Deen’s Daily: Goalie Saves the Day; Givani Smith Excited for Avalanche Opportunity; Laine the PP Merchant

Back-to-back wins for the Avalanche, who defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Friday. Givani Smith opened up about getting a new opportunity with the Avs. Also, you wouldn’t believe where Patrik Laine ranks in the NHL in power-play goals this season. 

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — December 21.

Colorado Hockey Now

Scott Wedgewood made his first start in eight days on Friday and saved the day for the Colorado Avalanche. The goalie kept the Anaheim Ducks off the board in the first period, eventually ending with 29 saves in a 4-2 Colorado triumph.

Wedgewood lifted the team to victory less than 24 hours after Mackenzie Blackwood did the same in San Jose against his former team. Here are my 10 Observations from the San Jose game. As usual, these are behind the CHN+ paywall but are worth reading after each game.

Subscribe for just $4.49/mo — the price of a latte — for full access to all CHN+ content and + content for all National Hockey Now outlets. You’ll need it for another relatable article linked below!

Around the NHL

San Jose Hockey Now: Givani Smith chatted with Sheng Peng about being moved by San Jose. The forward is excited about his new opportunity with the Avalanche. This is the aforementioned paywall story, which you get access to with a CHN+ membership!

Montreal Hockey Now: Patrik Laine scored a late go-ahead goal on the power play to lift the Montreal Canadiens over the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 4-3. Laine has seven goals since returning from injury to make his Habs debut a few weeks ago.

Every single one of his goals has been scored on the PP. He’s one of 14 players with at least seven PP goals this season. The other 13 have all played at least 29 games. Laine has played eight.

Detroit Hockey Now: Catch the Red Wings’ angle of the loss to Montreal here.

Florida Hockey Now: The St. Louis Blues were the latest victim of the Aleksander Barkov show.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Former Penguins Stanley Cup-winning goalie Matt Murray made his first NHL start in 628 days. He helped the Toronto Maple Leafs win big against the struggling Buffalo Sabres.