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The Avs are on a roll, after losing the first game and now are 3-1 in the standings.
First of all, the title "BJs and Senators" is not related to some political sex scandal. I wanted to put it out there, to make sure everyone knows we're still talking about hockey here.
Robert Ciubotaru, Romania, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
15/10/2011 - 17:18
Postgame thoughts: BJs and Sens
The Avs are on a roll, after losing the first game and now are 3-1 in the standings.First of all, the title "BJs and Senators" is not related to some political sex scandal. I wanted to put it out there, to make sure everyone knows we're still talking about hockey here.
So how about the crushing Swedes? Landeskog and Lindstrom are doing a great job for the Avs. Unfortunately, it took a health problem from Mueller to see Lindstrom in action. I would've personally liked to keep Peter in the lineup and take out Kobasew, or maybe put him on the 4th and take McClement out... Because Mueller is a far greater offensive threat, but he has to get to his pre-concussion form. Let's just hope he'll get better.
Against the Blue Jackets, the Avs got lucky, they scored with a few seconds left, when the puck deflected from Landeskog's skate to tie the game. Varlamov was amazing again and in the next game Giggy did a very decent job, allowing only one goal and giving the team the confidence they needed from him in his first game. So it's official, the Varly-Giggy tandem is the best the Avs had in a long time. Speaking of goalies, Andy looked terrible in the Senators' net, but the D in front of him was appalling, letting the Avs set up camp there. But when you meet a poor team you crush it and that's exactly what the Avs did. They did allow a PP goal, to wreck their perfect record, but they still sit pretty at 92,9 percent, 6th in the league. Their 4-for-6 power play goals improved dramatically their percentage, being now the 5th in the league. Add to that Winnik shorthanded goal and it makes for some very good special teams. Don't get too excited, remember how many of those goals were scored in only one game.
But as I was saying in the beginning, you have to be impressed by the amazing Swedes. You can easily forget that Landeskog is just a teenager if you look at him using his body and making plays. He scored his 2nd goal in two games, and this time it wasn't a fluke. His chemistry with O'Reilly and Winnik is great, so you could argue this is really the Avs' first line. You could, but against the Senators you'd be wrong. The line of Duchene, Hejduk and Lindstrom had a remarkable 6 points night, 4 of those being goals! We all hoped that Joakim would be good, but he was way beyond our hopes. And his 2nd goal, after Wilson's pass, was a thing of beauty.
So the Avs are clicking, the production is starting to get there, the D is good, the goalies are great... But unfortunately we did see this scene before and it ended poorly. So allow me not to get too excited. Yes, they're playing great and let's enjoy that for a moment, because you never know when the Avs of seasons past are going to visit us again.
Robert Ciubotaru, Romania, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
15/10/2011 - 17:18
