Apr 11, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (32) makes a save on a shot by Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene (9) in a shootout at the Staples Center. The Kings defeated the Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Try looking yourself in the mirror and praising a moral victory.

I’ll give you a minute to regain your dignity.

That’s where we are now. We’re the kid in the “wait til next year” t-shirt. We survived another lockout only to Suck for Seth. Tiger has reminded us that winning fixes everything, so nothing is fixed in 2013. I’m an eastern time zone fan, so the last few months have made the nights alone in the dark while my family sleeps all the more difficult.  Neighbors tend to be annoyed when you scream at your television at 10 pm. They call the police when you scream at midnight.

At least the screaming came early and was, to a certain extent, to be expected. Sami Aittokallio- fresh from the farm- had the misfortune of making his return in front of a raucous L.A. crowd with the added pressure of knowing that his counterpart was unlikely to allow the game to become a scoring frenzy. Sami was nervous and you could have sensed it standing outside the Staples Center. Two of the first six shots on goal found the back of the net. After initially surviving an early onslaught, he wilted. Jeff Carter struck first with a wrister from the left wing at the 05:27 mark and Mike Richards piled on less than two minutes later from straight ahead. Both goals were to the glove side. Neither should have gotten past. Commence the screaming.

If I were a lesser fan, I would have turned the Blu Ray player on and gotten lost again in season four of The Wire. Somehow the corruption of inner-city youths is far less troubling than the muddling mediocrity that has been this season. Atittokallio, like this team, should have packed it in. He should have melted like an outdoor rink in L.A. and taken the beating that was coming. We’d have made apologies and excuses like we’ve done for everything and everyone but Sacco this season and written it off as growing pains.

Instead, for the second consecutive game, this team showed some grit. Sami scrapped his debut off the deck and straightened his back. For the next two periods he preformed with the promise we desperately need him to have. For the next two periods (he was removed from the game around the 5:00 mark in the third due to cramps) he was 4-5 on the Power Play and bested his defending-champ counterpart across the ice.

His mates joined in the resurgence with a later half of the game that Avs fans had hoped to see in to May. Stastny and Bordeleau sent home short-range shots that drew the score even before losing in a shootout on three converted L.A. attempts.

Writers around the country this morning are dismissing the comeback as sloppy play and lack of closing ability by the Kings. Piss on that- the turnovers were forced by hustle and motivation we haven’t seen on a regular basis since mid-January. Yes, Stastny scored on a close range shot after a Kings turnover in their own zone, but hustle and pressure created that turnover. The absence of that kind of pressure has led my remote and the wall it regularly hurdles toward to become very spiritual. They, like each of us, have hoped against hope for this team to wake up and show some heart.

Is it maddening that we see glimpses in April? Of course. If we lose Seth Jones over a single hard-fought point in L.A. will I drown this article in Makers Mark? Count on it. But for today, we ignore standings and look away from the mirror. We can stomach one moral victory if it means we saw a heartbeat.

Mandatory Credit: Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Avalanche headed to California with a record finally back at .500, ready to earn at least four points, and put themselves back in the hunt for a playoff spot. Now, coming home, they earned only two points, they failed to win a single game, and are still sitting 14th in the Western Conference.

So, what went wrong, when it seemed as though things might be turning around?

In Los Angeles, the team just played poorly. Semyon Varlamov had his worst game of the season (although I know he’s let in more goals in other games, this was truly his worst-none of the four goals allowed were acceptable). The team in front of him played uninspired, and as a group they gave up their first shorthanded goal against this season. I’m not sure why Coach Joe Sacco didn’t either pull Varlamov (after either the second or third goal) or why he didn’t try and call a timeout to shift the momentum, but then again, Sacco makes a number of questionable calls I don’t agree with.

Anaheim seemed like a rebound game at first, as the Avs took a quick two goal lead. However, the referees failed to call a slashing penalty on the Ducks’ Cory Perry, which allowed him to score his first goal. Then, a slashing call was made on Gabriel Landeskog, and a puck trickled through J.S. Giguere, who sat unaware until Ryan Getzlaf slid it over the line. John Mitchell would respond with a nice snap shot past Jonas Hiller. In the third, the team sat back too much (I don’t understand why they always sit back with a one goal lead, but they do), and Anaheim was able to tie things up. In overtime, a rather soft call on Ryan O’Byrne led to the third straight Ducks PP goal. Obviously the officiating had a major impact on the game, but at the same time, you need to manufacture your own luck in this league, and the Avs failed to do so.

Still, heading into San Jose, the Avs had an opportunity to go .500 on this roadtrip. The Sharks earned a quick goal, but the Avs responded well and eventually tied things up. The curse of former Avs scoring on the Avs continued with TJ Galiardi’s first goal of the season early in the second period. Once more, the Avs fought, and with three minutes remaining in the game, tied things up. Semyon Varlamov was awesome until it came time for the shoot out. He allowed two goals, matching the same number of goals he allowed in eight shoot outs last year, and Antti Niemi allowed only one on four shots.

Clearly, this was a disappointing swing for the Avs. However, there is no time for them to hold their heads down. They need an estimated 20 wins in the next 30 games to make the playoffs, the team’s supposed goal for this season. It’s time to step up boys.