcetera etcetera. I wonder, could it be a matter of fatigue? While I like the concept of Joe Sacco using the guys who've played the best in the 3rd, I wonder if using just 3 lines in the final frame is the right idea, especially with a lead. Marek Svatos, Matt Hendricks and David Koci had about 4 minutes of ice time in the 3rd period. While those guys aren't exactly Selke award candidates, a couple of timely shifts in the 3rd to spell our other players might help. Maybe it's not fatigue, but I'd really like for someone to figure it out soon so that it can be fixed; the Avs won't always have an ace like Peter Budaj between the pipes. (and...scene).

Game 32 Preview: Avalanche at Blues

David Driscoll-Carignan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:00:22 -0000


Colorado Avalanche	6 MT / 8 ET / 1 GMT	St Louis Blues
16-9-6	December 7th, 2009	12-10-5
38 pts	Scottrade Center	29 pts
4th in West	St Louis, MO	t-12th in West

It's almost over. Tonight, the Avalanche will play in their 21st road game while they've played just 11 games at the Pepsi Center. No other team has played more road games or less home games at this point in the season. After tonight, the Avalanche will have 50 games remaining and 30 of those will be at home (where the Avalanche are 7-2-2). When we saw this schedule this summer, we thought the Avalanche might be out of contention by this point. They've done far better than expected, though, and currently sit 4th in the Western Conference. While they are falling back to the pack a bit, their 9-7-4 record on the road is better than expected (and keep in mind, that includes 4 sets of back-to-back road games).

The travel schedule gets a lot easier from here on in. The Avalanche play just one more road game between tomorrow and Christmas. They have a two 3-game road trips in late-December and early-January and then from January 11th until the playoffs, the don't have any road trips longer than 2 games. And four of the 5 remaining 2-game road trips are back-to-backs (figures), so these guys will be spending a LOT of time at home the rest of the way. Is that going to be a good thing for the team? We'll have to wait and see.

They still have to play tonight, though. The Avalanche are playing a fairly mediocre team in the Blues. While the Avs have already gathered 5 points on their 5-game road trip, this is really a "must-win" kind of game. Why? The Avalanche are currently 1 point behind the Flames in the standings and 1 point ahead of the Kings in the standings. Want to guess who the Flames and Kings are playing tonight? Yep. Each other. A regulation loss by Colorado and they either lose ground to Calgary or get passed by the Kings.

The Blues haven't been able to score much this year, but they've been able to keep other teams off the scoreboard with the 9th lowest goals against average in the league. Chris Mason and Ty Conklin have both put up great numbers this year and oh, by the way, the Blues' penalty kill is 4th best in the league. The Avalanche haven't exactly been lighting up the lamp lately, so goals will definitely be at a premium this evening. Even with a rock-solid Peter Budaj between the pipes (Anderson is still out), the Avalanche will need another strong effort from him and the defense in front as this has all the makings of another 3-2 type hockey game.

Avalanche vs Blues coverage

St. Louis Game Time

Colorado			St Louis
7th	38	Points	23rd	29
9th	2.97	GF/G	25th	2.48
19th	2.90	GA/G	9th	2.59
19th	19.2	PP%	30th	12.9
15th	80.2	PK%	4th	84.8
30th	25.7	S/G	14th	29.9
26th	33.1	SA/G	22nd	31.1
29th	46.2	FO%	18th	49.1
16th	14	PIM/G	23rd	14.6
Stastny	31 pts	Top Scorer	Johnson	19 pts

Game 29 Preview: Return of the Foote

Mike MacLean — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:31:50 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

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This is going to be extremely quick, folks. I just found a computer and I don`t even know if the formatting will turn out. This is the return of Adam Foote, I won`t bag on him as much as others do, but it will be interesting to see how the fans treat him.

Andrew Murray and Raffi Torres return to the lineup, and the defensive pairs have been shaken up. Toots and Stralman aren`t together anymore, Stralman is with Russ and Methot returns to the lineup to play with Fedor. Should be interesting how the Russ-Stralman pairing does five-on-five.

I won`t be able to watch this game tonight unfortunately, but I will be checking the boxscore on my Blackberry. Here`s hoping the boys can pull one out and get back in the win column.

Fearless Prediction: A win, damnit.

Game Time: 7:00pm ET

Opponent's Blog: Mile High Hockey

Game Page: Avalanche vs Blue Jackets Coverage

TSN Preview: Avalanche vs Blue Jackets Preview

TV: FSN Ohio

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)

More after the jump...

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Colorado captain Adam Foote makes his first appearance in Nationwide Arena since he was traded by the Blue Jackets to the Avalanche on Feb. 26, 2008. The Blue Jackets are in a 1-4-3 tailspin since Nov. 19. Columbus won all four games last season and has won six of the past seven games in the series.

Jackets Links:

Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats

Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:

Columbus Blue Jackets

Kristian Huselius	Antoine Vermette	Rick Nash
R.J. Umberger	Derick Brassard	Jakub Voracek
Jason Chimera	Samuel Pahlsson	Andrew Murray
Raffi Torres	Derek MacKenzie	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Marc Methot
Mike Commodore	Jan Hejda
Kris Russell	Anton Stralman

Steve Mason

Mathieu Garon

EXTRA: Alexandre Picard

INJURED: Fredrik Modin, Andrew Murray, Derek Dorsett, Rostislav Klesla, Marc Methot

Colorado Avalanche

Matt Duchene	Paul Stastny	Chris Stewart
Wojtek Wolski	T.J. Galiardi	Milan Hejduk
Cody McLeod	Ryan O'Reilly	Darcy Tucker
David Koci	Chris Durno	Marek Svatos

Scott Hannan	Kyle Quincey
John-Michael Liles	Brett Clark
Adam Foote	Ryan Wilson

Peter Budaj

Tyler Weiman

Florida Panthers week in review

Whale4ever — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:04:29 -0000

Panthers fans will find a new addition to the concourse level Saturday at BankAtlantic Center.

Been a busy five days for the Cats since the first puck dropped at Philips Arena Monday. A quickie recap before tonight's action between the Southeast division rivals faceoff in Sunrise:

Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk is foiled in his initial shot on a breakaway, but regains a dead rebound and scores the Thrashers' second goal of the game, paving the way for Keith Ballard's infamous Paul Bunyan-style chop to the head of goaltender Tomas Vokoun. Despite the first of Stephen Weiss' heroics for the week (1g, 1a), ex-Buffalo fan favorite Maxim Afinogenov inserts a knife deep into the heart of reliever Scott Clemmensen and the Panthers with 5.5 seconds remaining in the third period, producing a 4-3 final score in favor of the home club. Vokoun? Briefly hospitalized. Ballard? Stunned. Florida fans? Dumbfounded by yet another strange fork in the road. Panthers are now winless in five.

Back in Sunrise Wednesday against the Avalanche, and the Cats somehow found creative and unique ways to smash four 2-goal leads...of their own (one of those in the final minute of regulation...of course). Craig Anderson, returning to South Florida for the first time since signing with Colorado over the summer, was his plucky self throughout, going goal-for-goal with Clemmensen. Enter overtime, add an end-to-end rush by - who else? - Ballard, a collision ensues, Adam Foote declares war on on the Florida defenseman. Andy's hurt, in comes Peter Budaj, and the ease with which it seems possible to imagine the green goalie getting a win without facing a single shot becomes quite natural; it's that kind of week. Stephen Weiss, he of three goals on the evening, enters the shootout in the fifth round, netting the game winner. A victory for sure, though one that feels strangely hollow. Winless streak over.

Thursday in Washington for a third shot at the Capitals - minus suspended Alex Ovechkin. No matter; anarchy ensues among the visitors after several minutes of close play. Spunky recent callup (and rookie) Alexander Salak replaces a quickly-yanked Clemmensen; nothing changes but the lead, which stretches to a formidable six goals. Another Alex, this time of the Semin variety, has four points before Bryan Allen and Weiss (with his fifth regulation-goal in three games) change the score but not the outcome. It was the classic "clinic" game by the home club, leaving the Cats dazed and defeated. Mike Duco ended his evening with 17 minutes in penalties: an instigator, fighting major, game misconduct, and aggressor calls. When's the last time we saw an "aggressor" penalty? Salak - whom the loss should not realistically fall upon - was quickly sent back to Rochester.

And here we are. Never boring around these parts.

Game Thread goes live at 5pm.

Poll

What to do?

Blow 'em up...top to bottom

11 votes

Hang in there...Booth and Stillman are on the mend

17 votes

28 votes | Poll has closed

Game 31 Preview: Avalanche at Blue Jackets

David Driscoll-Carignan — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:37:22 -0000


Colorado Avalanche	5: MT / 7 ET / 12 GMT	Columbus Blue Jakcets
15-9-6	December 5th, 2009	13-10-5
36 pts	Nationwide Arena	31 pts
t-4th in West	Columbus, OH	10th in West

The Avalanche continue their 5-game trek tonight with their first visit to the fine city of Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets. For whatever reason, these matchups always seem to be entertaining. There's been some chippy games and some back-and-forth games in the last few years. There's that annoying cannon, of course, and, if you happen to watch the Columbus feed you'll be watching two of the biggest homers in all of sports. Actually, analyst Danny Gare left after last season, so I don't know that new analyst Bill Davidge will be as bad, but given that he played for (*sigh*) The Ohio State University and coached at Miami of Ohio and that he's paired with pom-pom-toting Jeff Rimer, I think it's a fair guess. Neither team is playing well right now (both teams are3-4-3 in their last 10)

There's added intrigue in the game as it's the first return to Columbus for Adam Foote since his "controversial" trade to Colorado in 2008. When Foote missed both trips to Columbus last year, we was quietly (and not-so-quietly) accused of having a touch of Columbus flu to avoid any controversy. Sadly, I have another engagement tonight and will not be able to see the game until tomorrow. I won't have a recap up for this one.

Craig Anderson (neck) is not expected to play tonight, which should give Peter Budaj his 2nd straight start. Statistically, he's the better goalie. Columbus' Steve Mason has had a tough sophomore season, with a 3.46 GAA and an .888 save percentage. In his 22 starts, he's allowed 3 goals or more 14 times. The Jackets are 3-7-4 in those games, so I think the Avs goal tonight is clear: score.

As strange as it is to see the BJ's goaltending collapse (they went from 9th in the league last year to 29th so far this year), it's nothing compared to what happened to their powerplay. They had the worst PP in the league last year (yes, even worse than ours). This year? #1. They have almost doubled their PP efficiency so far, improving from 12.7% to 24.8%. Amazing.

Besides Andy, the Avalanche will be without the usual suspects tonight - David Jones, Ruslan Salei and Kyle Cumiskey. The BJs are without Rusty Klesla, Derek Dorsett, Andrew Murray, Frederik Modin. Raffi Torres and Marc Methot are both questionable.

Avalanche vs Blue Jackets coverage

The Cannon

Colorado			Columbus
7th	36	Points	15th	31
9th	2.97	GF/G	7th	3.04
21st	2.93	GA/G	29th	3.46
17th	19.7	PP%	1st	24.8
18th	79.4	PK%	23rd	78.2
30th	26	S/G	17th	29.4
26th	33.1	SA/G	23rd	31.4
29th	46.7	FO%	13th	50.2
16th	14	PIM/G	20th	14.4
Stastny	30 pts	Top Scorer	Nash	30 pts

Game 30 Recap: Penguins 4 - Avalanche 1

David Driscoll-Carignan — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:06:28 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

20 days ago: Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) can't stop a first-period goal by Colorado Avalanche's TJ Galiardi during an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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Final - 12.3.2009	1	2	3	Total
Colorado Avalanche	1	0	0	1
Pittsburgh Penguins	1	0	3	4

Complete Coverage >

Which is better? A 6-5 shootout loss where you get a point that you didn't deserve, or a 4-1 loss where you were in the game right up to the end? I thought the Avalanche played a good game tonight - better than the statsheet is going to reveal. In the end, though, a couple of tough breaks had them come up just short as the Pittsburgh Penguins used a couple of empty net goals (I blame Budaj) to turn a 2-1 game into a 4-1 game.

The Avalanche got off to a strong start and struck first with TJ Galiardi tipping in a puck to score a PP goal just 5:02 in. The Avs played solid hockey throughout the first period, but got burned when Brett Clark pinched in to deep in the waning seconds of the period. Probably not a good idea to let Crosby get behind you, right? Of course, the puck turned over at the Pens' blueline and the Penguins were off to the races with Mike Rupp and the Holy Diver engaging some nice give-and-go passing that led to an easy Crosby goal with just 6 seconds left. The best part? When the puck was dropped on the play, the Penguins had 6 players on the ice. How you miss a too many men call on a faceoff is completely beyond me. Tough break #1.

Tough break #2 happened in the 2nd period when Galiardi appeared to score his 2nd PP goal of the night. Unfortunately, the ref lost sight of the puck on the play and blew a premature whistle. Even though the puck was in the net before the whistle was blown, the rule is that the play is dead when the ref intends to blow the whistle (and a replay clearly showed the ref bringing his whistle up before the puck went in, in case that matters to anyone). That was midway through the 2nd period, and the Avs wouldn't get another powerplay that night. Some might say the officiating had a decided Pittsburgh tilt to it. I personally didn't see it, but I was probably too busy focusing on tough break #3.

Tough break #3 was the July 1st, 2008 signing of Darcy Tucker. Had we signed someone who actually gave a crap, or if we hadn't signed anyone and just sent $4.5 million to a Nigerian banker, we might have had a chance to win tonight. Because then, when Stastny's wide shot landed right into the slot in front of a wide open net, there might have been someone able to approach that puck with a sense of urgency a tad higher than lazy-stroll-through-the-park. Or, when Ryan "Get Me Off This Line" O'Reilly fires a centering pass back to a wide open trailer, it might have been someone with a stick on the ice instead of a thumb up his ass. Was that to harsh? How about this: I would trade Darcy Tucker to Riga for Tyler Arnason in a heartbeat.

Anyway, after the Avalanche squandered the few chances they were given in the game, the rest was inevitable. Adam Foote was called for hooking in the 3rd (I didn't feel this was a bad call, but I see that a few of you disagree) and Brett Clark followed that soon after with a stupid tripping penalty. Even a Tony Granato-coached powerplay (stick tap to Jibbles) is good enough to score on a 5-on-3. And they did. Technically, Foote was just out of the box so it was a 5 on 4, which is like saying that, technically, OJ was found innocent.

From then on, the Penguins absolutely shut the Avalanche down. The Avs managed just 1 3rd period shot and, to be honest, I credit Pittsburgh much more than I blame the Avs. The Pens played great defense - the way I'd like to see our team play more consistently. Whether the Avs tried to dump and chase or carry in, the Pens were all over the puck. It was an impressive performance.

Speaking of impressive, it's too bad that an excellent effort by Peter Budaj was completely wasted. Budaj was superb tonight. He didn't give up those dreaded rebounds that has everyone's panties all bunched up. He was poised and seemed really confident for a guy who's been sitting as long as he has. I would have liked to see him get a win for his troubles tonight. But for a couple of tough breaks tonight, he would have.

Matt Duchene played on the left wing tonight with Paul Stastny (who leads the lead in faceoffs taken) and Chris Stewart. It was a good line, and the 2nd line of Galiardi, Wolski and Hejduk was decent as well. Obviously, there's not much to show for it other than Galiardi's goal, but I personally wouldn't give up on these combos yet. So, expect something completely different on Saturday in Columbus.

Billy and the Kid: Pens beat back the Avs 4-1

Hooks Orpik — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:03:25 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

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Avalanche vs Penguins coverage - Mile High Hockey

The newspaper will say 4-1 tomorrow, but that really doesn't do justice to how tight a game it was. For the majority of the game, real estate was tight to come by. The television guys accurately called it "marking up" as if guys were playing defense like they were on the soccer field. There wasn't much open room for good chances. The difference was a quick whistle and the Penguins power-play finally coming through.

T.J. Galiardi opened the scoring for the Avs on the power-play when he steered Darcy Tucker's effort past Marc-Andre Fleury. Jay McKee was in front of the net with Galiardi and has to do a better job to take the man or the stick out of the play.

It appeared Colorado would take the lead into the intermission until the impromptu line of Mike Rupp - Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin struck. Malkin upped the puck up and Rupp and Crosby passed the puck twice and #87 put it in an empty cage past a beaten Peter Budaj. 1-1 at the first break.

There'd be no more scoring until the third period; which was a huge break for Pittsburgh. It appeared Galiardi had his second goal of the game, between Fleury's legs, but the referee from the side angle whistled the play dead, all the while the puck was in motion, and in the back of the net. Unfortunately it's a play that can not be review. It ought to have been a goal. But it wasn't. Just a bad break for Colorado. Things have a funny way of evening up in a long 82 game season and hopefully they'll get the good end of a call soon to make up for it.

With the game still 1-1, the Penguins got a two man advantage. They couldn't quite take advantage of it, but Crosby faked a shot and wired a perfect pass to Bill Guerin for a slam dunk goal.

That effectively ended the scoring, with Jordan Staal and Crosby tacking on empty netters to make the score look wider than it was.

Pittsburgh was no doubt lucky to catch a break on the disallowed Colorado goal, but they also earned the win by out-shooting the Avs 14-1 in the final period of a tie game. They were the better team late.
Crosby set up the goal with a new tool in his offensive arsenal: the fake shot. Teams have to respect him pulling the trigger, he's now tied for second in the league in goals.
Last year, it took until January 30th before Crosby got to 19 goals....This year he's there on December 3rd, almost two months better.
The Pens racked up 38 hits, everyone on the roster aside from Mark Eaton and the two goalies recorded at least one hit.
Ruslan Fedotenko is starting to turn things around...4 shots on goal (and 3 more misses, including a post) show he's firing away. When he shoots, he plays well and produces. He's getting there.
That T.J. Galiardi is quite impressive. In addition to his goal on he night, he had a should-have-been goal and won 71% of his 17 faceoffs.
Matt Duchene might be the future, but the future was not tonight. No points, a plus/minus of -3 (even though he was on the ice for both empty netters), two shots on goal in 18:50.
Paul Stastny, he of a Team USA future, also had a rough night in the final stat-line: No points, -3 (again on ice for both EN), just one shot on goal and only won 36% of his 28 faceoffs.
Both goalies played well, Budaj was tested more than Fleury, but both did well and did not allow any soft goals. Any time the two goalies combined for three goals against, you can be sure both made some saves.
Evgeni Malkin had a somewhat quiet night, but still rang up three assists and helped the power-play get on the board. It was a good night.

It was a good night indeed. Crosby and Malkin put three points in their pocket and the team gets 2 of their own in the standings. It was a quirky, hard-fought one that wasn't easy it looks at the end of the day. But it's still a win.

Now onward to Saturday...I hear an old friend is ready to say hello again...Perhaps you remember him..

Game 29 Recap: Panthers 6 - Avalanche 5 (SO)

David Driscoll-Carignan — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:04:30 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

21 days ago: Florida Panther's Stephen Weiss (9) begins to celebrate a goal in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche in Sunrise, Fla. Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

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Final - 12.2.2009	1	2	3	OT	SO	Total
Colorado Avalanche	0	2	3	0	0	5
Florida Panthers	2	2	1	0	1	6

Complete Coverage >

Honestly, I have no idea where to begin.

This game had a little bit of everything. The Avalanche gave up 44 shots, 33 in the first two periods. Florida's Stephen Weiss had hat trick before the game was half over (and the crowd of about 217 people rewarded him by tossing maybe 4 hats onto the ice). Craig Anderson wasn't particularly crisp, although, again, he faced 44 shots tonight. The Avalanche didn't play defense tonight but, 29 games into the season, they finally decided to do something about their goalie getting run into constantly; every time there was a whistle, Adam Foote and / or Ryan Wilson punched somebody.

The Avs fell down 2-0. Then they made it 2-1. Then they fell down 3-1. Then they made it 3-2. Then they fell down 4-2. Then they cut it to 4-3. Then they fell down 5-3 and the game was over. They pulled Anderson...and made it 5-4. And then, they completely ruined the SAT numerical pattern question by scoring again to tie the game with 16 seconds left. Yep, after playing like ass for 59 minutes, the Avalanche turned it on and scored two goals in the final minute.

In overtime, each team traded some shots and it went back and forth until 4:18 when all hell broke loose. Keith Ballard made a great play to blow by Brett Clark and rushed hard to the net. Craig Anderson made the save...and then got hit hard by Ballard. Anderson went down hard and ended up leaving the game, making him the second goalie Ballard has knocked from a game this week (couldn't resist). Ballard got pummeled by Adam Foote. Peter Budaj - who should have started to begin with - came in cold and had about 42 seconds to warm up for the shootout. He was excellent, stopping the first 4 shootout attempts. Unfortunately, the Avalanche couldn't score at all and the Panthers ultimately won the game on Weiss' shootout winner.

Matt Duchene and Chris Stewart continue to be the bees' knees on offense. Duchene had another 2 goals, and each of them had 3 points on the night. Stewart might have had more, but he was effectively tossed from the game for instigating a fight with Bryan Allen when he mistakenly thought that Allen had leveled Duchene. I've wanted to see Stewie get more physical all year; that was a poor time to do it. Interestingly, before Stewart was tossed the two finally found a suitable left wing to complement their skills: Paul Stastny. Stastny played left wing with Duchene and Stewart in the 3rd period and ended up with 4 points.

So, here are the big questions going into tomorrow.

First and foremost, is Craig Anderson okay? And what about Brett Clark, who went to the locker room late in OT? Can any forwards other than Stastny, Duchene or Stewart score? The Avs had 5 goals, and the only forward besides those three with a point was TJ Galiardi. Wojtek Wolski had 6 shots...but no points. What happened to the defense that held Tampa off the scoreboard on Monday? When was the last time someone had 4 points and wasn't named one of the 3 stars, as was the case with Stastny tonight? And is Peter Budaj the first goalie to lose a game without facing a shot on net? Is there anyone who's lost a game with less than 42 seconds of playing time? I'd like the answer to all these on my desk first thing tomorrow, okay?

SB Nation - Peter Budaj

No Wheels Required: The Avs Are Still Contenders

Alpine Lightning: Bolts at Colorado Avalanche preview (UPDATED)

Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines

Forward Lines:

Defense:

Other Previews

Game 32 Recap: Avalanche 4 - Blues 0

Game 32 Preview: Avalanche at Blues

Game 29 Preview: Return of the Foote

Florida Panthers week in review

What to do?

Blow 'em up...top to bottom

Hang in there...Booth and Stillman are on the mend

Game 31 Preview: Avalanche at Blue Jackets

Game 30 Recap: Penguins 4 - Avalanche 1

Billy and the Kid: Pens beat back the Avs 4-1

Game 29 Recap: Panthers 6 - Avalanche 5 (SO)