There are a lot of things you can’t control

**elaine95** 06 ноя 2018, 09:43

DENVER (AP) Semyon Varlamov rescued Colorado’s struggling offense with a stellar performance against Montreal.Varlamov made 43 saves for his first victory in more than a month and the Avalanche matched the franchise record of 10 straight home wins Cooper Kupp Jersey Elite , beating the Canadiens 2-0 on Wednesday night.Carl Soderberg and Alexander Kerfoot scored to help Colorado equal the longest home winning streak in franchise history, set in 1994-95 when the team was the Quebec Nordiques.Article continues below ...”It seems for us it’s harder to play the road these days,” Varlamov said. ”We’ve got to play like that on the road trips.”Antti Niemi stopped 23 shots for Montreal. The Canadiens are 8-17-1 on the road.”We didn’t find a way to put the puck in the net,” forward Brendan Gallagher said.Varlamov’s play had a lot to do with that problem. His last win came against Toronto on Dec. 29, and he left his next start against Winnipeg with a groin injury. He missed 10 games before returning against the Jets on Feb. 3.Wednesday was his fourth game since coming back and one of his best this year. He denied the Canadiens on several chances in the third for his second shutout of the season.”I didn’t love us tonight, but Varly comes up big and gets us a win,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. ”That’s what you need sometimes out of your goaltenders. He was really good, we get the win. That’s good; we needed the points.”The Avalanche moved within two points of Minnesota for the second wild card in the Western Conference. They’re keeping pace without leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon, who has missed seven games with a left shoulder injury.Colorado has scored two or fewer goals in four of those games, including Wednesday night, but Varlamov made the two goals stand up. He was instrumental in Montreal going 0 for 4 on the power play, including 40 seconds with a two-man advantage in the second period.”I thought our power play could have won us the game and they weren’t good tonight,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. ”Our (penalty kill) did a great job tonight but our PP wasn’t good enough. When you’re looking to score goals your PP has to come up big, especially when you have a 5-on-3.”Colorado had more than two consecutive minutes of play in Montreal’s end early in the second period but didn’t score until Soderberg beat Niemi with a wraparound at 15:55.With Montreal pressing for the equalizer late in the third, Kerfoot scored at 16:58 to give the Avalanche a two-goal cushion.”I think I had the whole net there and it found a way to squeak in,” said Kerfoot, who has 14 goals in his rookie season. ”It was good that we got one at the end there.”NOTES: There was a moment of silence before the national anthems for the victims of the school shooting in Florida. … The Avalanche recalled Rocco Grimaldi from San Antonio of the AHL. MacKinnon, out since Jan. 30, was placed on injured reserve to make room for Grimaldi on the roster. … Montreal C Phillip Danault (concussion) is on the four-game trip but has not played since Jan. 13. … This was the 3,000th game in Quebec/Colorado franchise history http://www.losangelesramsteamonline.com/cooper-kupp-jersey , with 1,744 having been played since the team became the Avalanche in 1995. … Colorado LW Blake Comeau missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury.UP NEXTCanadiens: At Arizona on Thursday night.Avalanche: At Winnipeg on Friday night. Both the Montreal Canadiens (1-1-1) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (2-1-0) are contemplating changes to their roster and line combinations as they prepared to play Saturday at Bell Centre in Montreal.The Penguins, coming off a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, could have a different look against the Canadiens as coach Mike Sullivan stuck with the changes he made in the second period against the Knights.That meant Sidney Crosby was between Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel, and Derick Brassard was with Patric Hornqvist and Dominik Simon at practice on Friday. The Penguins’ top three lines are rounded out with Evgeni Malkin with Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel, who had a natural hat trick against the Golden Knights.Article continues below ...“Rusty brings an element of speed to that line,” Sullivan told the team’s website. “He can create a lot of loose pucks and turnovers with his speed. It allows that line to get the puck back in certain situations. It’s just a different dynamic.”Penguins No. 1 goaltender Matt Murray practiced with the team again Friday after missing the game against the Golden Knights because of a concussion. He will travel with the team to Montreal and could dress against the Canadiens.Changes could also be on the way for the Canadiens, who are coming off a tepid performance in their 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in their home opener Thursday. Veteran center Tomas Plekanec could play his first game of the season for Montreal given the firepower the Penguins present with Crosby and Malkin at center. If Plekanec plays, it will be the 999th game of his NHL career.Plekanec is a crafty defender who has a history of getting under Crosby’s skin. The Canadiens also need to improve in the faceoff circle. The Canadiens won just 23 of 60 faceoffs in the loss to the Kings.Plekanec practiced on a line with Charles Hudon and Andrew Shaw on Friday. Rookie Matthew Peca could come out of the lineup to allow Plekanec’s entry.“We for sure had some trouble in the faceoff circle,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien told Montrealcanadiens.com. “It’s one of the areas we need to improve on. Tomas can help us. For me today, it was to put him in that position to see how the line would look. I reserve the right to make my decision (Saturday), but it’s a possibility.”“It’s never fun to watch games from the press gallery,” Plekanec, who was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the trade deadline last spring and returned to the Canadiens as a free agent in the summer, told Montrealcanadiens.com “There are a lot of things you can’t control as a player, so I just tried to work on the things I can control.”The Canadiens’ offense often misfired and looked uncoordinated against the Kings. Julien made another move on Friday to try to get forward Jonathan Drouin going. He has no points and just five shots through three games, though three of them came against the Kings.Julien moved Drouin on to a line with Max Domi and Artturi Lehkonen on Friday.“I’m not producing the way I’d like to, but I think there will be periods like that every season,” Drouin told the team’s website. “I have to continue what I’ve been doing. I have no doubt I’ll break out of it.”