Paul Stastny News

Sidney Crosby is on a roll, and that means the Pittsburgh Penguins are, too. They sealed a close game with two empty-net goals in the last minute and beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 before 16,968 at Mellon Arena Thursday night.

The Avalanche didn't practice Sunday before traveling to Florida, where it will face the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight to open a five-game road trip.

Matt Duchene credits his recent success to good karma. Duchene had two goals and Craig Anderson made 33 saves to lead the Colorado Avalanche past the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 on Monday night.

See, Patrick White wasn't such a bad draft pick after all. Thanks to a shrewd deal this past summer by Canuck general manager Mike Gillis, he has morphed into Christian Ehrhoff.

Mikko Koivu and Andrew Ebbett scored in the shootout, and Josh Harding stopped both of Colorado's shooters to help the Minnesota Wild beat the Avalanche 3-2 on Saturday night for a home-and-home sweep.

Mikko Koivu had three assists. "It's nice to contribute. You want to be a part of it, especially offensively," said Kobasew, who scored an empty-net goal with 17.9 seconds left to complete his second career hat trick.

David Jones scored twice to help Colorado build a three-goal lead Monday and the Avalanche held on to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4. Paul Stastny, Cody McLeod and Scott Hannan produced the other goals for Colorado.

A quick start in October allowed the Avalanche to grab first place in the Northwest Division, where they have stayed despite some recent struggles.

David Jones is starting to show his offensive potential by scoring goals in six of the last nine games for the Avalanche.

The Colorado Avalanche have discovered two-goal leads aren't enough to get a win, so they grabbed a three-goal edge against Philadelphia on Monday night.

Record: 13-7-3, 29 points Leading scorers: Paul Stastny 4-16-20, Wojtek Wolski 9-11-20, Milan Hejduk 10-7-17. The skinny: Some of the shine from the Avs start has come off in the past two weeks.

The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 at GM Place Nov. 20. A November 21, 2009 3:01 AM A A A A Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo reacts as Colorado Avalanche John-Michael Liles is congratulated for his goal by teammates Matt Duchene, David Jones and Paul Stastny during first-period NHL hockey Nov.

Vancouver Canucks' Henrik Sedin sneaks the puck past sprawled-out Colorado Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson last Saturday.

Perhaps if they were led by a veteran coach with years of experience and a fistful of Stanley Cup rings, then the Colorado Avalanche's success wouldn't be as surprising.

Ryan Wilson scored his first NHL goal and added an assist, Milan Hejduk got the game-winner and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Ryan Wilson scored his first NHL goal and added an assist, Milan Hejduk got the game-winner and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff tried to snag the puck while teammate Cory Sarich tried to fend off Colorado Avalanche centre Paul Stastny during the third period of the game on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary.

Through 20 games, center Paul Stastny has four goals and 14 assists for the Avalanche.

In game No. 667, Henrik Sedin had a first. The center -- an All-Star last season -- notched his first NHL hat trick, helping the Vancouver Canucks snap a three-game skid with an 8-2 rout of the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

For Team USA, the challenge in putting together a roster for the 2010 Olympics at Vancouver is finding the right talent to fit roles.