In what might have been the most entertaining game all season, the Avs outlasted the Chicago Blackhawks in the eighth round of the shootout to remain a perfect 6-0-0 at home this season.

The Avs, per their pattern, started extraordinarily slow in the first period and fell behind 2-0 on goals by Dustin Byfuglien (PPG) and Duncan Keith.

However, the Avs once again proved how far they've come from last year. Instead of laying down, rolling over and getting blown out, the Avs stood strong, pushed the reset button and got back in the game.

Radar led the team's comeback, getting two goals, one to get the Avs back in the game, another to put them ahead. He also was excellent on the penalty kill and saved about two goals with good stickwork.

More than even Matt Duchene, Radar has been a new breath of fresh air into this team. He's just like a Billy Mays ad. He does it all. He can play third line center, third defenseman or even second goaltender. Do you want offense? He can do that too. But wait, there's more. He's just 18-years-old. And at $840,00, he's a real steal. You can't pass this deal up (you reading this Detroit fans?)

David Jones also chipped in with a shorthanded goal very reminiscent of the goal he scored in Edmonton last year. He broke in down the left wing, used his speed to get past the defensemen, used his size to shield the puck and put it by Antti Niemi on the short side.

Outside of O'Reilly, the real story to this game was goaltending. Both Niemi and Craig Anderson put on fantastic performances for their team. Anderson was real strong in the keeping the Avs in the game despite being outshot 22-8 in the first two periods. Niemi weathered the flurry of Avalanche activity in the third where the Avs outshot the Hawks 12-7. Both were simple outstanding and fun to watch work in this game and especially in the shootouts.

The Avs fought hard and, as they have all season, found a way to win a game after a slow start against one of the Western Conference's elite teams.

Three Stars

1. Ryan O'Reilly- two goals and was just fantastic in all three zones.
2. Craig Anderson- allowed the Avs to recover from a slow start.
3. Patrick Kane- two assists and was active around the puck all night.

Facepalm of the Game

Kyle Cumiskey gets it tonight for his icing of the puck with plenty of space in front of him that led to Andrew Ladd's goal to tie it at three. Cumiskey is fast but he's easily rattled into making mistakes as we saw here.

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