The Colorado Avalanche turned a slow start into a strong finish with goals from Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk and T.J. Hensick en route to a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings tonight. The next game the Avalanche will play at Pepsi Center is on Thursday, Oct. 1 after Joe Sakic’s Retirement Ceremony.

 

Craig Anderson was quite solid in his second game as an Avalanche. He made 30 saves (13 in the first) and one penalty shot with only 70 seconds left in the second period to win one of those all-important one-goal game. In two full home pre-season games, Anderson has only allowed three goals against.

+ Once again Craig Anderson started the game with two strong saves in which he didn’t allow a rebound. The second one was a nice glove save well above his blue paint. This had a calming influence on a lineup that lacked Adam Foote on the blueline and throughout the first period. His ability to square up and take away space without giving up rebounds was a major factor in making 13 solid saves.

+ Focus is one of Anderson’s strongest mental talents. Like the rest of the team, he didn’t have the best footwork in the first period, but he still tracked the puck with intensity. That allowed him to make excellent first saves and settle in by the time the second frame started.

- Anderson handled the puck way too many times in this game. In fact, his inability to clear the puck hard around the boards were the cause of both goals against. It led to Peter Harrold’s goal at 11:17 of the first period and then Trevor Lewis’ short-handed goal with 2:12 left in the game. He’s not a weak stick handler by any means, but the right decision would have been to leave it alone in both instances.

+ The second period was another quality display of his focus. While the forwards were busy turning the game around with 13 shots on goal, Anderson had to deal with much less action, facing only six shots. But one of them included a perfect right-pad save on a penalty shot by Marc-Andre Cliche with only :70 seconds left. It was a routine save, but it was very timely.

+ Brett Clark was noticeably rusty in the first period. Anze Kopitar made a nifty move right around him on the very first shift of the game, which resulted in a good scoring chance against. But he settled in by the time the third period rolled around and finished with a strong outing and of course a few blocked shots in 20:28 of ice time.

+ Give credit to Matt Hendricks and Cody McLeod for dropping the gloves with Rich Clune in the first half of the first period. It was a perfect example of Joe Sacco’s ability to match LA’s toughness. Clune was basically running around and the Avs responded in good fashion. Hendricks also had an effective fight with Matt Greene halfway through the third period when the Kings were making a final push.

+ Kyle Cumiskey was very rusty in this game and did not display a lot of poise or confidence with the puck. He was unable to handle a few pucks coming his way just inside the blue line, which allowed the Kings to transition with speed for a few scoring chances. He was called for a (weak) penalty that led to Cliche’s penalty shot. His speed of course was noticeable, but so was his lack of poise in a handful of situations.

+ Derek Peltier played another solid game in his own zone in 16:28 of ice and had zero turnovers or giveaways. He didn’t make any bad decisions that resulted in an LA scoring opportunity. With Tom Preissing’s injury opening the door for one more defenseman (or at least resulting in one less player being cut), it was obvious in this game that Peltier’s performance was stronger than Cumiskey’s.

+ The most noticeable aspect for the offense tonight was the tenacious and consistent forecheck deep in LA’s zone. This has continued to be a positive change in the three home games so far. Forwards like Milan Hejduk, Marek Svatos and Matt Duchene did an excellent job of applying pressure behind the Kings’ net and taking away time and space with the puck.

+ The Avs have been one of the most dynamic and potent scoring teams from plays behind the net and it looks like this will be another trademark this season. Except now it will include forcing turnovers with their strong forecheck.

+ In the first and last shift of the first period, this forecheck created a huge scoring chance for Duchene and Stastny. Erik Ersberg  thwarted them both en route to 22 impressive saves. In fact, through the first two periods, Colorado already had seven (7) takeaways, two of which were from Stastny.

+ I give the coaching staff a lot of credit for making some great adjustments during the first intermission. The Avs came out in the second with a much more physical tone to their game, which counteracted what the Kings were doing. The Avs were out-shot in the first period 14-7 but reversed the totals in the second by a count of 13-6. Joe Sacco deserves credit for getting all of his players on the same page with this shift in style and making it work quickly.

+ Wojtek Wolski made a few great plays in this game, thanks in part to his improved body positioning. On Stastny’s goal, it was Wolski that lured a Kings defenseman out of position by attacking the net. That created some open space in the slot, which is right where Stastny found a loose puck. Ersberg was deep in his crease as he  tried to find the puck and was unable to get a right pad on Stastny’s shot. But you have to credit Wolski for driving to the net.

+ David Jones left the game early with what was described as a bruised chest, but by the time the game was over, x-rays were already negative for any major injuries.

+ If the forwards continue to play a more well-rounded game in which they play strong on both ends of the ice, the Avalanche will win more one-goal games than they did last year. I have noticed the phrase “strong on the forecheck” more in the last two weeks than I did all of last season.

- Anderson needs to stay in his crease. It’s obvious he wants to see as much action as possible, so tonight he was prone to venturing out of his net way too often. Some situations and decisions are routine and beneficial, but others are simply unnecessary. Both goals he allowed were results of situations and decisions that were unnecessary.

+ I was really impressed and excited with Sacco’s ability to make adjustments to his team’s style of play within a game. It was very obvious that he was able to match the physical tone presented by the Kings in the first period. They had a beefy lineup that included tough guys like Matt Greene and Raitis Ivanans and Sacco was able to match lines effectively with McLeod and Hendricks.

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