Paul Stastny did what he does best, putting on a three-point performance (1g/2a) in front of the Pepsi Center crowd Monday night as the Avalanche earned a 5-4 win over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. The victory also allowed Colorado to remain in first place in the Northwest Division with a 14-7-3 record (31 points).

Stastny was the catalyst on the game’s opening goal, picking up a puck behind the Philadelphia goal and feeding Wojtek Wolski in the slot. Wolski’s shot was stopped by Ray Emery, but David Jones knocked home the rebound for his ninth goal of the year just 1:01 into the game.

Stastny then added a tally of his own at 5:32, taking a Kyle Cumiskey feed near center ice and proceeding to handcuff Emery on a wrist shot from the slot.

The center registered a second assist in the middle frame, stealing a Jeff Carter pass to the right of the Philadelphia goal and centering the puck to Scott Hannan, who buried his second goal of the season.

With a team-leading 23 points (5g/18a) in 24 games, Stastny has been playing well all season, but it’s at Pepsi Center where he truly shines. The center has been putting up points at an impressive rate while playing at home, netting 16 points (including all five of his goals) in nine games at Pepsi Center.

And when he gets on the score sheet, chances are you can find his name on it multiple times. Stastny has recorded at least one point in 12 games this year, with eight of those contests being multi-point games.

Krupp Honored
Former defenseman Uwe Krupp was recognized tonight as the fourth honoree of the Avalanche Alumni Association. Krupp came out onto the ice prior to the game and was greeted by a standing ovation following a video tribute, which included a clip of his Stanley Cup winning goal in the third overtime of Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals in Florida.

Krupp was presented with a painting by artist Stephen Holland and then dropped the ceremonial first puck between Stastny and former Avalanche forward Ian Laperriere.

For a complete list of Avalanche Alumni nights, click here.

Tempers Flare
Monday’s game began to get chippy in the second period and stayed that way for the majority of the contest. Following one scrum in front of the Philadelphia net, Laperriere and McLeod were right in each other’s faces. Laperriere dropped his gloves but McLeod held back – a smart move considering both players received two minutes for roughing, but Laperriere was given an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.

A fight did occur later in the second period, with a pair of less likely combatants going toe-to-toe. After some tussling behind the play, Marek Svatos and Claude Giroux dropped the gloves and proceeded to fire haymakers at one another. Even after some stray equipment caused the pair to tumble to the ice – and with the officials jumping in to break the players up – Giroux continued to throw punches at the Avalanche forward.

The dust-up was the first of Svatos’ NHL career.

Notes
Hannan suffered a neck injury on the same play he scored his goal and did not return…Jones added a second goal when his wraparound attempt in the second period went in off the skate of Philadelphia defenseman …Jones now has a three-game goal streak (four goals total)…Colorado is 7-2-0 at Pepsi Center this season and 5-0 against Eastern Conference teams…Avalanche captain Adam Foote (jaw) missed his third straight game…Eight of the nine goals in tonight’s game came at even strength.