DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Anaheim Ducks, 3-1, Monday afternoon to earn their seventh straight win.
There were plenty of missed passes and misplayed pucks on both sides to start the game.
Both teams only tallied 10 shots on net total, until Avalanche Left Wing Matt Nieto beat Anaheim goalie, Ryan Miller, 9:16 into the first period. That goal was his eighth of the 
season, assisted by Blake Comeau and Carl Soderberg.
Halfway through the first period, Anaheim Right Wing, Jakob Silfverberg, was called for high sticking. This was the first of six penalties Anaheim would have in the game.
With the man advantage, Colorado was only able to put up three shots on goal, and Miller stopped them all. Overall, Colorado maintained their discipline well, only going to the box twice in the game. Colorado’s penalty kill was 2-for-2 while only allowing two shots on net.
About 15 minutes into the first period, Mark Barberio was called for cross checking, giving Anaheim a power play. On their first attempt with the man advantage, the Ducks failed to put a shot on net.
Anaheim would spend plenty of time short-handed in the second period. Three penalties would give the Ducks penalty kill unit plenty of work. The first came just over two minutes into the second period. Defenseman Korbinian Holzer was called for tripping Comeau.
On their second power play opportunity, the Avalanche would only put three shots on goal and fail to get a goal with their second man advantage of the game.
With a break in the action, the Colorado Avalanche announced that Referee Dave Jackson was refereeing in his 1,500th NHL game. A loud cheer came from the stands of fans showing their appreciation, and a few stray boos from those who refuse to cheer for the officials.
Just over nine minutes into the second period, Ducks center, Ryan Kesler, put the puck on net, only to be robbed by a diving stick save from Avalanche goalie, Jonathan Bernier.
With the puck deflected wide on the net, the Avalanche started a breakout the other way. Gabriel Landeskog dropped a pass to Nathan MacKinnon who beat Miller for his 20th goal of the season. The Avalanche now have a 2-0 lead halfway through the game.
Minutes later the Ducks came back with a goal from Chris Wagner, that seemed to trickle underneath Bernier and put the Ducks on the board. Josh Manson and J.T Brown got the assists. The Avalanche lead was now cut in half, 2-1.
Play remained even with the two team exchanging shots, until the 17-minute mark when Cam Fowler is called for slashing. The Ducks, again, were going to be short-handed.
During this penalty kill, the Ducks only allowed two shots on net. Teams were even for about 7 seconds before Silfverberg got his second penalty of the game for hooking Colin Wilson.
This time, the Colorado power play was able to convert when Wilson beat Miller glove side to give the Avalanche a two goal lead before the end of the second period. This was Wilson’s fourth goal of the season with assists from Alexander Kerfoot and Erik Johnson.
The period ended with Soderberg putting Ondrej Kase into the boards behind the Anaheim goal. Both teams had a shoving match in front of the net, several players were tackled, but no penalties assessed.
Three minutes into the third period, the Ducks would get their second power play of the game when Anton Lindholm was called for elbowing Ducks forward Antoine Vermette.
The Ducks power play seemed a little more aggressive, but would only put 3 shots on net.
With 16:32 played in the third period, Anaheim would be penalized yet again. This time, for tripping. The Ducks penalty kill would keep the Avalanche from putting a shot on net.
Three and a half minutes after killing the previous penalty, Kase would go to the box for high sticking Lindholm. For the second straight man advantage, the Avalanche failed to put a shot on net. While the Ducks were able to force a short handed chance.
The Ducks pulled Miller with 2:45 left in the game, but was only able to get a handful of shots on net, using their extra attacker, before the final horn sounded.
Bernier stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced Monday. His counterpart Miller saw 29 shots and stopped 26.
With their win, Colorado remains two points out of a playoff spot, chasing Dallas, Minnesota, and San Jose.
Colorado’s next game is Thursday, when they host the Sharks. Anaheim will head home to face the Penguins on Wednesday.
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