Rangers Vs. Avalanche: Craig Anderson Sharp In Colorado's 5-1 Victory Over New York

In his return from injury, Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson showed he didn’t experience any rust from his layoff since Oct. 26. Anderson made 25 saves on 26 shots and was the second star of the game in the Avalanche’s 5-1 victory over the New York Rangers.

Youngster Matt Duchene, the top star, had a goal and two assists. He collected all three points in the second period, which was when Colorado scored four of its five goals. He assisted on Kevin Porter’s and Kevin Shattenkirk’s goals. Duchene briefly left the rink after Ruslan Fedotenko cross checked him in the neck, but it didn’t slow him down when he returned.

Shattenkirk now has two goals on the season. David Jones and Daniel Winnik scored the other goals.

The New York Rangers replaced starting goalie Henrik Lundqvist with Martin Biron after Duchene’s goal put Colorado up 3-0 in the second. Derek Stepan scored a goal at 6:03 in the third period to spoil the potential shutout.

Riding a three-game winning streak, the Avalanche are now 11-7-1 with 23 points and tied for the Northwest division lead with the Vancouver Canucks.

Rangers Vs. Avalanche: Colorado Offense Explodes In Second Period, Leads 4-0

After a quiet first period, the Colorado Avalanche opened up the offense with four goals in the second period. Matt Duchene dominated the period with a goal and two assists. He also took a nasty cross check to the jaw/neck by Ruslan Fedotenko, Though he left the ice for a couple of minutes, Duchene returned shortly thereafter.

Duchene’s first point came when he fed the puck to the net and Kevin Porter then got it into the net. He had a nice wrist shot to score a goal on Henrik Lundqvist, who then was replaced with Martin Biron. But the replacement didn’t help all that much as Duchene assisted on Kevin Shattenkirk’s second goal of the season.

David Jones scored at 1:04 in the period to start things off, with an assist going to Chris Stewart.

Craig Anderson has stopped all 18 shots he has faced.

Rangers Vs. Avalanche: Craig Anderson Sharp In First Period, Game Tied At Zero

The Colorado Avalanche and the New York Rangers are tied at zero after one period of play. Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson has not missed a beat in his first game since Oct. 26 when he injured his knee during warm-ups. He has stopped all nine shots faced so far.

Neither team was able to capitalize on their power play opportunities, the Rangers on Brandon Yip’s interference of Brandon Prust and the Avalanche on Daniel Girardi’s hooking of Paul Stastny.

Avalanche Vs. Rangers: Anderson Returns To Net

Reinforcements have finally arrived. After over three weeks recovering from a knee injury he suffered in pre-game warmups, Colorado goalie Craig Anderson will make the start between the pipes tonight against the New York Rangers.

This news comes a week earlier than most had expected, as Anderson was expected to merely back up Peter Budaj (who has played spectacularly for Colorado). Instead, last year's team MVP will get the start and hopefully improve on what has been a rocky start to his season.

New York comes into this game also getting healthy, as top forward Marian Gaborik is back in the lineup. His return has been a major impetus in the Rangers winning three of their last four -- two of those games in overtime. New York has been one of the best road teams in the league this season, going 6-2, while Colorado has been merely average on their home ice.

Adrian Dater also reports that Jonas Holos and David Koci will be healthy scratches for the second straight game. With the play of defensemen Adam Foote and Ryan Wilson since their return from injury, this comes as a shock. This defensive pairing has allowed every single even strength goal in the past two games, including allowing a goal on their very first shift against both St. Louis and San Jose.

Colorado handily won their first meeting this season, dominating the Rangers 3-1 at Madison Square Garden. Chris Stewart scored two goals and Craig Anderson made 31 saves. Colorado looks for the series sweep tonight.

The puck drops at 7pm MDT.

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