Varly Earns First Shut-Out of Season, Avs Win 1-0 in Overtime

[Photo Courtesy of ColoradoAvalanche.com]

The Colorado Avalanche and the Los Angeles Kings were in a battle Saturday night at the Staples Center, as Colorado came away with the win in overtime, as Jamie McGinn would get credited with the game-winning goal, defeating the Kings 1-0.

The Colorado Avalanche opened up the game against the Los Angeles Kings with a solid chance, as rookie Nathan Mackinnon made a nice behind-the-back pass to Ryan O’Reilly. O’Reilly would miss it as the puck was poked away to the side.

Colorado would be called for a penalty as defenseman Jan Hejda would be called for two-minutes for interference. Kings came into the game ranked 14th in the National Hockey League on the power-play at 19.8%. Colorado would be tough, limited the Kings chances as they killed the power-play.

Avs would be called for yet another penalty as P.A. Parenteau was called for tripping; he would serve a two-minute minor. The power-play would carry into the second period as the Kings would have: 51 seconds remaining. Not a lot of shots going up in the first period, as the Kings would outshoot the Avalanche, 7-to-5.

The power-play that carried on into the second period would be killed as the Avalanche penalty-kill unit would be on top of its game yet again. The Kings would commit a penalty of their own as Robyn Regehr was called for a two-minute minor for tripping. The Kings would kill of the power-play as the Avs and Kings were in a battle at the Staples Center.

Colorado’s John Mitchell would be called for a double-minor for 4:00 minutes for high-sticking. The 2nd period would end as Colorado outshot the Kings 21-to-14. The Kings would resume their power-play in the 3rd with 3:04 minutes remaining.

The Avalanche would kill the remaining 3:04 minutes on the power-play, as John Mitchell came out of the box. Kings would only muster two shots on net. Kings would be called moments later for a two-minute minor for high-sticking, as Kings goaltender Ben Scrivens stole the show; making unbelievable save after save as the power-play was killed.

The game would go into overtime, as Jamie McGinn would get credit with the game-winning goal. The shot rebounded off of Scrivens as was redirected by the looks of his own player. The Avalanche would come away victory via overtime, 1-0.

3 Stars:

3 – Semyon Varlamov COL: (First shutout of the season).

2 – Ben Scrivens LA: (32/33 saves, .970%)

1 – Jamie McGinn COL: (Game-winning goal, 4th goal of the season).

What’s Up Next: The Colorado Avalanche will host the St. Louis Blues Wednesday night at the Pepsi Center.