The Colorado Avalanche (32-27-4, 68 pts) made it four in a row on Saturday night, putting away the Detroit Red Wings (41-19-3, 85 pts) for a 4-3 win.
G Jimmy Howard (23 saves, .852 SV% Saturday night) started in the net for the Red Wings, but he got overwhelmed quickly by the Avalanche offense. Only 1:35 into the game, LW Gabriel Landeskog blasted a 9-foot wrister for a 1-0 lead. A little over a minute later, despite a two minute interference penalty on C Mark Olver, the Avalanche fired a shorthanded goal past Howard as RW David Jones pushed the lead to 2-0.
In the second period, Landeskog scored another goal, and the defense fended of a Red Wings power play for a 3-0 Colorado lead. The Avs began the third period shorthanded and Detroit responded, getting on the scoreboard with a 28-foot LW Jiri Hudler goal. After a recently-acquired RW Steve Downie goal, Hudler scored his 20th goal of the season to put the game at 4-2.
A minute and a half later, C Valtteri Filppula fired a 9-foot wrister past G Jean-Sebastien Giguere (28 saves, .903 SV%) to put the game at 4-3, but the Colorado defense held strong, fighting off four more shots on goal to close out their 4-3 win.
The Avalanche will be back in action on Monday, taking on the Anaheim Ducks at 9:00 p.m. ET.
For more coverage, visit our Avalanche blog Mile High Hockey and our Red Wings blog Winging It In Motown.