In The Cheap Seats

Who is the guy wearing #87, and what has he done with Pierre Turgeon? After seeing Turgeon play like he was older than Gordie Howe in the playoffs, I couldn’t have been more apathetic about about his return 4 games ago. But damn it all, he’s looked like an offensive dynamo out there, with 3 goals, 14 shots, and a few “did he really just do that” moves for good measure. The Avs have won 3 of 4 since his return, and put up at least 4 goals in each of the games. I don’t believe for a second that he can sustain this all year, but I’m sure going to enjoy the ride until it ends.

Colorado put the kibosh on a couple of nagging, dopey stats. They were 1-7 going into the game when putting up 40+ shots, but won “despite” shelling Jason Bacashihua (isn’t that a bread?) and Marek Schwarz with 46 shots. And they were winless when Ian Laperriere has a fighting major, and now we can wipe that one off the books after a short scrum with Jamal Mayers. Now there’s one more stat I’d like to see fixed: Colorado has yet to win 3 in a row, and Friday night against 1st-place Edmonton would be a fantastic place to rectify that, especially with the rivalry we seem to be growing with the Oilers.

Even Strength Forward Lines

I’ve changed the way I calculate +/-. Formerly, I was tallying it on a line basis - if Sakic’s line was on the ice for an EV goal scored, they got a +1 collectively. That’s too hard to track with the changing lines, so now I’m just totalling the individual +/- numbers for the line.

Hejduk returned (and showed he still has a nose for the net…sorry in advance for that one). Svatos returned from missing a game because of a flu, and spent his first two shifts on the 4th line…a message from the coach? Richardson was a healthy scratch for the first time this year

• Sakic, Wolski, Brunette: 12 Shots, 10:60 ATOI, Even
• Arnason, McLean, Hejduk: 14 Shots, 11:03 ATOI, +1
• Stastny, Turgeon, Svatos: 10 Shots, 9:32 ATOI, +5
• Laperriere, Laaksonen, Rycroft: 5 Shots, 9:41 ATOI, Even

Even Strength Defensive Pairings

Same change to +/- as I listed above. Leopold sat out 2nd game due to injury, reportedly a groin but not related to the hernia. Sauer was a healthy scratch for the 900th game (roughly).

• Clark & Skrastins, +1, 13:48 ATOI, 3 Shots
• Liles & Brisebois, +1, 14:01 ATOI, 1 Shot
• Klee & Vanaanen, +2, 13:13 ATOI, 1 Shot

Quick Hits

• Brett McLean has quietly joined the PK ranks. After not playing at all on the PK before game 24, McLean has put in more than 2 minutes shorthanded in each of the last three games, with a season high 3:25 last night. He’s allowed just 1 goal in 12:12 of PK ice time.

• McLean also leads Colorado forwards in +/- with a +7. The Arnason, McLean and whoever line (usually Laperriere) is +21 for the season. Next best is the checking line at +4.

• Colorado has 7 PP goals in the last 4 games, 23% of their season total.

Stats are updated - click the Avs Stats link up top