Takeaways from Avalanche's blowout win over Kings: Victory, but at a cost

When I go to sleep tonight, I’ll surely still have the Avalanche goal song stuck in my head (Hey! Hey! Hey!) because a second period saw them tie a franchise record with six goals as they dominated, embarrassed, and destroyed the Los Angeles Kings.

After allowing the Kings to ruin a perfectly good New Year’s Eve party a couple weeks ago, the Avalanche exacted a little bit of revenge and got their game back on track with a 7-1 win over the Kings.

It was a fast start as the Avalanche scored the only goal of the first period when Carl Soderberg poked the puck between Jonathan Quick’s legs after a Tyson Barrie centering pass. That goal held up through a dominant first period that saw the Avs outshoot LA 16-5.

It didn’t take the Avalanche long to extend their lead as Gabe Landeskog took a clever backhand pass from Nathan MacKinnon and smoked it past the helpless Quick just 32 seconds into the second frame.

From there, the rout was on. By the time the period reached the halfway mark, Colorado had built their lead to 5-0 and was firmly in cruise control.

Because the universe doesn’t like giving Semyon Varlamov nice things, Ilya Kovalchuk blew a rocket of a shot past him a few minutes into the third period to end the shutout bid and give the game the proper Brazil treatment.

It was the perfect start to the three-game homestand before the All-Star Game break. Colorado next plays on Monday afternoon against the Nashville Predators.

Takeaways from the game

• I’m starting with goaltending here. That’s been the story lately as the Avalanche simply hasn’t gotten much of it. Varlamov wasn’t asked to do much but that’s been the case lately. Today, he got the job done today and made 30 of 31 saves. It wasn’t spectacular but it was solid and that’s all the Avalanche has needed lately. Finally.
• The top line is still crazy talented, in case you were wondering. They absolutely shredded the Kings as they combined for six more points today. Easy does it there, fellas.
• Mikko Rantanen’s two goals were both highlight-reel worthy. I’ve been killing the Avs for not building more of their power play around Rantanen’s elite shooting ability and his shot on his first goal is exactly why. He has the kind of shooting ability that changes teams. This should just be the beginning of an adjustment they make. He can straight snipe.
• Rantanen also showed his improved ability to strip pucks as he straight embarrassed multiple Kings en route to his second goal. That’s also where he tweaked something and when the score got out of hand, the Avalanche decided to hold him out of the rest of the game for precautionary reasons. He is expected to play Monday against Nashville.
• The defense continued their strong showing as they only started allowing shots against after the big lead had been built. Anytime you hold an opposing NHL team to just five shots allowed in a period, your defense has gone very well for itself. That lockdown defense helped Colorado find their legs offensively and build the dominant lead.
• Maybe most impressively, the defense accomplished what it did today despite Erik Johnson playing just two minutes. He left with an upper-body injury and did not return to the game. There was no status update after the game and we’ll likely have to wait until practice tomorrow to learn more about the extent of Johnson’s injury.
• Tyson Barrie had the kind of day where he reminds you how special he can be. His offense came naturally and was a result of his aggressiveness. He ultimately landed with three assists as his goal was changed to Alex Kerfoot’s goal. The three-assist night was good enough for the first star and he was a dominant possession driver while the game was still in question. All in all, a banner day for TB4.
• Another banner day was had by Matt Calvert, who notched two assists and got into a fight with Dion Phaneuf in the third period. Phaneuf had been itching for a tilt earlier in the game and a little slash from Calvert and a willingness to chuck the knucks resulted in Calvert taking on the significantly larger Phaneuf and holding his own. Combined with his excellent work on the penalty kill where he sparked a short-handed goal from Sheldon Dries, Calvert finished just a goal shy of the Gordie Howe Hat Trick and earned the third star.
• Carl Soderberg put in another impressive performance today as he got the ball rolling on Colorado’s offensive explosion. His work lately has been vital to bringing some life to the forward group beyond the dominant top line. His all-around ability has really elevated the second line to something meaningful.
• J.T. Compher and Colin Wilson have combined with Soderberg to give them an actual second line and it’s already paid huge dividends. If they can continue this level of production, there’s no reason to believe Colorado can’t continue to scratch and claw their way into the postseason.
• The win today moved the Avs to 52 points on the season and two points clear of Dallas for the third spot in the Central Division. Things have gotten tight so it’s a good time for Colorado to start finding their way to some points again.
• Ian Cole’s three penalties tonight might be the biggest blight on an otherwise exceptional afternoon of Avalanche hockey. He’s always been a penalty-prone player so it’s not a huge surprise. If nothing else, I guess it’s not a bad thing he went penalty crazy in a blowout for his team where it didn’t really hurt them in a meaningful way.

NOTES AND QUOTES FROM AVS PR

TEAM NOTES
Colorado wrapped up its season series against Los Angeles, going
2-0-1 in the three-game series and outscoring the Kings by a combined
score of 16-7. Colorado’s seven goals matches a season high (also:
Nov. 21 at Los Angeles).
Colorado’s six goals scored in the second period matches a franchise
mark (last: March 3, 1999 at Florida, 3rd). The last time the Avs scored
six goals in a period at home was Dec. 5, 1995 vs. San Jose (1st). Overall, it’s the ninth time in franchise history that Colorado has notched six
goals in a period and third time since the club relocated to Denver.
It’s the most goals in a single frame by any team this season and the
most since Pittsburgh scored six goals in the second stanza vs. Washington on Jan. 16, 2017. The Avalanche’s previous season high for
goals in a period was four (4x – last: Nov. 14 vs. Boston).
The Avalanche scored six or more goals in a game for the 10th time this
season. Only two other teams have more games with 6+ goals scored
(Tampa Bay and Calgary, 11 each). It’s the most games in which the
Avalanche has scored six or more goals since 1996-97 (12 games).
The Avs scored a shorthanded goal for the seventh time this season,
ranked third in the NHL. It was the first of the campaign to be scored
on home ice, as Colorado’s six other shorthanded tallies have come on
the road.
The Avalanche finished 2-for-6 on the power play, the ninth time this
season Colorado has notched multiple power-play goals. The Avs are
now 46-for-181 (25.4%) with the man advantage this season, the sixthranked power play in the league.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Nathan MacKinnon finished with two assists to reach the 70-point
threshold this season, the fifth player in the league this season to reach
the mark. He is tied for fourth in the league in points and is tied for fifth
in assists (43). Colorado is the only team to have more than one player
with 70 or more points in 2018-19. It’s the fourth time in franchise history and first since the club relocated to Denver in which two Avalanche teammates each collected 70 points prior to the team’s 50th
contest. The last set of teammates to accomplish the feat did so over 20 years ago: Mario Lemieux
(34-50—84) and Jaromir Jagr (42-34—76) in 1996-97 with Pittsburgh.
Carl Soderberg scored his 16th goal of the season to match his career high reached both last season
and in 2013-14 campaign with Boston. He now has five points (4g, 1a) over his last three outings.
Gabriel Landeskog scored his 29th goal of the season, tied for fourth in the NHL. His second-period
tally was also his 10th power-play marker of the campaign, tied for fourth in the league, and his eighth
game-winning goal, ranked first in the NHL.
Matt Calvert registered his first multi-point game of the season and first since Nov. 2, 2017 at Florida
as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Mikko Rantanen matched a season high with two goals (4x – last: Jan. 4 vs. New York Rangers) and
now has 73 points this season, ranked second only to Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (76 points). One of
Rantanen’s markers was a power-play tally, his 11th of the season to move into a tie for third in power
play goals.
Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen combined for Colorado’s fourth goal of the game, the 22nd
time this season that all three have factored in on the same goal.
Tyson Barrie extended his point/assist streak to three games and has totaled five points (0g, 5a) in that
span.
Nikita Zadorov played a season-high 24:57 and matched his season high with a +3 plus/minus rating.

Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog
On Where The Avs’ Stand: “I think that was what we showed out there [today] and that’s where we are
at. We had a big meeting yesterday. We talked about a lot of things and kind of aired some things out.
We talked about resetting and starting fresh and I think that was a good start. You look at the standings and in my opinion, it’s a miracle that we are still where we are at. You know, we’re fortunate to still
be in a playoff spot, so we got to make sure we chalk it up to a bad stretch of hockey and move on
because we can’t start looking too far ahead. We can’t stare at the standings too long, we just kind of
have to stay in the moment and take care of one game at a time and that’s what we did here [today].”
On Colorado C Carl Soderberg: “He’s played really well as of the last handful of weeks, really and all
season. I mean, he’s been producing, but especially the last handful of weeks, I think he’s been one
of our most consistent players and has been stepping up big when we need it. And [today], I think he
could have had two or three more but overall, he got us started no doubt. He played well.”
Colorado D Tyson Barrie
On The Avs’ Performance Today: “It just shows some resiliency. We have a lot of character in this
room. We had a meeting yesterday and we know that the way we’ve been playing lately isn’t good
enough. Even though we’ve been horrible the last six weeks, we’re still in charge of our own destiny
and still in a playoff spot, so we got to make the most of it and we have to play a lot better and I think
we did that [today].”
On Today’s Game: “I think we were just kind of relentless from the first period on. You know, we’re
playing our game, playing the right way. You know, if you play that way, eventually you’re going to get
some breaks and some goals and that happened [today].”
Colorado C Carl Soderberg
On The Avs’ Playing Well To Start The Game: “I think we did, especially in the first and the beginning
of the second and it was kind of game over, so it’s easier to play when we’re ahead three, or 4-0, it’s
like, that’s how I think we played. But I think coming to a 3-0 lead, we played pretty good.”
On His Goal: “I think we had a good shift there and Tyson (Colorado D Tyson Barrie) found me in the
middle, so easy goal.”
Los Angeles C Anze Kopitar
On Moving Forward: “There’s one more game on Monday. We’ve got to get ready and I don’t know
how much time we’ve got off, but each and every one of us has to make sure that we’re ready for the
puck drop in that one.”
Los Angeles D Drew Doughty
On The Second Period: “I thought we’re all trying to do the right things. We’re all working hard, we’re
competing, but we’re not executing and there’s so many things you can do to execute. Guys can talk
more, I think that’s the main thing. We need to help each other out more. It was just a pathetic second
period, I really don’t even know what to say. Yeah, they played well, but we just played poor. And we
left our goalies out to dry again and we’re sick of doing that. When we win games we leave them out
to dry and when we lose games we leave them out to dry, so it’s about time we played for them.”
On The Goaltenders: “It doesn’t matter who’s in net, whether it’s Quickie (Los Angeles G Jonathan
Quick) or Soupy (Los Angeles G Jack Campbell), if we get our goalie pulled, that’s on the players in
front of him and we feel that immediately. I didn’t see Quickie storm off but we obviously feel terrible
about that and then we just played like crap in front of Soupy. He comes in and has to take [expletive]
two-on-ones and three-on-ones. It’s just a pathetic game for us.