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Outstanding

God what a great night, not just for the Avs, but for hockey. A monumental night as every single game was close, and every single underdog won.Ottawa beat Pittsburgh (and Fleury looked atrocious in that game). Philly beat New Jersey, with a key role in the game being played by Ian Laperriere. Then the Coyotes beat the Wings, and an internet meme went big time as the #throwthesnake movement paid off with a snake on the ice. Former and current Avs had a big night tonight (Morris also had two assists, and Wolski had a goal too). Every single game was close too. a great night for hockey.

The highlight of the night, other than a snake being thrown on the ice in Phoenix, was Chris Stewart getting the puck off of Rob Blake's toe giving the Avs the 2-1 win. The goal was the result of a monstrous forecheck by the Stewart-Stastny-Galiardi line, and the Avs really took it to the Sharks on that shift. A great shift.

But that wasn't the only great shift the Avs had all night. In fact, one of the most encouraging aspects of this win is that Anderson didn't have to steal the game. Andy was great, especially in the first 3 minutes or so, but after that he didn't have to bail the Avs out for the rest of the game.

Instead the Avs really took it to the Sharks, and looked like the better team for much of the game. The second period especially was a textbook way to take the hometown team out of the game. The Avs stifled (you could even say trapped) the Sharks attack at the blueline, and really just frustrated the Sharks. This had an obvious effect on the Sharks, who started to push a little and took penalties, and the crowd; who started to  to boo the Sharks. If the Avs can get the Sharks crowd to boo them this series could turn the Avs direction.

Look I like Joe Thornton, but his quote today was an awful one: "I don't necessarily believe in [Joe carrying the team] so much ... Everybody knows that the most important position is goaltending and Nabby's a big part of this team." Well guess what,

Well Nabokov was great tonight. You know who else is a Nabokov was outstanding tonight, and the Sharks still lost. big part of the Sharks: Joe Thornton. The Setoguchi-Pavelski-Clowe line was easily the Sharks best line. Let's keep it that way.

All in all it was a great night for hockey, and a great night for the Avs.