Avs inch closer with 2-0 win over Wild
Sunday was the end of a stressful week for Colorado Avalanche forward Jamie McGinn, but he ended it in style.McGinn,
who played in this building seven days ago as a member of the San Jose Sharks,
scored both goals for the Avs -- his first two with his new team -- in a 2-0
win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.
"Pretty stressful, and hectic but it's nice being on
the road with the boys,"
McGinn said. "You don't know how
long it's going to be with a new team [before you score a goal]. You want to
jump in and be a part of it right away.
"To be a big part tonight, and put a couple in the
back of the net, it makes the transition a little easier."
McGinn
and goaltender Semyon Varlamov were
all the Avalanche needed Sunday. Colorado outshot Minnesota 17-11 and took
advantage of yet another slow start by the Wild.
McGinn's
game-winner just 1:42 into the game was the fifth straight game the Wild have
allowed a goal within the opening three minutes of the contest.
"Too many tough starts like this. And right now, we
don't seem to have the ability to bounce back from that," said Wild coach Mike
Yeo. "There's no excuse. It just
can't keep happening."
A
turnover behind the Wild net led to McGinn's first goal. After shots by Stefan Elliot and Peter Mueller hit traffic on the way to the net, the puck ended up
on McGinn's stick near the left post. He easily put it in for his 13th of the
season.
"Tonight, it was being in the right spot at the
right time," McGinn said. "The last two games it didn't happen
for me so I was glad to turn things around."
Seven
minutes later, on the power play and with the benefit of some more puck luck,
McGinn made it 2-0. After a shot from Mueller at the top of the left circle was
blocked by Wild defenseman Marco
Scandella, the puck deflected to McGinn at the bottom of the circle. His
initial shot was stopped by Minnesota goalie Matt Hackett, but the rebound bounced right back to him, and he
ripped a wrist shot just under the crossbar.
"In tight, you gotta go up high," McGinn said. "My
dad has been telling me that since day one. And when I don't do it, trust me, I
get an ear-full after the game."
"He did it by going to the hard areas of the ice,
the scoring areas where you need to put yourself in a position to score those
goals," said Avalanche coach Joe Sacco. "That was a big start for us and after that, we just played our
game."
From
there, the Avalanche played a stifling defensive game, forcing the Wild into
shots from non-scoring areas. Dany
Heatley clanked a backhander off the crossbar early in the second period
and was robbed on a brilliant leg-save by Varlamov late in the game at the top
of the crease.
Most
of Minnesota's remaining 29 shots on goal presented little danger.
"The defense played outstanding, they really helped
me a lot," Varlamov said. "They played every rebound and cleared
the puck."
The
shutout was Varlamov's fourth this season and the victory also evened his
record at 19-19-2.
"He's been very solid for us lately here and we're
going to need that type of play down the stretch," Sacco said. "When
you get to this time of year, goaltending becomes very critical and certainly
Varly was solid tonight."
After
a pair of rough home losses -- one a 2-0 shutout to Columbus and the other, a
5-1 blowout Saturday night against Pittsburgh, Sunday's win was critical to
Colorado's playoff hopes.
The
win moved the Avs to within a point of San Jose for the eighth and final
playoff spot in the Western Conference.
"After dropping two, we needed these two
points," McGinn said. "It seems everyone ahead of us is
winning right now so we have to stay in the hunt. It's going to be an
interesting final stretch here and we want to be apart of it."
The
loss dropped Minnesota into a 12th place tie with Anaheim at 66 points, seven
back of the Sharks and in danger of being out of the playoff picture. With just
16 games remaining, the Wild could lose one more game and still reach 96 points
-- considered the bench mark to grab the final playoff spot in the West.
The
teams conclude this home-and-home series Tuesday night in Denver at the Pepsi
Center. The Wild have gone 10-1-2 in their last 13 games in the Mile High City,
including a 2-0 mark this season.
-by
Dan Myers for NHL.com-
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
05/03/2012 - 07:07
