Avs Dominate Play in Last Two Periods; Win 2-1 in Shootout

After starting off slow, the Colorado Avalanche dominated the play in this game more so than I have seen them do in a long time. The only thing that kept this game from getting ridiculously out of hand was the spectacular play of Tampa Bay goaltender Antero Niitymaki. Despite consistently forcing the Lightning to play the game in their own zone and developing several scoring chances, the only thing the Avs could get past Niitymaki was a fluky shot that bounced off Wojtek Wolski in the 3rd period. Wolski, who has points in 12 of his last 14 games, also scored the only goal in the shootout as well.

After dominating the league last year as the Shootout King, tonight’s goal was Wolski’s first in seven attempts this season.

How much do you love Craig Anderson? Not only does he make a timely save against Vincent Lecavalier on a 2-0 breakaway, stop all shooters in the shootout, and play an overall solid game, he also knows how to stroke the crowd in his post-game interviews. He is now 15-7-5 this season, which, curiously, is exactly 1 win more than his 14-7-5 record he had last year with Florida. Anderson didn’t show any rust tonight either, stopping 21 of 22 shots for a .955 SV%.