Duchene Secures Avs for Playoffs, 4-3 | IXGAMES

There was no surprise when Matt Duchene secured a place for the Colorado Avalanche for the playoffs, way ahead of the expected time line. Win against the Vancouver Canucks It was his shootout goal that won the Avalanche 4-3 against the Vancouver Canucks during the evening game on Tuesday. This win has sent them back to the post season, one year after the franchise performed poorly after having moved to Denver. Duchene currently leads the NHL rookies at 54 points. He had been expecting that the chance to clinch the win would be placed on his shoulders. Duchene also knows how the critics had been pessimistic with their predictions, stating that they would be 14th or 15th in ranking. Now that they have secured a spot for the playoffs, the feeling is nothing short of amazing. As for Craig Anderson, he was able to stop 28 shots, which stretched on towards overtime, as well as three shots during the shootout. The Avalanche was able to hold their spot postseason, which had been difficult for a team that took last place during the Western Conference the previous season. Making a swift movement to his forehand and lifting a difficult shot over Roberto Luongo, Duchene, 19, geared into action while teammates raced to crowd him at center ice. Coach Joe Sacco was not surprised with Duchene’s performance, saying that what he did was just as expected. Sacco knows that Duchene is hungry for such opportunities and he is the kind of player that clearly wants to pursue a difference in his play. And he was able to make a difference clearly, together with the goaltender. Securing the spot Colorado was also able to secure scores from Darcy Tucker, Paul Stastny, and T.J. Galiardi, although the team had lost a season four straight times, including a chief play against Calgary, but rallied on to overthrow San Jose during Sunday’s overtime. In the end, the Canucks had to deal with their ninth home loss and the Avalanche was able to eliminate the Flames from the game, which lost to San Jose, 2-1 in an earlier game. No pain, no gain Captain Adam Foote knows that their first challenge came during the period after the Olympic break. This was the time when the playoffs began earlier than expected and the team was not ready yet. Foote knew that the team had very little chance in overcoming the adversity, but he also knew that the team had been a good one throughout the year. Daniel Sedin was able to score two goals, securing his second goal through a power play with a little more than 4 minutes to make a tie. Mason Raymond was also able to score, while 29 saves were accomplished by Roberto Luongo by way of overtime by the Canucks. The Canucks settled their advantage for the Northwest Division by overthrowing Minnesota. Luongo has been quoted as saying that everything would have been easy for them, going out into the ice and allowing the other team to secure a couple of points easily. The two teams were without chief players respectively, due to previous game injuries.