Watching the beginning of the game was like watching the Avs on a penalty kill. The Jets had constant pressure in the Avs' zone, and the Avs just couldn't seem to gain control. The score didn't reflect that for a while, though it eventually did shine through in the stats. It wasn't until the second period that the score reflected the mood and momentom of the game. The Jets Evander Kane scored the first goal, and it was basically down hill from there for the Avs. The Jets got another two goals past Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov before the Avs finally scored one. The Avs goal was really nice actually; a good play that consisted of a pass from Avs defenceman Erik Johnson to Avs rookie Gabriel Landeskog. Johnson, up until tonight, had a three game scoring streak, which is his record in his NHL career thus far. The Avs and Avs fans were releived to have Matt Duchene back, who missed 20 games with a knee injury, though he didn't have a huge impact on the game. His line, consisting of Milan Hejduk and Paul Stastny doesn't seem to be doing much lately, but hopefully with Duchene back that'll change. Also, a noteable occurance was when the Jets' Kane decided to retaliate against Avs defenceman Shane O'Brien, after O'Brien had a nice (LEGAL!) hit on Kane in the Avs zone. Many believed Kane should have been kicked out of the game since he obviously enforced it, but the refs apparently didn't think so, seeing as Kane only got 4 minutes- which didn't have too big of an affect on the Avs.
Obviously, losing is never fun, but I still have hope in this team. With the injuries occuring lately on the Avs (goalie Giguere, center Mueller, and left wing Galiardi for example) it must be hard for them to get in their groove, but I do think if the Avs can regain momentum, playoffs aren't too far out of reach for them. Their next game is against the Kings on Wednesday- and hopefully there they'll play like the Avs we all know and love.
