DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche are back in the post-season.
Jordy Nelson Jersey . But they may have to
move on without Matt Duchene. If Semyon Varlamov continues his breakout season,
the Avalanche might not miss their leading scorer. Varlamov had a season-high 47
saves and Colorado clinched its first playoff berth in four years with a 3-2 win
over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Center John Mitchell had a goal and an
assist for the Avalanche, who moved past Chicago into second place in the
Central Division with 100 points in what might have been a costly victory.
Duchene suffered a left knee injury on the opening shift Saturday when he
collided with teammate Jamie McGinn near the Sharks blue line. He fell to the
ice and then gingerly skated to the bench. He is scheduled to have an MRI on
Sunday. "Well know more after that," coach Patrick Roy said. "Its not good news
for him and its not good news for us. Its the way its been all year." Despite
the injuries -- Colorado has lost top-six forwards Alex Tanguay and P.A.
Parenteau -- the constant has been Varlamov. He came through again against the
relentless Sharks, who threw 74 shots at him. Colorado blocked 25. "Im guessing
he was the first star," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said of Varlamov. "He
should be." Down a player, Varlamov made up for it with an outstanding
performance. He stopped 20 shots in the third period, many during the final
minutes when the Sharks were trying to get the equalizer. His 37 wins are the
most in the NHL and a big reason the Avalanche reached 100 points for the first
time in 10 years. "Hes been tremendous," captain Gabe Landeskog said. "I think
its safe to say we wouldnt be here without him." Colorado was a mainstay in the
playoffs when the franchise moved to Denver in 1995. After winning the Stanley
Cup for a second time in 2001, the Avalanche reached the Western Conference
finals the following season before heading into lean times. Now they have a
chance to return to the glory years with a young, eager group. "Were certainly
not satisfied with just squeaking into the playoffs, we want to do damage,"
Landeskog said. Mitchell moved up to centre Colorados top line, and came through
with a big power-play goal to give Colorado a 3-1 lead at 6:32 of the second
period. "It came right to me slow enough so I could get a forehand shot and I
just one-timed it into the back of the net," Mitchell said. "I was just at the
right place at the right time." Paul Stastny and Cody McLeod also scored for
Colorado. Varlamovs strong play beforehand helped Colorado maintain a 2-1 lead.
The Sharks outshot the Avalanche 11-3 in the second, many of those coming early
when they were trying to tie it. Joe Pavelski and Dan Boyle scored for the
Sharks, who are 1-2-2 in their past five games but still hold a slim lead for
first place in the Pacific over Anaheim. Goalie Alex Stalock had 19 saves for
San Jose before being pulled for an extra attacker in the final minute. "I
thought we played extremely well, thought we generated a lot of chances,"
Joe Thornton said. "Its just sometimes you dont win those types of games." Boyle
cut the lead to 3-2 when he took a pass from James Sheppard and scored off
Varlamovs left shoulder 2:03 after Mitchell. It was his 10th goal of the season.
The Sharks got a chance to tie on a 4-on-3 power play after Ryan OReilly took
his first penalty of the season, a minor for playing with a broken stick.
Stastnys 26th goal 1:33 into the game gave Colorado a 1-0 lead. Pavelski tied it
on the power play less than two minutes later with his 38th. The Sharks had
another power-play chance midway through the first, but McLeod sneaked behind
the defence, took a long pass from Nick Holden off Boyles glove and beat Stalock
to give Colorado a 2-1 lead. "I took my eye off the puck for a fraction of a
second to make sure I wasnt going to get drilled," Boyle said. "I just caught a
piece of it and missed it. Thats an unfortunate bounce." NOTES: Mitchell
returned to the lineup after missing four games with a back injury. ... The
Sharks reassigned F Freddie Hamilton to Worcester of the AHL on Friday. ...
McGinn played after skipping practice Friday. He took a shot off his foot in
Thursdays win over Vancouver.
Micah Hyde Packers Jersey .com) - The surging
Vancouver Canucks look to extend their win streak to five games when they host
former Canuck Todd Bertuzzi and the Detroit Red Wings tonight.
Davon House Jersey . Beating Real Madrid in
the Champions League final on Saturday may finally put that moniker to rest.
Atletico was on the cusp of winning the European Cup on its first appearance in
the final in 1974, leading Bayern Munich 1-0 in extra time after Luis Aragones
curled home in the 114th-minute at Heysel Stadium.SAN JOSE, Costa Rica - Marie
Levasseur scored twice as Canada edged Ghana 2-1 on Saturday to advance to the
quarter-finals at the FIFA U-17 Womens World Cup. Its the third time a Canadian
team has reached the quarter-finals, with their last appearance coming at the
2012 installment of the tournament in Azerbaijan. Canada, who secured the win
despite playing 40 minutes shorthanded after Bianca St. Georges was sent off
five minutes into the second half, will play Venezuela in the quarter-finals
Mar. 27. "It was a stressful bench but a very proud bench," said Canadian head
coach Bev Priestman. "To pllay 40 and probably 45 minutes with the added time
with ten players, youve got to be proud of them.
Nick Perry Jersey. " Canada needed a win to
advance after North Korea edged Germany 4-3 in Group Bs earlier game. Levasseur
put Canada ahead 2-0 in the first half but Ghanas Sandra Owusu cut Canadas lead
to one in the 72nd minute, forcing the Canadians to hold on for the narrow
victory. "Theyve exceeded my expectations," said Priestman. "I knew we could
play the way we played but I think the resilience and the defensive work under
massive bouts of pressure, theyve done amazingly."
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