GOALIE PICKARD PLAYS WELL IN HOMETOWN LOSS

winnipeg, manitoba» Calvin Pickard made his first NHL start in his hometown Sunday and did everything he could to keep his team in it.

“For the most part things went really well. I liked my game a lot,” said Pickard, who made 26 saves in the 4-1 loss. “That lapse in the third period, I don’t know how quickly they scored the two goals, but it was quick and that was the difference in the hockey game. When we’re hard-pressed to score goals I have to come up with another big save.”

Coach Jared Bednar was also happy with the way the 24-year-old netminder performed in his special start.

“I was proud of him, especially in the second half of the first period when we had our breakdowns there,” Bednar said. “He was big in goal for us. The chances that we gave up, I don’t know how many there were, but we gave up too many good ones, and he came up big on a lot of them.”

Just shoot it. As bad as things were defensively for the Avs, it was even worse from an offensive perspective. They managed a mere nine shot attempts in the first period, with only six hitting the net, and had recorded 15 shots through 40 minutes.

“I know at times it can feel like you’re throwing away pucks when you’re throwing them at the net,” captain Gabe Landeskog said, “but when you have 15 shots after two periods you’re not going to lose anything by throwing pucks at the net. It’s an easy game for their goalie.”