It’s been a trying season for the Colorado Avalanche and their captain, Gabriel Landeskog. His name constantly floating in trade rumors and his team mired in last place, the last couple weeks have been a renaissance of sorts for the 24-year old forward. Including today’s matinee contest against the Nashville Predators, Landeskog has tallied five points (4 g, 1 a) and racked up just under 30 shots on goal.
Outside of the goals scored, the most notable change in Landeskog’s play has been the return of constant shooting. When he first broke into the NHL, Landeskog was a possession-driving monster whose mentality was built around getting any and every shot on goal imaginable. As he’s aged, his shot rates have waned and caused some to wonder if that player would ever return.
In the last couple of weeks, he certainly has returned. Finally healthy this season, Landeskog’s play might have given GM Joe Sakic pause on making any potential trades involving his Swedish captain. Not surprisingly, Landeskog himself acknowledges the change in his approach and credits the quality of his linemates for helping him get back on track.
“When you play with good players they’re going to get you the puck in scoring areas and shooting areas,” Landeskog explained. “It has to be a mindset of shooting the puck and not trying to overpass. I feel like I’ve been doing that too much so far so I’ve gotta start shooting the puck more and good things will happen.”
Despite the focus on his teammates, he understands the change has to start with himself as he seeks to control what he can in hopes that he lifts those around him to improve their own approach.
“I’m starting to shoot the puck a whole lot more and when you do that you seem to get more involved in certain ways and you feel better about yourself and you feel like you’re a more dangerous player and it feeds to your confidence. Obviously, getting a couple goals here and there definitely feeds to the confidence as well but me personally I have to keep shooting the puck. As a group, as a team, we have to collectively keep shooting the puck.”
That mentality propelled the gritty Landeskog to arguably his most impressive game of the season as he recorded seven shots on goal, scored the game’s opening goal, and tacked on three hits in 23:41 of ice time. His two-way play was exemplary and reminded many of the player who had been an all-around force for the Avalanche in recent years.
Even though he played one of his strongest games of the season, his team still struggled as a whole and they gave up two third-period goals to transform what was a 2-1 lead into a 3-2 deficit. The Avalanche actually scored the game-tying goal in the final two minutes but the play was waved off as the official blew the play dead, claiming Predators goaltender Pekka Rinna had covered the puck. Landeskog disagreed.
“I think it’s a miss by the official,” Landeskog said. “I mean, I understand he loses sight of it and I guess…maybe they’re told to blow the whistle when they lose sight of it but I’m right behind the play coming down from the blue line and I see it’s loose the whole way and we poke it in. It is what it is.”
Given the struggles of the Avalanche to generate wins, being on the wrong side of bad luck once again reinforced the growing frustration for Colorado’s leader.
“It’s frustrating,” Landeskog admitted. “At the same time, officials make mistakes just like players do and that’s the end of that. It’s just unfortunate that in this case, it doesn’t allow us to tie the game.”
If he can find a consistency that approaches today’s performance, this lost season still has hope for some redemption. No, the team is not going to make a big playoff run. This season has become about finding growth with individuals and as a team overall. Landeskog’s recent run of form gives reason to hope he may be coming back around to the force he was early in his career.
