There are many stunning aspects to the season Avalanche rookie center Matt Duchene is having, but this might be at the top of the list.
The third overall choice in last June’s NHL draft now is the runaway No. 1 in rookie NHL scoring and the Avalanche’s goal-scoring leader – all after getting off to an agonizingly slow start.
Duchene, who turned 19 four weeks ago and still looks young enough to be standing in line to take the driver’s license test for the first time, had both goals in the Avalanche’s 2-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes in the matchup of two of this NHL season’s surprise teams Friday at the Pepsi Center.
The second broke a 1-1 tie with 4:33 remaining in the third period and gave Duchene a team-leading 20 goals for the season. That’s especially remarkable considering he didn’t get his first until the eighth game of the season, and had only two in Colorado’s first 22 games.
“That’s pretty humbling, I guess, to be able to do that,” Duchene said of hitting the 20-goal benchmark with 21 games remaining. “I just feel so grateful to have the opportunity to play here and have such great teammates. Most of the credit goes to them, for sure.”
Yes, at times it seems as if the next words out of his mouth are going to be: “Aw, shucks ”
As Duchene was surrounded by a first wave of inquisitors in the dressing room afterwards, Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson — who had 33 saves in his 31st victory of the season — talked about being able to watch the young center from the other end of the ice.
“He’s terrific with the puck,” Anderson said, shaking his head. “Great hands, great vision. He’s destined to spend a long time in this league.”
The victory was Colorado’s fourth in a row, and the Avs are 11-4 in their last 15. Colorado and Vancouver, which won at Columbus on Friday, both have 76 points in 60 games, but the Canucks are listed in first place in the Northwest Division because they have more victories. The Canucks (at Minnesota on Sunday) and Avalanche (at Los Angeles tonight) each has one game before the Olympic break.
Duchene’s first goal effectively came on a 5-on-3, since it went in just as Phoenix defenseman Adrian Aucoin’s high sticking minor ended and 81 seconds remained in a Coyotes bench minor for too many men on the ice. Ilya Bryzgalov made a pad save on Chris Stewart’s shot, but the puck caromed to Duchene in the slot.
“All I had to do was put it in the back of the net,” Duchene said.
The Avalanche had only three shots in the second period and Phoenix’s Martin Hanzal tied it at 1-1 at 4:24. Duchene broke the tie late, deflecting a Brett Clark shot past Bryzgalov.
“I was just able to get my stick on it, so there was a lot of luck, for sure,” he said.
Phoenix went 0-5 on the power play, nudging the Avalanche’s penalty killing success rate to an even stronger 83.3 percent for the season. Up front, Paul Stastny and T.J. Galiardi did the bulk of the P.K. work, in part because Ryan O’Reilly drew two minors, and defenseman Scott Hannan was on for 3:54 of the Avalanche’s 6:09 shorthanded time.
“We got what we thought would be a hard, grinding game,” Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said. “We were fortunate enough to get that second goal and find a way to win. Our penalty kill was outstanding. It was a big reason why we won the game tonight, no doubt.”
