Now that was a pretty terrific hockey game Thursday night with plenty of scoring chances on both sides, some big hits and excellent goaltending from the Avalanche's Semyon Varlamov and the Philadelphia Flyers' Steve Mason.
I expected a bigger crowd than the 16,793 who watched the Avalanche take a 2-1 decision at the Pepsi Center, especially with a popular team like the Flyers in town for the only time this season.
The Avalanche got goals from Jamie McGinn --again! -- and Ryan O'Reilly by driving to the net, and Varlamov made 29 saves, two against former teammate Steve Downie -- one a breakaway in the first period and another at the edge of the crease in the second.
The Avalanche has gone 2-0-1 in the first three games of a seven-game homestand that continues Saturday afternoon against San Jose, and has built a seven-point lead over Dallas in the race for third place in the Central Division.
Colorado is 10-3-0 against Eastern Conference teams and has beaten the Flyers six times in a row at home. Philadelphia began the night with a four-game winning streak and was on a 7-1-1 roll to move back into playoff position in the Metropolitan Division.
The message is clear: we don't want to be satisfied, we want more," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "That's the approach we try every day. We have to play like this to be in the playoff picture at the end. We're about a team, and everybody is part of it. When everybody is jumping in and playing a good game for us, we will do well. We have a good team concept and everybody is playing their role."
It helps to get the kind of goaltending Varlamov has been delivering. He's gone 5-0-4 in his past nine starts and allowed two goals or fewer in six of them. He's the main reason the Avalanche killed off all three of the Flyers' power plays, just as it did New Year's Eve in the 5-3 win against Columbus.
"I think we played pretty good defensive hockey, that's why we beat them tonight," Varlamov said. "It's all about the win. Everybody's excited when we're winning. I think we're playing better." The Flyers goal came at 13:48 of the second period when Wayne Simmonds redirected Andrej Meszaros' shot from the left point into the net, cutting the Avalanche lead to 2-1.
O'Reilly gave the Avalanche a 2-0 lead at 9:17 of the period, working a give-and-go with Gabriel Landeskog, skating to the side of the net and bouncing the puck off Mason's blocker across the goal line.
Varlamov made two big saves earlier in the period, stopping Scott Hartnell's open shot that came from the right circle and stretching his body to smother Downie's close-in shot on a Flyers power play.
"I don't even know how he stopped that," Avalanche center Paul Stastny said of the save against Downie. "He pushes the pad and somehow holds on with that leg strength. Saves like that and being super flexible make him who he is."
McGinn scored the only goal of the first period. Erik Johnson passed to Matt Duchene skating down the slot for a shot that Mason stopped, but McGinn drove to the net and put in the rebound at 11:14.
"I've got to give the guys credit there," McGinn said. "EJ made a great play, stepping up and breaking up a play and skating hard. Dutchie drove the middle like we're supposed to hard and got the puck on net. I just came in for loose change."
Varlamov protected the 1-0 lead with his stop against Downie, who tried to backhand the puck in on his clean breakaway.
"I think I was lucky on that one," Varlamov said. "He almost got me with the backhand. He's a good player, very skilled."
*****
Downie and Avalanche left wing Max Talbot played against each other for the first time since they were traded on Oct. 31.
Downie had two shots in 17:04 of ice time and was minus-1. Talbot had one shot in 15:25, drew a penalty in the first period and took one in the third. He helped kill off two Flyers power plays.
*****
The Avalanche had 33 official hits, the Flyers 28. Nate Guenin, a healthy scratch the previous two games, had six hits. He was paired with Nick Holden, who sat out the previous six games. They replaced Tyson Barrie and Ryan Wilson.
Landeskog had three hits, including one from behind late in the first period against Flyers left wing Michael Raffl that resulted in a concussion. Raffl was playing on the top line with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek.Giroux, who had six goals and 11 assists in a 10-game stretch before Thursday, was held to one shot on goal.
Flyers coach Craig Berube said Landeskog's hit was clean, and that Raffl won't play against Phoenix on Saturday.
"It’s fine, not a penalty,… he said. “It’s kind of a tough play. (Raffl's) head is against the glass already and the guy hit him. I don’t think it was a dirty hit at all.…