Attempted to file this after the game late last night, but I had Internet problems. Frustrating.
Avalanche coach Patrick Roy was more than satisfied with his team's 3-2 shootout win against Minnesota at the Pepsi Center on Saturday night even after the team blew a 2-0 lead in the final 3:27 of regulation.
The victory completed a sweep of the home-and-home series, though the Wild salvaged a valuable point with goals from Matt Cooke and Mikko Koivu, who forced overtime with 4.3 seconds to play after goalie Josh Harding went to the bench for a sixth skater.
Ryan O'Reilly scored the lone goal in the shootout against Harding, and Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov made a glove save against Jason Pominville to secure the team's second win against the Wild in a little over 24 hours.
"You never want to give up a lead in the third," O'Reilly said. "Varly played so great and we kind of let him down a little at the end."
Still, the Avalanche gained three points against the Wild over the weekend in the Central Division standings. Colorado is in third place with a 19-6-0 record and 38 points in 25 games. Minnesota, 0-3-1 in its past four games, has a 15-8-5 record for 35 points in 28 games.
"This is certainly good for us," Roy said. "If someone had said to me we would pick up three points on them on the weekend, I would be very happy. We would take it in a heartbeat. Now we are three points ahead of them and we have three games in hand. That's pretty good."
The Avalanche wasn't very good in the third period. The Wild dominated, much as it did in the third Friday when goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere faced 16 shots before Gabriel Landeskog scored into an empty net in a 3-1 win.
The Wild outshot the Avalanche 11-3 in the third Saturday and easily could have scored more than twice if not for some huge saves by Varlamov. The Wild outshot the Avalanche 37-25 for the game.
"We knew we were in for a battle," Roy said. "The game is 60 minutes, sometimes longer than that. This is why we play 60 minutes, and you have to finish it. We battled hard. It was two really good games, both teams played well and we came out with four points and they got one."
It came down to the Avalanche's first shootout of the season after Varlamov made four saves in the five-minute overtime and Harding made three.
"I never had a shootout when I was playing, but I've been told that Varly is pretty solid in a shootout," Roy said. "I guess I was pretty confident that we could win that game. Ryan scored a super nice goal and Varly was outstanding. They sent their three best shooters and I thought he was outstanding from the start of the game." O'Reilly was the Avalanche's third shooter. He scored after skating wide into the right circle before slipping the puck between Harding's pads. Harding stopped the Avalanche's first two shooters, PA Parenteau and Nathan MacKinnon.
"I knew if I came in on an angle I'd have a lot of options," O'Reilly said. "I was going to read off him and see what he did. If he gives me upstairs, I take a quick shot. If not, try to make a move to see if he opens up. It worked out for me."
Varlamov stopped Zach Parise, Koivu and Pominville for his 14th win in 21 career shootouts. He's stopped 58 of 74 shots for a .784 save percentage.
"I was nervous, same as usual," Varlamov said. "None of the goalies, nobody likes the shootouts. There's too much pressure on you. When O'Reilly scored, that one was real nice."
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Varlamov never panicked after the Wild buzzed around his net and tied the game.
"What I like about him is he never lost his focus despite the fact that I didn't think we played as well defensively as I was hoping," Roy said. "I have to give credit to (the Wild) because I thought they played a really good game. They certainly deserved that point, to be honest with you."
The Avalanche grabbed the 2-0 lead on goals by Landeskog and MacKinnon. John Mitchell set up both goals. He won a battle for the puck with Wild defenseman Clayton Stoner behind the net and passed to Landeskog for a 1-0 lead at 2:22 of the first period and fed MacKinnon alone in the left circle at 12:56 of the second after he and O'Reilly forced a turnover in the Minnesota end.
"I didn't score, but I gave the puck to guys and they buried it," said Mitchell, who also won 10 of 15 faceoffs.
Mitchell started the game at center on a line with Landeskog and MacKinnon. Roy shuffled lines late in the second period, moving Mitchell to the middle with Jamie McGinn and Max Talbot. He's played all three forward positions at various times since joining the Avalanche as free agent before last season.
"I welcome it," he said. "I have no problem playing wing, center. I know I just have to be ready on an every night basis. Guys might get hurt, someone might not be (playing well) or whatnot, so you have to be able to know all those roles and be able to fill them."
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MacKinnon has scored in back-to-back games for the first time this season. He scored what proved to be the decisive goal Friday and has five goals overall.
“It was a good couple games against Minny," he said. "They obviously play a pretty tough game. Down low, they're tough to defend. It's always nice to get on the board a little bit, but getting two wins is huge for us.…
As for his first shootout: “Yeah, it was fun, a lot more fun if I could have scored. That's the way it goes. I'm not the first guy to miss in a shootout, won't be the last, but it's always tough to miss for sure.…
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The Avalanche followed its three-game losing streak with five wins in six games to close out November with a 9-5-0 record, matching the most wins in November in franchise history. The Avalanche went 9-3-2-1 in November in 2003 ... The Avalanche has won all four games when playing back-to-back, having swept Dallas earlier this year ... No penalties were called Saturday, the second time in franchise history that happened. The Avalanche and Detroit, of all teams, weren't penalized in an April 9, 2000 game.
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Avalanche players, coaches and mascot Bernie will make their annual holiday visit to Children’s Hospital on Monday. They'll visit patient rooms, distribute Bernie plush animals, sign autographs, take pictures with the children and their families to help brighten their day.