Colorado Avalanche Goalie Pavel Francouz Earns 1st NHL Win

Colorado Avalanche goalie Pavel Francouz made 34 saves to backstop the team to their fourth straight win. It was his first NHL start and win.

The Colorado Avalanche remain undefeated! The dream of 82-0-0 is still alive!

We all know that’s not going to happen. And, not to put too fine a point on it, the Avalanche’s first loss is likely to happen on the upcoming roadie. It’s just a matter of numbers and the fact that they’re facing some excellent teams on a six-game road trip.

Never mind that for now. Let’s focus on tonight’s first star of the game — Pavel Francouz. The first-year goalie (he’s apparently over the age to be called a rookie) recorded his first-ever NHL win in his first-ever NHL start.

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And he was amazing. The Arizona Coyotes controlled large parts of the game. And let me tell you, I don’t like their style of slow hockey — at one point, it looked like their players were skating through molasses.

The point being, Francouz faced a lot of shots early. And he was perfect through two-and-a-half periods, and let’s just sit on that for a second. First-ever NHL start, and he was perfect for 50 minutes. Wow.

Then, the game opened up after Nazem Kadri and Tyson Jost scored — more on that momentarily. First Michael Grabner then Nick Schmaltz scored to tie up the game.

Nonetheless, you can’t blame Francouz on either of those goals. Not with how well he’d played throughout the whole game. Honestly, I went into this season worried to have him as our backup. It was unfounded worry — I feel comfortable with him as our second goalie.

Here’s one of the many big saves Francouz made for the team tonight:

Side note, I’m going to love listening to Francouz pressers. He’s very personable.

Nazem Kadri Pots his 1st Colorado Avalanche Goal

Center Nazem Kadri got a goal in the preseason, but of course that doesn’t count. Despite some excellent play in the first three games, he hadn’t recorded a point.

That changed tonight. He got the team on the board first with a goal in the third period:

It was a power play goal, and now Colorado has one of those in each of their four starts.

Tyson Jost Pots his 1st Goal of the Season

And now I don’t have to hear it anymore. Read this in the most stern mother voice you can imagine: No. More. Jost. Hate.

Tyson Jost got what should have been the game-winner if not for a *little* defensive breakdown late in the third period.

This was a hard-working goal by a player who refuses to give up on the puck. And that’s what you want to see from a player like Jost. As color analyst Peter McNab pointed out, Jost has been playing in the dirty areas.

Andre Burakovsky Pots his 2nd Game-Winning Goal

I hate three-on-three overtime. It’s the most thrilling hockey around, and my heart can’t take it.

The Colorado Avalanche took what was their Achilles’ heel last season and turned it into their crown jewel. Well, at least they’re perfect in overtime for now. In their first overtime of the young season, one of their newbies got the game-winning goal.

For Andre Burakovsky, it was his second goal with the Avs and his second game-winning goal for the Avs.

And I have to say, if all Burakovsky wants to do is score game-winning goals for the Avs, I’m fine with that.

And, because it’s fun, a Z-hit, er, I mean, Makar Bomb!

Our rookie defenseman seems to have bulked up in the offseason — and he’s taking a cue from his defensive partner in hitting hard.

The Colorado Avalanche have a good cache of points to save for later. They head east for their first road game of the season, which takes place Monday.