DENVER - Matt Duchene works on his shootout moves before every game. His efforts paid off for the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.Duchene and Alex Tanguay scored shootout goals, Semyon Varlamov stopped both of Edmontons shooters and the Avalanche beat the Oilers 2-1.Varlamov had 27 saves in regulation and overtime, and Daniel Briere scored in regulation for Colorado. It was the fifth straight shootout win for the Avalanche, who are 6-2-2 in their last 10.Its great to start the new year, with a big win, Duchene said. We want to roll through January here.He got his team off to a good start.After both teams failed to convert on their first shootout opportunities, Duchene skated slowly into the zone, got goalie Ben Scrivens to go down and beat him with a low shot.Me and Mario (Duhamel), our video coach, come up with something before each game, Duchene said. I think the biggest thing is each goalie has a different style and I just tried to get him to bite and make him change direction.Varlamov made a save on Jordan Eberle, and Tanguay skated slowly at the net and finished it with a roof shot over a sprawled Scrivens.Its tough when they come in so slow, Scrivens said. Its not a game situation where they have back pressure. Duchene has a good shot. You have to respect his shot. He is a good player.Ben Pouliot scored for Edmonton, and Scrivens finished with 27 saves. The Oilers, who are last in the NHL in points with 25, are 1-7-4 in their last 11 games and 1-9 in games decided after regulation.I thought our overtime period was a lot better than weve seen in the past, Edmonton coach Todd Nelson said. We had puck control, we had some good, quality chances, but we have to shoot the puck in those situations.Neither team generated much offence until the Avalanche broke through in the second period. Duchene, one of the many Colorado forwards struggling to score, carried the puck behind the net to the front and fed Briere on the opposite side. Briere knocked the puck into an open net at 7:55 of the period.It was his seventh of the season and first in 13 games.I was able to get a step on the guy coming out front, Duchene said. I was just trying to put it over there. He is such a smart player and wouldnt miss that one.Edmonton generated just five shots in the second period, but gained some momentum with three consecutive power plays. After failing to capitalize on the first two, Pouliot tied it at 4:47 of the third with his sixth of the season. The big left wing, who returned to action after missing 18 games with a broken foot, muscled through defenceman Jan Hejda to knock a rebound past Varlamov to tie it at 1.He made an impact for us, Nelson said of Pouliot. He played a simple, solid game and capitalized on the goal, obviously. This is kind of a tough spot for him, coming back here. Its hard to breathe, but he had short shifts.Both teams had chances to take the lead. Colorados Gabriel Landeskogs backhander at a wide-open goal hit the side of the net, and Edmontons Teddy Purcell hit the right post with a shot midway through the third.Colorado didnt get its first shot on net in the third until 7:15 was left in regulation. The Avalanche were outshot 12-3 in the third.NOTES: The Oilers acquired C Rob Klinkhammer and a 2015 first-round pick from Pittsburgh for LW David Perron. ... Edmonton D Keith Aulie served the first game of his two-game suspension for his hit on Calgary F Matt Stajan on Wednesday. ... Avalanche D Zach Redmond was a healthy scratch for the second straight game. Bears Jerseys Online . -- The court fight over NFL concussions should heat up soon as a judge in Philadelphia weighs the fairness of the proposed $765 million settlement. 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This became very apparent when Jon Cornish missed at least six games and is still within 200 yards of the rushing leader with his 587 yards to date. Lets talk about some of the factors involved and what has changed. I believe there are three reasons for the change; four designated imports on the roster, talented non-import running backs and running QBs. Lets state the obvious, in every level of football, you must be able to run the football to have a balanced, efficient offense that can handle all the situations that you face throughout the football season. I have coached or coordinated four rushing leaders in the CFL and I believe in running the football. Michael Jenkins (2001), Charles Roberts (2003), Troy Davis (2004) and Fred Reid (2011) all were talented backs who were able to make the most of their opportunities. As the league evolves, you can see one-tailback offenses start to evolve also to spread the wealth, per se. Obviously, injuries can be a factor for a lack of productivity in running backs as they tend to have injuries at times and will have to miss games. As noted earlier, Jon Cornish has missed a great deal of this season and it has affected his rushing totals. But the biggest reason that I believe rushing numbers are down for the backs are the roster and specifically, how many designated imports are on rosters this year. A Designated Import is an International (Import) that can play freely on all special teams and can replace only another International (Import). Long story short is that for teams starting seven Non Imports, the DIs can replace another import but not a non-import. This year, the DIs has increased by one for a total of four on the roster. So you have four players that can play all special teams and also replace other Imports that are on the roster. When I first came into the League in the early 2000s, there was only one DI. It eventually went to a second and finally up to a third until the fourth DI this season. When you had only two DIs, one was usually a kick returner and one was a defensive player. It was difficult to carry a backup running back that was an import unless he was the returner. That is how many running backs earned their roster spots originally. In 2001, Hall of Famer Charles Roberts was on the roster as a DI who returned kick-offs and punts and spelled the starter Eric Blount. The rosters did not allow for a very talented import running back to be on the roster just as a backup. Cut to this year, where with four DIs, you can have two back-ups on offence and defence. One of those usually is also a returner and backup as in Brandon Banks in Hamilton, and the other three can be utilized on the roster as a backup and in situational packages. One of the most important things to understand with this roster size now is that you have the ability to plan and practice expecting to have the DI available to you if you are a coordinator because of the four spots. In previous years with less DIs, often the DI would be decided depending on the health status of your roster. For example, you may have to dress an Import DI receiver because one of your starting import receivers is banged up and may not play the whole game. If you normally used a DI running back, you would have to make the switch and take the DI running back off the roster and reeplace him with DI wide receiver.dddddddddddd Nowadays, you can have both on the roster and still be able to gameplan for the roster spot as a DI running back. So how does all that relate to running back rushing yards? Teams are allowed to break up the rushing job to more than one back and are able to build packages with two tailbacks in the game at the same time. Edmonton has utilized this by having Kendial Lawrence and Tyler Thomas on the roster. They can split carries as well as be in the game at the same time and have plays designed for each other. Lawrence is 11th in rushing and Thomas is 16th. Add their rushing yards together and they would lead the CFL in rushing. Edmonton also has Jon White, who has also rushed for 334 yards this season but is on the six-game injured list. Saskatchewan also has had success with using multiple import running backs on the roster. Anthony Allen leads the Riders with 593 yards which puts him third in rushing in the CFL. Will Ford is sixth in rushing with 425 yards and is able to be part of a 1-2 punch that the Riders rushing attack will hit defences with. Toronto has utilized several different backfield combinations this season but normally carry two import running backs. Curtis Steele is eighth in rushing with 437 yards and a healthy Steve Slaton is starting to come on with 224 yards so far. Montreal is fun to watch with Brandon Whitaker, who leads the CFL with 695 yards and they can also line up with Tyrell Sutton in the backfield. Sutton gets the opportunity to prove his worth and not have to wait for an injury to the starter to be on the roster. Talented non-imports are another reason for individual rushing numbers being down. I dont care what nationality you are, if you are talented, you will touch the football. Jerome Messam is part of the three-headed monster of the Riders run game and he has 326 yards this season. He is a bruising runner and a great change up for the Riders. Matt Walter has had some opportunities to play this year, allowing Calgary not to have to disrupt their roster when Cornish was hurt. Andrew Harris status as a non-import starter allows depth at other spots and can allow for a running back to be an import on the roster. Rushing QBs and packages designed for the QB as a running back have emerged the past few seasons to create extra packages and schemes that the defence must work on. Pat White in Edmonton has 26 rushes for 113 yards and his offensive package forces defences to take valuable time from practice to prepare for his package. Hamilton also has utilized a package for QB Dan Lefevour the past two seasons. These QB packages create problems for defences as the quarterback is the ball carrier and the defences are not used to the quarterback being a ball carrier and also there is a numbers advantage when the QB is the primary ball carrier. It is important that these QB packages have throws built in to make sure it is not 100 per cent run or else the defence will load the box to stop the run. The QB running game packages will take away reps for the starting tailback because many times the QB carries the ball in these packages. Although rushing numbers may be down, it is a great thing to be able to have more players on the roster to create excitement and be able to have multiple rushing football players. The years of the 2,000-yard backs may be over, but the ability to keep more players involved is certainly fun to watch. 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