DENVER -- Gabriel Landeskog will think twice about engaging in fights with opposing goaltenders.The reason is painfully simple: That blocker hurts ... and hes got a mask to protect himself, the Colorado captain cracked.Soon after exchanging some shoves with Minnesota goalie Devan Dubnyk, Landeskog got the ultimate retaliation -- the winning goal. Landeskog scored with 9:37 remaining, Calvin Pickard stopped 32 shots for his second NHL shutout and the Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 1-0 on Saturday.It didnt come easy for us, thats for sure, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.Nothing seems to these days for the Avalanche, who won for the second time in six games.Landeskogs power-play goal ended a Colorado scoring drought that lasted more than 164 minutes. He found the net on a pass from Matt Duchene and then hopped into the arms of Nathan MacKinnon in excitement.Earlier in the third period, Landeskog got into a brief scuffle with Dubnyk after agitating the goalie in front of the net. That seemed to swing the momentum into Colorados favor. A jarring hit by John Mitchell near the blue line didnt hurt, either.Those two instances energized our crowd, which energized us, Bednar said. You knew they were going to have a push.The Wild did at that.With Dubnyk on the bench for an extra skater, Charlie Coyle knocked in a shot with 48.9 seconds remaining, but it was disallowed because of goaltender interference. The officials ruled that Minnesota forward Eric Staal pushed Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson into Pickard.How good of call that was depends on the side thats asked.The goalie was in a terrible position, Staal said. We made a huge play on it. They gave them the benefit of the doubt on it.Pickard had a different take.You could see their guy kind of pushed E.J. into me, Pickard explained. I think thats the criteria for goalie interference -- doesnt let me do my job. I couldnt slide over there.Pickards most opportunistic save of the night was with 5 minutes remaining, when he closed his pads at the last second to save a shot from trickling in.It was a big save for me, said Pickard, whose other shutout was Jan. 14 against New Jersey. We had a really good game all the way through.Dubnyk mixed it up Landeskog after the two were jostling in front of the net early in the third period. Dubnyk put Landeskog in a headlock as players raced over to separate them. Dubnyk was called for slashing and roughing while Landeskog drew only a roughing penalty. The Avalanche didnt score on the power play chance.I gave him a whack and he gave me a whack and we gave each other a few shots and somehow I ended up with one, said Dubnyk of drawing the extra penalty. That seemed to be how they did the third period there. Not a big deal. Its always a tough game when we play these guys. Its part of the game. Theres emotion in the game.The Wild were called for two penalties on one play early in the second period. First, Ryan Suter slashed Blake Comeau with the Colorado forward on a breakaway. As Comeau went into the boards, Matt Dumba was whistled for a cross-checking penalty. Colorado a two-man advantage for a full two minutes, but never challenged Dubnyk.Wild coach Bruce Boudreau wasnt pleased.I thought there were some pretty cheesy penalties out there, Boudreau said.Game notes Minnesota LW Zach Parise and D Marco Scandella both missed a third game with lower-body injuries. ... Avalanche RW Jarome Iginla played in his 1,484th NHL game to tie Rod BrindAmour for 19th on the career list. ... Mikko Rantanen took a puck in the face during the first period and briefly went into the locker room for treatment. He had the second assist on Landeskogs goal. ... Mitchell cleared waivers Saturday and was back on the fourth line.UP NEXTWild: Dont play again until Thursday in Pittsburgh.Avalanche: Visit St. Louis on Sunday. Cheap Pirates Jerseys . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. Quick stopped 27 shots in his return from a 24-game injury absence, Jeff Carter scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:55 to play, and the Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Pirates Jerseys China . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. http://www.custompiratesjersey.com/custom-willie-stargell-jersey-large-77t.html . The next step is a better finish. Bae played bogey-free Friday on another gorgeous day at Riviera for a 5-under 66, giving him a one-shot lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus going into the weekend. Custom Pirates Jerseys . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1. Custom Willie Stargell Jersey . No. 13-seeded John Isner and No. 21 Philipp Kohlschreiber were among six players who dropped out of the tournament on Tuesday, joining No. 12 seed Tommy Haas and two other players who withdrew on Monday. Where most AFL pundits see a premiership contender, Adelaide coach Don Pyke sees faults.The Crows have risen to third spot and are on an eye-catching seven-game winning streak but Pyke sees some trends in his side which need addressing.Im not going to go into detail about what they are. But theres some things there that dont really worry us, but things we want to keep improving, Pyke told reporters on Wednesday.Were in a high intensity, really full-on competition, and we cant be self-satisfied at all. We have got to keep looking for ways to get better.We are not sitting here being satisfied with what we have achieved. We recognise we have had some good wins, we have put ourselves in a good spot.But the game changes really quickly so we cant sit back and overly reflect.Pykes Crows host Collingwood on Saturday and again will be witthout half-back Luke Brown, sidelined by a groin injury for a second week.ddddddddddddBrown is one of few injury concerns at Adelaide, who have used a league-low 27 players this season.And while the Crows are certain finalists, Pyke said he wont tinker with his side for the remainder of the season.We will select according to form, were not going to try and be too cute, he said.Continuity is always important - continuity not only in playing but in training.Credit goes to (fitness coach) Brett Burton and our high performance team ... we have had some fortune along the way, you dont end up with less injuries without having some good fortune.But credit to those guys for the program they have put in place. ' ' '
