Another back-to-back series, the Avs‘ second in seven days. This time, the team is in SoCal for both games, starting things off with the Los Angeles Kings.
Mackenzie Blackwood earns his third consecutive start opposite of LA backup goaltender Anton Forsberg. Seeing as the routine is to go with a goaltender split on back-to-backs when both goaltenders are healthy, going with your starter to try and guarantee the two points is a smart move, especially when you can guarantee that your starting goaltender is the rested goaltender for the second game.
Joel Kiviranta is the scratch for this game (concussion), though he was spotted with a red no-contact sweater at morning skate today.
The Avs finally found their early scoring streak (it only took four games, but they got there!) in this game. Nathan MacKinnon was able to put away a Martin Necas pass from his office, the left circle, to get the early jump for the Avs.
Gabriel Landeskog tacked on another around the halfway point of the period, and it seemed like Colorado was getting an early handle on a game for the first time in what seems like forever.
Unfortunately, LA scores later in the period off an almost flukey goal that looked like it might’ve deflected off of Corey Perry’s stick, but ultimately, Brandt Clark takes the credit for just six seconds into LA’s power play (courtesy of a Manson tripping call).
Talk about a momentum swinger. The Avs, based on underlying numbers, controlled most of this game, but despite their “best” period being the second, it’s the only period they didn’t score in. Angus Booth takes advantage of an opportunity on the back door to tie things up heading into the final frame.
Devon Toews FINALLY finds his first real goal of the season – one that he scored with intention, not an own goal that he was simply credited with – to find the lead. A big goal for the other half of the top pairing for the Avs, considering how great Cale Makar has been since coming back from the Olympic break.
Martin Necas capped the game off with an empty-net goal, a goal that, for all intents and purposes, counts as a power play goal… which they went 100% on for the night (progress!). 4-2 is the final in LA, a game that they ultimately made harder on themselves but won in dramatic fashion to head into Tuesday’s game with momentum.
Sooooo… That power play, right?
Very few teams can boast a 100% success rate on the power play.
The Avs are one of those teams.
Considering the train wreck that has been the man-advantage this year, the Avs are lucky to find any sort of success on any given night. So, to go 100%… that’s cause for celebration.
Of course, context is important: they only had one power play, and they happened to score on it. Yes, it was on an empty net, so not as competitive a situation as they’re used to trying to overcome.
Considering, too, that the penalty kill is beginning to swirl the drain… All we can hope is that this can be the turning point or momentum swinger for this man-advantage. It has to be if the PK can’t be as effective as it was in the first half of the season.
