Large crowd sees Avs blank Oilers 3-0

Craig Anderson stopped all 20 shots he faced to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers before a crowd of 16,571 at the Pepsi Center Saturday night. The victory gave the Avalanche 70 points, 1 more than they had all of last season.
The win also improved the Avs record on Saturday nights this season to 10-1-2.

Colorado dominated play in the scoreless first period, outshooting the Oilers 14 to 4. Edmonton goalie Jeff Deslauriers was pressured and responded, making several good saves and helping the Oilers kill off the only two Avalanche power plays of the game.

The Avs got on the scoreboard at 9:33 of the second period when Wojtek Wolski scored the eventual game winner. Matt Duchene carried the puck into the Edmonton zone and dropped a backhand pass to a trailing Wolski, whose shot bounced off of Deslauriers and trickled into the Oiler net to give the Avs the lead. The Avalanche dominated the shots again in the second period, outshooting the Oil 15 to 8.

Play in the third period went back and forth, with each team getting good chances. Neither team could score until 17:06, when Ryan Wilson got his third goal of the year. From outside the left faceoff circle Wilson fired a wrist shot at the Edmonton goal. Deslauriers dropped to make the save, but the puck went off his leg pads and dribbled in to the net to give the Avs a 2-0 lead.
Brandon Yip closed out the scoring with 30 seconds left in the game. The Oilers, pressing the play, had pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. Yip gathered up a loose puck just inside the Oilers blue line and sent a long wrist shot into the empty net to make the final score 3-0.
Deslauriers played a strong game in goal for the Oilers, stopping 39 of the 41 shots he faced.
Craig Anderson earned his sixth shutout of the season.
Colorado captain Adam Foote had a good game. He had assists on the Avs last two goals and made a great play to block a third period Oiler shot for an out-of-position Anderson.

The win keeps the Avalanche two points behind Vancouver in the Northwest Division. The Canucks handed Boston their tenth consecutive loss Saturday afternoon, improving their record on their 14 game road trip to 2-2.
Calgary lost in overtime at Tampa Bay and is now three points behind the Avs.

NOTES
-The Avs Ryan O’Reilly left the game in the third period with what was described as a bruised foot.
-John-MIchael Liles and rookie Justin Mercier were healthy scratches for the Avalanche.
-Mike Ricci became the ninth member of the Avalanche Alumni Association in a pre-game ceremony.

NEXT
Game two of the four game home stand, Monday vs. St. Louis. Game time is 7:30 PM.

Bruce Wilkie is a Colorado semi-native, having moved to Denver in 1971. He has worked with pro and college hockey teams since 1975 and now covers the Avs for thehockeywriters.com.