Avs continue to roll, defeat Red Wings again!
Craig Anderson made 48 saves and Chris Stewart scored the tie-breaking goal with 10:40 remaining in regulation as the Colorado Avalanche continued their early-season success with a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
Anderson has been in goal for all 11 of the Avs’ games — powering last season’s Western Conference cellar-dwellers to an 8-1-2 start. The free-agent signee was at his best down the stretch as the Avs had to kill off four consecutive power plays, and he stopped all 21 shots he faced in the third period.
Stewart, recalled from the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters on Thursday — two days after being sent down — broke a 1-1 tie when he raced into the Wings’ zone and ripped a 30-footer from the high slot past Jimmy Howard.
Paul Stastny added an empty-net goal with 59.3 seconds remaining as the Avalanche improved to 6-0-2 in its past eight games. That includes wins over the Wings on consecutive Saturdays — Colorado rallied for a 4-3 shootout victory at Detroit last Saturday.
The Red Wings struck first at 3:09 of the second period when Kris Draper, who was parked in front of Anderson, shoved the puck into the net following a shot by Dan Cleary.
Draper’s goal came 43 seconds after the Red Wings finished killing off Brett Lebda’s double-minor for highs sticking, a penalty that began at 18:26 of the opening period.
The Avalanche, which killed off Stastny’s high-sticking double-minor in the first period, tied the game on T.J. Galiardi’s first goal of the season at 14:26. Stewart forced a turnover in the right circle and passed to Galiardi in front for a chip shot behind Howard.
The Red Wings nearly took the lead at 16:06 after Todd Bertuzzi stole the puck from rookie defenseman Ryan Wilson and skated in on Anderson. The goaltender made the save with his right pad, but Bertuzzi snared the rebound, came from behind the net and tried to stuff the puck inside the post. He raised his stick in celebration, but referee Brad Watson immediately ruled no goal, saying the puck didn’t cross the goal line.
