On the night they retired Peter Forsberg's jersey, the Colorado Avalanche failed to follow that up with a victory over the Detroit Red Wings. In fact, the Avs failed to register a goal in the game, losing 3-0.
The Avs and the Wings skated to a scoreless tie after the first period of play and nearly went through the second that way as well, However, with 2:20 left to play in the period, Johan Franzen snapped off a 43-footer to the back of Semyon Varlamov's net. Jiri Hudler received an assist on the play. In the third period, the Wings added to their lead with goals by Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, the latter's an empty-netter.
Avalanche rookie Gabriel Landeskog looked sharp in his NHL debut, though, like the rest of the team, he didn't record a point. He led the team with five shots on net. Peter Mueller, back from concussion symptoms, put three pucks on net. Goalie Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves on 38 attempts and was named the third start of the game.
Red Wings goalie Ty Conklin made 29 stops for the shutout, but he did experience a scary moment late in the third period. One of his teammates accidentally caught his stick inside his goalie mask and hurt his eye. After a look over from the trainers, Conklin completed the game.
The Avalanche head east for an 11:00 a.m. MT game at the TD Garden with the Boston Bruins.
For more on this game, visit our Avalanche blog Mile High Hockey and our Red Wings blog Winging It In Motown.