Stastny lifts Avs to Game 1 win vs. Wild
The official game recap Colorado Avalanche vs Minnesota Wild.Paul Stastny scored at 7:27 of overtime Thursday at Pepsi Center to give the Colorado Avalanche a 5-4 win against the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their Western Conference First Round series.
The Avalanche sent the game to overtime when Stastny scored with 13.4 seconds to play in regulation during a 6-on-5 skating situation. Defenseman Erik Johnson took a shot and the rebound went to Stastny, who beat Wild goalie Ilya Bryzgalov from the base of the right circle.
Colorado coach Patrick Roy pulled goalie Semyon Varlamov with 3:01 remaining for the extra attacker.
Nine seconds after they were held without a shot on their fourth power play of the game, the Avalanche closed within 4-3 at 7:13 of the third period on a goal by Jamie McGinn. Ryan O'Reilly intercepted Kyle Brodziak's clearing attempt and fired a shot. McGinn knocked down the puck with his stick and shoved it inside the left post.
Rookie forward Nathan MacKinnon had three assists, including on Stastny's game-tying and game-winning goals. Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie had two.
Game 2 will be played Saturday (9:30 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN, NBCSN, FS-N, ALT) at Pepsi Center.
The Wild outshot the Avalanche 12-6 in the second period, when they scored three times to build a 4-2 lead.
Wild defenseman Ryan Suter broke a 1-1 tie at 11:05 on a power play when he moved in from the blue line and put a screen shot past Varlamov, who made 29 saves.
The Avalanche responded to make it 2-2 when O'Reilly scored during a four-on-four situation, one of the few times Colorado was able to use its speed. Barrie brought the puck up from his end and passed to MacKinnon above the left circle. MacKinnon slipped the puck to O'Reilly, who hammered the puck by Bryzgalov with a shot from above the left hash marks.
Minnesota countered with goals from Erik Haula and Brodziak that came 2:04 apart.
Haula took a pass from Jonas Brodin and cut inside Colorado's Brad Malone on the left side. He moved to the front of the net and slid the puck between Varlamov's pads at 16:08.
Brodziak scored from the slot with 1:48 left in the second after taking a pass from Matt Cooke along the end boards after Nino Niederreiter beat Avalanche defenseman Jan Hejda to the puck. Hejda checked Niederreiter as Hejda's defense partner, Johnson, followed the play. But Cooke gained possession and passed to a wide-open Brodziak, who fired a shot by Varlamov's right shoulder.
The Avalanche struck first on a goal by Gabriel Landeskog at 13:14 of the opening period, but the Wild tied it 1-1 at 15:20 when rookie Charlie Coyle swept the puck by Varlamov from the bottom of the right circle. The play began when Johnson set up behind his net and slid a pass that was intercepted by Wild defenseman Marco Scandella. Zach Parise took a shot that bounced off Varlamov and went to Coyle.
Landeskog scored from the slot off a pass from Stastny, who set up his linemate after moving from behind the net. Landeskog shot the puck by Bryzgalov's left pad.
The Avalanche went on a power play at 5:05 when Cody McCormick was called for high sticking against Nate Guenin and was assessed a double minor, but MacKinnon negated the first portion of it 54 seconds later when he was sent off for high sticking against Parise along the right boards in the Wild end.
The Avalanche had 1:06 remaining on the advantage when MacKinnon exited the penalty box, but the Wild held them to one shot.
The Wild had the only shot while killing off another penalty early in the second period after Mikko Koivu went off for dislodging the net.
Colorado was 0-for-4 on the power play. Minnesota killed off all 11 Colorado power plays in five regular-season games between the teams, four of which the Avalanche won.
-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
18/04/2014 - 07:00
