BOSTON — Sometimes, being too young to know better is a good thing.
The Avalanche was supposed to know better than to think it could come into Boston and beat the Bruins on Monday in a holiday matinee, when the locals were looking for a little payback-by-extension to the Denver hockey team after Sunday’s Broncos victory over the Patriots.
The fourth-youngest team in the NHL and the league’s worst in the West last season was supposed to know better than believe it could handle a regular-season Eastern Conference champion under pressure from a revived fan base.
But it was the Avs who looked like the veteran, make-’em-pay team in their 4-3 victory at TD Garden. Taking advantage of Bruins turnovers and dominating the overall special-teams battle, the Avalanche earned the first road win of the season for its rookie coach, Massachusetts native Joe Sacco.
“It’s nice to have a win in your hometown, for sure, and it was a good win against what we feel is one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference,” Sacco said. “We had a great start to the game; our guys were really skating well. We talked about not standing around, not getting planted on the ice, and we used our speed at the start to get in on the forecheck and create a couple havoc goals.”
It was the havoc wreaked by T.J. Galiardi’s poke pass to teammate David Jones that made the difference for the Avalanche in the second period. Not long after Marek Svatos had given the Avs the lead again at 3-2 with a power-play goal, Galiardi took a big hit and still managed to feed Jones for a breakaway, short-handed goal.
For Jones, it was a nice way to come back after missing the previous four games and nearly the final three months of last season because of injuries.
“I thought it was going to be a one-on-one situation, but I think the other ‘D’ man might have been cheating to the other side, so my eyes lit up when I saw I had the breakaway,” Jones said.
Said Sacco of Jones: “He brings a lot to our lineup, and I can use him a lot of different situations. He’s got great speed and is a big, strong power forward. We were really glad to have him back.”
The Avs got themselves an early 2-0 lead on goals by Milan Hejduk and Scott Hannan, but Boston got back in the game on goals from Mark Recchi and Blake Wheeler.
Svatos’ goal, which came with two seconds left on Zdeno Chara’s interference penalty, got the visitors feeling good about themselves again.
Boston’s Michael Ryder made it 4-3 with 13:36 left, and the Bruins went on the power play with 5:04 to go. But the Avs’ penalty-killing, 5-for-5 on the day, was strong.
“They poured it on at the end, had a lot of pinching going on and were desperate, but we held in there,” captain Adam Foote said.
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
The Post’s three stars
1. David Jones.
Avs winger, playing his first regular-season game since January, had game-winner and assist.
2. Craig Anderson.
Avs goalie was strong again, with 29 saves.
3. Blake Wheeler.
Scored a nice tip-in goal for Boston.
What you might have missed
Avs rookie T.J. Galiardi took an unpenalized cross-check to the face in the first period from former Av Johnny Boychuk, but finished the game and assisted on the game-winner.
Up next
At Toronto, today, 5:30 p.m.
So far, so good
The Avs have earned three points in three games of their seven-game road trip:
Date Opponent Score/time
Oct. 8 Nashville L, 3-2
Oct. 10 Chicago L, 4-3 (SO)
Monday Boston W, 4-3
Today Toronto 5:30 p.m.
Thursday Montreal 5:30 p.m.
Saturday Detroit 5 p.m.
Oct. 21 Minnesota 6 p.m.
Notebook
Avalanche: Coach Joe Sacco said he would decide this morning who would start in goal against Toronto. Craig Anderson has started every game thus far for the Avs. . . . Left wing Darcy Tucker will play his first game back in Toronto since playing eight years with the Maple Leafs and signing with Colorado. Tucker did not want to address any media about the return until today. . . . Rookie Matt Duchene, a native of Haliburton, Ontario, will host several friends and family members at the game.
Maple Leafs: Despite coach Ron Wilson calling for his team to start “playing tall,” Toronto lost 7-2 to the Rangers on Monday night and remained winless. . . . Goalie Jonas Gustavsson, pursued by the Avs in the offseason, has been sidelined recently with an injury.
