Gabriel Landeskog shines as Colorado Avalanche overpowers Columbus Blue Jackets in shootout -NHL
Columbus Blue Jackets failed to secure their first two points of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season in four consecutive matchups as they lost against Colorado Avalanche, 3-2, in a shootout, on Wednesday, October 12, 2011, at the Nationwide
Arena in Columbus, Ohio, United States.
Nearly 9,000 fans showed up to support their team to their first win of the regular season but as Colorado got off to a quick start as T. J. Galiardi gave them the lead by scoring 13:06 into the first period.
Colorado gave three power play advantages to Columbus throughout the opening period as Kyle Quincey, Ryan Wilson and Chuck Kobasew were penalised with minor two-minute penalties, but Blue Jackets remained unable to respond.
Jeff Carter, a newly acquired superstar forward from Philadelphia expressed how it certainly was not how he wanted to kick of the new season with a fresh team.
"It's obviously not the way we wanted to start the year", said Carter. "There was a lot of excitement coming into the season about the team. The fans showed that on the first night. If we expect fans to come out and cheer us on and pay their hard-earned
money to come out here, we need to start putting wins on the board".
Columbus got back into the matchup as Rick Nash took control of the puck during a breakaway and scored 2:30 into round-two, unassisted, for his second of the season.
Radek Martinek gave the home crowd something to cheer for as he made the tie-breaker, 1:16 into the final period of regulation.
With one minute remaining and Blue Jackets up by one, Columbus was ready to celebrate their first victory, but all of a sudden, Colorado’s top draft pick during the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Gabriel Landeskog, redirected Jan Hejda’s shot for his first career
goal, tying the match and forcing overtime.
"I didn't know if I got it", Ladeskog said. "I didn't know if it went off something else after me".
Semyon Varlamov remained concrete in net for Colorado as he blocked two of Columbus’ final shootout attempts, giving the team their second consecutive win.
Colorado continue their five-game road trip as they face-off against Ottawa Senators on Thursday while Blue Jackets carry on with their hunt for a win against Dallas Stars on Saturday.
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