STRIKING EARLY CREATES MOMENTUM FOR AVS AT HOME
The rested Avalanche on Sunday night got the start it wanted against a team that had played the previous night. Problem was, Colorado’s NHL-leading power play couldn’t capitalize after the Los Angeles Kings’ Scott Parse and Dustin Penner took tripping and interference penalties 36 seconds and 3:18 into the game.
“Like I always say, you want to start games on time — especially when you have a team that played the night before,” Avs coach Joe Sacco said before the game. “When the puck drops, we want to establish a strong forecheck to create some momentum for ourselves.”
The Avs did just that. But with their formidable power play (30 percent) and 16th-ranked penalty kill (84.8 percent), it was the PK that got them on the board first. Rookie Gabriel Landeskog’s heads-up play to attack on a 2-on-2 situation against one of the Kings’ top forwards playing the point on the power play led to Chuck Kobasew’s wraparound, short-handed goal at 6:55 that gave Colorado a 1-0 lead.
Instead of dumping the puck in during the 5-on-4 disadvantage, Landeskog forced star center Anze Kopitar to defend, and Kopitar was out of position when Kobasew sneaked around the net.
“It’s a heads-up play by Landeskog,” Sacco said.
Footnotes.
First-year Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov started eight games this month, a career high for a month span. . . . The Avs surrendered two power-play goals for the first time this season. . . . Winger Cody McLeod wore the rotating third “A” on his sweater as an assistant captain with Paul Stastny and Erik Johnson. . . . The Kings fell to 3-1-2 on the road. . . . Forward Kevin Porter and defenseman Matt Hunwick were healthy scratches for the Avs. Forward Peter Mueller missed his eighth consecutive game with a head injury. . . . Kings left wing Simon Gagne missed his second consecutive game with a “mid-body” injury. Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
