Chris Stewart scores pair to lead the Colorado Avalanche past the New York Rangers
The Colorado Avalanche may be one of the youngest teams in the National Hockey League right now, but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be taken seriously by their opponents.
The Avs youngsters have proven to be an offensively potent bunch, as they have come up with important goals in key situations, like in last night's 3-1 victory over the New York Yangers. One player in
particular was a major contributor in Colorado’s 18 October game, 2010, and that was forward Chris Stewart.
Stewart led the way for the Avalanche, opening the scoring with a tip-in power play goal from John-Michael Liles and Milan Hejduk at 12:41 of the first period. The score would remain at 1-0 for Colorado
for only a few minutes more, as Alex Frolov of the Rangers tied the game with a wrist shot at 18:09.
After a scoreless second period, Stewart scored his second power play goal of the game at 7:20 of the third frame, with Paul Stastny and Hejduk supplying the assists. The Avalanche padded their lead 26
seconds later with a wrist shot from Daniel Winnik that was assisted by Ryan O’Reilly and Kyle Cumiskey.
Goaltender Craig Anderson, who made 31 saves in the Colorado net, says that his team’s ability to win stemmed from the excellent chemistry that the younger players have.
“We’ve got a young bunch of guys that like to hang out together,” Anderson said of his team-mates.
“This really gives us an opportunity to bond as a team, come together off the ice. When you're better friends and better teammates off the ice, it shows on the ice.”
Stewart, on the other hand, proved to be the more productive member of the hockey-playing Stewart family with his two power play goals. Part of the motivation comes from friendly competition with his brother
Anthony, who plays for Atlanta, and has netted four goals thus far this season.
“It’s great to see him come into his own,” Stewart said of his brother. “If he does outscore me, I’ll be more than happy for him. It’s good to push each other.”
Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco was pleased with his team’ efforts, as he knew they would be facing some tough opponents as they continued their road trip.
“We knew going into this trip that it wasn’t going to be easy, but our guys really battled tonight,” said Sacco. “I was proud of the way they played.”
The Avalanche’s next game will be against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, 21 October, while the Rangers return to action on Saturday, 23 October against the Boston Bruins.
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