Game of the Year

I could have stayed home to watch a mediocre feed on my computer. Instead I went to Buffalo Wild Wings as soon as the kids were asleep for good.

When I left, it was 2-1 Wild. When I got there it was 3-2 Wild, and it's only a 4 minute drive. And then the Wild scored again. And then it was the 2nd intermission.

So my food order is in and I've got 20 minutes of playoff hockey in front of me. Avs down 2.

It wasn't that I knew the Avs were going to win, but I wasn't that worried. Because they've done this so many times before. Specifically coming back from a two-goal deficit with 20 minutes to play.

One of the nice things about watching at Buffalo Wild Wings is that they also had the Blue-Blackhawks game going. And they had SportsCenter on. SC did a update on the Wild-Avs game and their header said "Wild In Control."

And it's true. To this point, the Avs were playing a bit sloppy. The action always seemed to be in the Avs own zone.

5 minutes into the 3rd, Minnesota gets called for a penalty. Big power play opportunity. And no goal.

But 9 seconds after their guy gets out of the box, the Avs slide in a rebound. Down just 1 with almost 13 minutes to play.

With 11 minutes to play, we've got 2 minutes of 4x4. Which is great for the Avalanche in general with all their speed, and especially when they're down and pressing and Minnesota is trying to lock it down. And yet no goal.

The Wild were sustaining pressure. From 5:30 left to about 4:30 left, the puck was in the Avs zone the whole time.

Down one, with 3:01 to go, Roy pulls the goalie. Have you ever seen someone do that, that early, in a one-goal playoff game?

Immediately, the chances started coming. Minnesota couldn't clear. Avs were moving the puck like it was a power play.

With 1:30 to play, Minnesota finally gets a high clear, that looks like it's going to go into the net. It's bouncing and rolling, and Avs D-Man Erik Johnson is giving chase. Well let's just watch...



Also key...that he knocked the net off the moorings. That prevented an easy putback and got a faceoff.

So now there's 25 seconds left. MacKinnon has the puck behind the net, he passes it out to Johnson. Who shoots and...there's a moment where nobody is sure where the puck is. Because it's stuck in the goddamn net. 4-4. Tie game. We're going to overtime. Free hockey.

Overtime was back and forth. Lots of dump-ins and short shifts. Like that's all that happened for the first 5 minutes of OT.

And then this happened.



I've watched this 20 times and I still don't know how the puck goes in.

Stastny becomes the first player ever in the playoffs to tie the game with under 15 seconds to go, and then win the game in OT.

And that's the first playoff game I've ever seen one of my teams win. Granted it's just game 1 in a series, but it's a good way to start. The title of this is Game of the Year, but it's the best Avs game I've seen in the three years I've been here.

The best game of any kind I've ever seen would have to be Illinois over Arizona in the Elite Eight. But this might be in 2nd.