Known more for his shot, the Minnesota Wild forward clanged a pair of line drives off the goal post, only to have the puck carom straight to teammates and result in two assists for Heatley.

That’s just how things have been going of late for the Wild, who scored a season-high four goals in the first period to beat the slumping Colorado Avalanche 6-4 on Saturday.

Even shots slightly off the mark eventually find their mark.

“I’ll take it,” Heatley said. “We have four lines rolling right now.”

The Wild sure do, with 11 players earning at least a point in this game. Devin Setoguchi led the way with two goals along with adding the 100th assist of his NHL career.

“Anytime you can get that, it’s fun,” Setoguchi said. “More importantly, I got my 100th and we got the win.”

Ryan Suter started a four-goal scoring spree in the first period to help the Wild win for the fourth time in five games. Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Brodziak and Pierre-Marc Bouchard also added goals.

This was the second half of a home-and-home between the two teams, with Minnesota winning 5-3 on Thursday night.

John Mitchell, P.A. Parenteau, Gabriel Landeskog and Chuck Kobasew had goals for an Avalanche team that has dropped three in a row. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was roughed up in his first home start of the season, allowing four goals on 14 shots before giving way to Semyon Varlamov at the start of the second period.

Niklas Backstrom was solid in net, stopping 28 shots to move to 23-5-3 lifetime against the Avalanche.

Setoguchi all but wrapped up the win with his second goal midway through the third period when he slipped a shot through the pads of Varlamov. It was Setoguchi’s first two-goal game of the season.

“We’ve got such a big, strong team that can skate,” Setoguchi said. “It’s tough to defend.”

Kobasew scored with 1:53 remaining to make it a two-goal game, and the Avalanche pulled Varlamov but couldn’t take advantage of the extra skater.

Colorado worked its way back into the contest in the second period with goals from Parenteau and Landeskog. But the Avalanche made a costly mistake in their zone, when Landeskog tried to send a pass across the middle. Bouchard intercepted the puck and backhanded a shot by Varlamov to make it 5-3.

Landeskog lamented his poor choice after the game.

“Any team is going to capitalize on those chances,” the Avalanche captain said. “It’s deflating, especially because we battled back so hard and got back to 4-3 and then I throw that puck away. It’s frustrating.”

Time is slipping away for the Avalanche as they tumble farther and farther in the standings.

“We’ve got to figure it out here and start to work together,” said Duchene, who had two assists, giving him 10 points in his last five games. “It’s not effort and it’s not talent. We’ve got both of those. I think it’s just concentration. Everyone is so scared to make mistakes.”

The first period featured two fights, three roughing calls and two Wild goals before fans even had a chance to settle into their seats. Suter got Minnesota started on the right note with a shot over Giguere’s left shoulder.

Soon after, Setoguchi scored on a similar shot on a screened Giguere. Clutterbuck and Brodziak also added goals on “passes” from Heatley.

The four goals in the opening 20 minutes brought the day to an end for Giguere. He sat on the bench as Varlamov took his spot in goal.

Minnesota was without forward Jason Zucker for a second straight game. The rookie has what the team is calling an upper-body injury after a violent blindside collision with Corey Perry that brought the Anaheim right winger a four-game suspension.

Zucker is on the trip with the Wild and possibly could play Monday night in Vancouver against the Canucks, a team the Wild are chasing in the Northwest Division race.

“That’s our biggest challenge now,” Clutterbuck said. “I don’t think we expect to score four goals in the first period every game but we expect to play the same way every game.”

Game notes

Wild D Brett Clark was a scratch for a second straight game after being signed for the rest of the season on Thursday. Clark played five-plus seasons for Colorado. … Avs D Ryan Wilson (ankle) was a scratch. … Colorado dropped to 2-1 in day games this season. … Avs F Milan Hejduk was a scratch after returning to the lineup Thursday at Minnesota, his first game back after sitting out five straight with a torso injury.

The post Devin Setoguchi’s pair leads Wild’s outburst vs. Avs appeared first on IdealCapper.

Then they really won them over with their play on the ice.

Gabriel Landeskog and David Jones scored 1:35 apart in the final period to help Colorado rally for a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night in the Avalanche’s home opener.

After the final horn, Colorado players skated around the rink and waved their sticks to salute the revved-up capacity crowd.

“It was unbelievable,” said Landeskog, the 20-year-old captain of Colorado. “I think this was the best crowd I’ve played in front of at the Pepsi Center. It just feels great. To be away for so long and to come back and to see so many fans here and how loud they were and how into it, I think it felt like they missed us just as much as we missed them.”

The fans certainly appreciated the offensive skills of P.A. Parenteau, the newest member of the Avalanche. Parenteau scored an insurance goal in the third period to help the team bounce back from a season opening loss in Minnesota.

Known for his passing, Parenteau showed he can find the net, too, especially when he’s left all alone.

“Anytime you can score your first goal in your first home game, that’s a good feeling,” said Parenteau, who had 18 goals and 49 assists with the New York Islanders last season. “As the game went on, we played a much better game.”

Kyle Clifford’s goal in the opening period gave the Kings their first lead of the season and, given the way Jonathan Quick was playing in net, looked like it just might hold up. Quick was turning back everything thrown at him.

That is, until Landeskog beat Quick with a shot off a rebound early in the third. That gave the Avalanche some much-needed momentum against one of the best goaltenders in the league.

Soon after, Jones followed by sending a wrist shot over Quick’s outstretched glove on a power play.

“We knew that if we kept pushing we were going to get one,” said Landeskog, who was presented the Calder Trophy at center ice before the game after being named the league’s top rookie last season. “And if we got one, we knew we could get more on Quick. He’s a good goalie, but we were pushing him all night it felt like.”

Precisely what Quick expected out of the youthful Avalanche.

“They play with a lot of pace so you expect that every shift,” Quick said.

Staked to a lead, Semyon Varlamov made it hold up as he finished with 28 saves.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Kings are winless two games into the season. They lost 5-2 to Chicago last weekend, dampening their banner-raising ceremony.

Any reason for concern, especially given the shortened season?

“I don’t worry,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. “That doesn’t really solve much, does it?”

Los Angeles even had Anze Kopitar back in the lineup after he missed the season opener with a knee injury. Kopitar injured his knee shortly before the lockout ended in a collision while playing in Sweden. He has led Los Angeles in scoring in each of the last five seasons.

But Kopitar’s presence couldn’t help get the Kings’ offense on track. He didn’t have a shot on net in nearly 20 minutes of play.

Clifford gave the Kings the early lead off a rebound late in the first period. He set up the play, too, by dishing an outlet pass to Jordan Nolan, who lined a shot off Varlamov’s pads and straight to the stick of the hustling Clifford.

It could’ve been more, but the Avs killed off two penalties.

In an attempt to win back fans, the Avalanche released an apology letter before the game, saying the organization understands the frustration.

“We do not take lightly the responsibility of ensuring that your experience exceeds the level of passion and enthusiasm that you provide our sport, team and players on a daily basis,” the letter read.

It was signed by team governor Josh Kroenke, general manager Greg Sherman, coach Joe Sacco and Landeskog.

The team also played a “welcome back” video for the fans and gave out gifts such as season tickets.

But a win, well, that was the best makeup present the Avs could’ve given.

“They were waiting for something good to happen,” Sacco said. “It took us a little over one period to do that. But once that happened you could feel the electricity in the building. It was fun for our guys again to play in front of their home fans.”

Game notes

Los Angeles placed defenseman Matt Greene (back) on injured reserve Monday. … Avs F Steve Downie left the game in the second period with a knee injury. … Avs F Matt Duchene took a puck off the chin but still played after trainers stitched up the cut.

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Los Angeles at Colorado
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), Altitude (Colorado)

Los Angeles allowed four goals in the first 22 minutes of the 5-2 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Top center Anze Kopitar missed the opener with a knee injury, but said he’ll play Tuesday. The Kings didn’t give up more than three goals in a game during their Cup run. Defenseman Rob Scuderi said the Kings were physically ready, but made mental mistakes. Los Angeles should turn it around on defense, but must be better than it was on offense during the 2011-12 regular season (29th). Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and Dustin Brown were all minus-3 against Chicago. Forward Kyle Clifford had seven hits in 8:52 of playing time in the opener.

Despite ending 2011-12 by hoisting the Cup, the Kings ranked near the bottom of the NHL with 194 goals and averaged 2.9 while going 16-4-0 in the playoffs. Los Angeles managed 21 shots and went 0 for 5 on the power play in the opener.

Colorado scored only 17 goals in its last 10 games last season. The Avalanche hope free-agent acquisition PA Parenteau will help improve the offense, but others will have to step up with O’Reilly still in Russia. Landeskog returns after scoring a team-high 22 goals and leading Avalanche in plus-minus (plus-20). Paul Stastny, David Jones, Milan Hejduk, Steve Downie and Duchene will all be expected to contribute. Defenseman Erik Johnson, 24, could be ready to raise his game to a new level. The Avalanche had 19 penalty minutes against the Wild, allowing two power-play goals.

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