Happy New Year everyone!
Avalanche center Paul Stastny was just named to the U.S. Olympic team, but defenseman Erik Johnson didn't make the cut.
I'm surprised because Johnson is having a terrific season with six goals, 11 assists and a plus-10 plus/minus rating in 39 games, though his plus/minus has been taking a hit in recent games. He played on the Americans' 2010 silver medal-winning team in Vancouver, where he had one goal in six games. He had two goals and two assists in 10 games to help the U.S. win a bronze medal in last spring's World Championships.
Stastny played on the 2010 Olympic team and had one goal and two assists in three games. He had seven goals and eight assists in 10 games for the U.S. at last spring's World Championships. He has 11 goals, 14 assists and a plus-4 plus/minus rating in 37 NHL games.
In the meantime, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy is going to begin Thursday's game against Philadelphia with the line combinations he used at the end of Tuesday's 5-3 win against Columbus.
Here they are (from left to right):
Gabriel Landeskog -- Paul Stastny -- Ryan O'Reilly Max Talbot -- Matt Duchene -- Jamie McGinn Cody McLeod -- John Mitchell -- Nathan MacKinnon Brad Malone -- Marc-Andre Cliche -- Patrick Bordeleau
"I think Dutchie needs guys that go to the net," Roy said. "I think Talbot goes to the net. If they go to the net, Dutchie will bring the puck and increase space for him as well. I think he'll put the puck to the net. I like that line like this."
Duchene had two assists in the second period Tuesday when McGinn and O'Reilly scored 2:38 apart to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead. McGinn backhanded in a rebound for his second goal in an 11-game stretch and O'Reilly skated to the front of the net to score on a power play.
Duchene played most of the first two periods with McGinn and O'Reilly as his wingers, while Stastny centered Landeskog and MacKinnon. Duchene has five assists in the past five games but no goals.
The game was decided on special teams. The Avalanche went 3-for-3 on power plays and killed all three of the Blue Jackets' man advantages.
One troubling aspect of the game is that the Blue Jackets controlled the play for much of the time and outshot the Avalanche 38-23.
"I would like to see us giving less shots and I'd like for us to have more shots," Roy said. "They were shooting from everywhere. This is something we should learn from a lot of teams. As soon as they're inside the blue line, they don't hesitate. They put it right at the net and they're driving that net. I think this is something maybe we could do a little bit better."