The Colorado Avalanche head into the Christmas break with a huge win. The club downed the upstart Utah Mammoth 1-0 in a hard-fought matchup. The Avs took over the game for the most part. Except for a few stretches in which the Mammoth controlled the play somewhat, the game was mostly in favor of the Avs. Still, the Mammoth outshot the Avs 32-26, but that still wasn’t enough to at least tie the game.
Mammoth netminder Vitek Vanacek deserves credit as he kept his team in the game all night long. Still, the Mammoth were unable to break through the Avalanche’s strong defensive play.