The Colorado Avalanche scored their first goal of the season which ended a 143:28 minute drought on their way to a 2-1 Thanksgiving matinee victory over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
The victory marked Colorado’s first “W” of the season following a pair of back to back shutout losses to the Minnesota Wild, in which the Avalanche were outscored a combined 8 goals to none.
Quick Game Recap
Second Period
Avalanche Goal: Jamie McGinn broke the Avalanche scoreless streak early into the second period. McGinn fired a quick, low wrist shot from the top of the circle which beat Bruins backup goaltender Niklas Svedberg. The goal by McGinn beat Svedberg on the short side from a bad angle, in between the post and the goaltenders body. Svedberg, who had gone into his butterfly early, would surely like to have the McGinn goal back, as it was a routine save which he should have made.
Watch Jamie McGinn open the scoring here:
Bruins Goal: The Bruins, who have had their own scoring woes, tied the game quickly after on the power play. Loui Eriksson scored his first of the season, beating Avalanche goaltender Reto Berra who started in place of Semyon Varlamov. Eriksson corralled a loose puck in close off of a rebound, took a few steps to his right, and beat the sprawled out Avalanche goaltender. It was only the fourth goal of the season for the Bruins through four games, who have struggled to find their offensive flair.
See Eriksson tie the game here:
Third Period
Avalanche Goal: In the third period, Briere shocked the hometown Bruins with a late game wining goal which came with a mere 0.4 seconds remaining. Briere’s goal was a milestone marker, the 300th of his career; moving him into 185th on the all-time list behind former NHL stars Pavol Demitra, Cliff Ronning and Martin Gelinas.
The Avalanche pressed the play offensively in the last few minutes of the game. Alex Tanguay, Nathan MacKinnon and Daniel Briere were able to keep the puck low, cycling the puck which was eventually sent to point. Just like the old saying, “good things happen when you put the puck on the net,” Jan Hejda let loose a quick shot with two seconds remaining. Hejda’s shot was batted down by Briere in an attempted tip, who then moved quickly to his right, beating a desperate Svedberg with 0.4 seconds left, bringing a great hockey game to a shocking end.
Both backup goaltenders played extremely strong games. For the Avalanche, Reto Berra allowed only one goal on 28 shots against, while for the Bruins, Niklas Svedberg turned aside 28 of 30 shots and was named the game’s third star.
Daniel Briere’s last second goal can be seen here:
Avalanche Moving Forward
The Colorado Avalanche continue their east coast swing on Tuesday the 14th, when they pay a visit to another member of the Atlantic Division, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Colorado will look to continue to find their 2013-14 scoring prowess on their four game road-trip before returning home to host Aaron Ekblad and the new look Florida Panthers.
