Trades? Who needs trades?
This shouldn’t change anything, of course, but the Avalanche jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead on goals from Gabe Landeskog, Mikhail Grigorenko and Tyson Barrie and held on to beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 Saturday at the Pepsi Center.
Journeyman goalie Jeremy Smith, in the Avalanche net because scheduled starter Calvin Pickard came down with a stiff neck, had 34 saves in claiming his first NHL win at age 27 — in his third NHL appearance. It wasn’t pretty, but it counted.