Colorado Avalanche dominate Los Angeles Kings 4-1 -NHL Update
Colorado just became one of the teams that is very close to taking down the Los Angeles team in the Western Conference rankings for the last playoff spot as the Avalanche dominated Kings, 4-1, Wednesday night, February 22, 2012, at the Pepsi Center in Denver,
Colorado.
The Avalanche came into the match strong and focused which could be seen with their domination throughout the contest including the four straight goals in the first two periods while Los Angeles yearned for a single point.
Colorado is now only two points away from tying Los Angeles with 64 points and another point away from taking that spot, but a number of other teams like Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars also have their eyes set on that position.
"Everybody knows it was a big game," Avalanche coach, Joe Sacco, said. "One of the things that we talked about was that we start on time, and we did. It was one of our better starts lately. It keeps us right in the thick of things."
Mark Olver kicked off the scoring with his second of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season while Paul Stastny extended the lead nearly six minutes later on the breakaway.
Jay McClement fired off his eighth of the year with less than three minutes remaining in the opening period and Stastny grabbed his second of the night 12:45 into the second to secure the contest.
Steve Downie also played in his first match with Colorado ever since being traded from Tampa Bay Lightning earlier on Tuesday in exchange for defenseman, Kyle Quincey.
"I thought Steve was good tonight," Sacco said. "I think you could tell there was a little bit different feeling in the room. I think that's par for the course anytime a new player comes in."
Los Angeles is playing totally wrong as to how they should be at this time of the season as they have lost the past four games straight, putting their playoff chances on the line.
If the way things are going for the Kings continue like this, Los Angeles might find it hard to make a comeback.
"There is a lot on the line this week," Kings’ goalie, Jonathan Quick, said. "We're still right there. We have to focus more than we did tonight."
LA will be facing off against Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday in a must win matchup while Colorado have the next against Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.
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