A three-goal second period for the Los Angeles Kings leads to a 4-1 win for the visitors at the Pepsi Center. The Avalanche put 43 shots on goalie Jonathan Quick in another solid offensive performance, but the power play goes 0-of-3.
Bottom line: Among the 14 Western Conference teams, the Avs are one of three to have not reached 60 points.
The evolving game story is .
After this clip, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy says: “Play like this, we’re going to win our share of games.”
Matt Duchene politely corrected me in saying the Kings’ second and third goals were not a result of an Avalanche defensive breakdowns. Tyler Toffoli’s drive to the net resulted in the puck bouncing in off Semyon Varlamov’s pad. And Dustin Brown’s easy back-door tap-in goal that made it 3-1 came on a 6-on-5 attack. “You can’t cover everyone in that situation,” Duchene said:
Noteworthy: Colorado reached 40 shots for the fifth time this season, and the 43 against the Kings were the third most. The Avs had 48 on Oct. 24 against Vancouver and 47 versus Dallas on Nov. 29. … Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov made his 14th consecutive start, and No. 1 star Jonathan Quicks of the Kings made his 13th straight start in net. … Avs captain Gabe Landeskog extended his goal-scoring streak to four games, tying Erik Johnson for the longest this season. … Center Ryan O’Reilly won 20-of-26 faceoffs, a career high. … The Kings won their sixth consecutive game.
