The Avalanche came out after the All-Star break and failed to take advantage of teams around them in the standings losing, losing both of their games themselves. Both losses came against division opponents dropping the Avalanche to 2-12 within their own division on the year and they now sit 3 points out of the playoffs seeing the Wild in that 8th spot.
@ Edmonton : Coming out of the All-Star break the Avalanche turned back to Semyon Varlamov. This opportunity gave him the chance to work his way back into a starter's role. The night didn't turn out as he or the Avalanche hoped however. Edmonton would get on the board just 5 minutes in as Eberle would go behind the net. Varlamov and O'Brien would both follow and get tied up with each other on the far side as Eberly reversed and managed to jam it home as Varly couldn't get back strong against the post. The teams would trade posts after that, first with O'Reilly catching iron on an open net and then Hemsky matching that feat at the other end, but then a later double minor on the Avs would lead to a PP goal for the Oilers before the end of the period. The Avs would get another post in the second before they would get on the board with a goal from Mueller and they would go into the third down a goal. Just over 5 minutes into that final frame though Varly would kick a big rebound out between the circles which Taylor Hall was primed to jump on. Mid way through the period Landeskog would jump on a rebound and get the team within 1, extending his point streak to 4 games, but that is as close as the team would get though they pushed hard at the end including another shot for O'Reilly from the side towards an "open" net, this time being stopped by Dubnyk with a great save. With Giguere playing very well still and the team fighting to get back into the playoffs this game could have been Varlamov's last real shot at taking back the #1 position this season unless Giguere gets hurt or the team falls too far out of the race.
vs. Minnesota : The Avalanche found themselves with yet another chance to jump Minnesota in the standings and get back into the playoffs but yet again, for the fourth straight game in fact, they would find themselves on the wrong side of a 1 goal game. The Avalanche didn't play a horrible game, and were good defensively in fact. The offense despite 37 shots on net however were unable to score and this marks the 5th time they were shut out this season. More troubling is that the team has dried up, having 2 or less goals in 9 of their last 11 and not surprisingly have failed to win many games during that time. Giguere who got the start again was solid only having a single point shot which he never saw get past him. He had a couple of big saves of the 20 shots he faced, perhaps none bigger than with just 5 seconds left in the 2nd. As a Wild player broke in he was knocked down, sliding into Giguere and taking him into the net. However the puck was dropped back to another Wild player who sent the puck top shelf. Giguere however, fighting all the way, threw his glove up at the puck even as he was tied up in the goal and deflected the shot up and over the net. Save of the year candidate without question. It wouldn't be enough however as the Avalanche could never get on the board despite a couple of good chances and plenty of shots. There were some questionable hits layed out by the Wild though each team would only end up with a single PP, but it wasn't until Powe hit van der Gulik that anything occurred. During the second period Kobasew would go after Powe and get a double minor for roughing out of it equalizing the penalties as Powe would only get a single roughing and an interference for his hit. Later McLeod would get involved in a fight, and then Kobasew still upset with the Wild would have one as well. Much of the third period didn't see a lot of action as Minnesota sat on their lead and the Avs couldn't get one past Backstrom though the Wild goalie did anger Avs fans as he intentionally pushed the net off following a slight bump and much pressure by the Avalanche. No call however and the pressure would be eased from the act and the Wild would go on to win another 1 goal game. Getting Hejduk going, among many others, would help the Avalanche as he only has 2 goals now in his last 27 games if I'm not mistaken.
News following the All-Star break wasn't good for the Avalanche. As the 4 week mark of the Duchene injury came, so did news that it could still be weeks before he returns to action. For a team that needs to find some scoring and get some wins this is very bad news indeed.
Patrick Roy has found himself some trouble by speaking his mind again. This time the ex-Avs goalie and current Quebec coach is in trouble for accusing the commissioner of the league of pressuring an injured player, Mikhail Grigorenko who has an ankle injury, to play in the top prospects game. He also stated that the move would be a boost to the commissioner's desires to move up in the Canadian Hockey League. He was fined $5000 this time for speaking his mind. Roy was fined last month for calling officials following a game a "disgrace", and was also fined for comments on officiating in November and last April as well. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/remparts-fined-by-qmjhl-for-patrick-roys-comments/article2324531/
The Avalanche made another trade with the Capitals this past week, this time sending forward Mike Carman to Washington/Hershey in exchange for defenseman Danny Richmond. Both are career AHLers at this point.
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