Avs-Stars Game 61 Studs & Duds

The Colorado Avalanche scraped out a point in an otherwise thrilling 5-4 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars. These were the Avs studs and duds.

Studs

Nathan MacKinnon

This guy was unreal in this game. When a few of the Avalanche players were giving the game away elsewhere, MacKinnon was dragging the Avalanche back into it. He made an excellent pass to Cale Makar for the first goal of the game, ripped a one-timer past Jake Oettinger with 1.9 seconds remaining in the first period, and then found Martin Necas for Colorado‘s third goal.

This was a MacKinnon masterclass in how to take over a game. The Avalanche as a team struggled to generate scoring chances and high-danger chances, in particular, but when MacKinnon was on the ice, the Stars were in trouble.

This was a superstar performance from Colorado’s superstar. I don’t have a whole lot else to add other than this is why you pay MacKinnon the big bucks.

Martin Necas

MacKinnon wasn’t the only Avalanche star to absolutely ball out tonight, however, as Necas scored a goal and added three assists before scoring the game-clinching goal in the shootout.

He finished with five shots on goal and even threw two hits to boot, which we know isn’t really his game. This is a guy who meant business from start to finish and it is starting to look like the Olympic excellence he showcased in Italy could be a springboard to the kind of play we’ve never seen from him before late in an NHL season.

This four-point performance was something special from Necas. He dominated the pace of the game when he touched the puck and controlled the ice, which is one of those ultra-rare qualities that you don’t see very often.

There was a thought around some people in the NHL that if a team finally committed to Necas, something Carolina wouldn’t do, the confidence Necas had in himself would explode and propel him to a different level as a player. Clearly, playing alongside MacKinnon has a significant impact on a player’s trajectory, but Necas is up to sixth in the NHL in scoring with 76 points in just 58 games.

Necas is also two goals shy of 30 on the season, which would be the first 30-goal season of his career. This is what the Avalanche were hoping to get when they moved Mikko Rantanen – an elite player who is a picture-perfect fit alongside MacKinnon and in this Avalanche system.

The game-tying goal

Here’s the goal.

This is a ton of hard work from Brock Nelson, whose work along the wall was elite. He moved the puck along to Necas as he was losing his balance, and then Necas made a brilliant little backhand pass to find Val Nichushkin. Look at how this Necas pass was created:

This is a slick play from Necas, but it would have been all for nothing had Nichushkin wasted time and found a reason not to shoot it. Instead, Nichushkin ripped one by Jake Oettinger and he had a huge goal against his former club. Look at this thing:

Oettinger hasn’t been as good as his reputation would suggest this year, but this is an awesome shot. This rules. This is the bomb. Nichushkin had beaten Oettinger with a little over three minutes left on a shot that hit two posts and then went out, so we’re talking about a guy who had every reason to feel a little down on himself.

Instead, he picked himself up and went and beat Oettinger again to secure a point for the Avalanche.

Val Nichushkin

The game-tying goal is mentioned above, which Nichushkin needed and the Avs needed and the Avalanche second line needed. It was needed, okay? Nichushkin got his 13th goal of the season with 13 seconds left. That was pretty cool.

Then Nichushkin added the fantastic shootout goal and, well, that’s what you get when you draft a guy 10th overall and then pay for him to go away. Good for Nichushkin.

Scott Wedgewood

He came in and didn’t allow a single goal. Not during regulation, not during overtime, not during the shootout. He made a few brilliant saves at 5v5, one at 3v3, and then two unbelievable stops in overtime.

Wedgewood was perfection tonight on a night where his battery mate didn’t have the goods. This is how it’s supposed to work.

Like with MacKinnon, there isn’t a lot more to say beyond “This player was incredible tonight,” because Wedgewood was incredible tonight.

Duds

Mackenzie Blackwood

Blackwood allowed four goals on 11 shots on goal and a couple of those were ones that he’s going to have to wear in the video session tomorrow. The first goal is deflected off Devon Toews‘s back and into the net and the second goal is a world-class shot from Wyatt Johnston, so I don’t have a real problem there. Would I love to see a save? Obviously, but that’s a bad bounce and an elite shot that beats him.

The third goal is when the wheels really came off the bus for him. He went to play the puck, put it right into Toews’s legs, then scrambled back around and couldn’t get back into the net to put up a fight.

The fourth goal started with Manson (see: below) but the goal from Jamie Benn wasn’t great. Blackwood had it shut down, but the pads opened up for some reason it was a freebie fourth goal.

Josh Manson

This was a fiasco of a game from Manson. He took another penalty, his sixth in six games since the Olympic break. He got rocked on a hard forecheck, was smoked into the boards, didn’t make a play on the puck, and had it stolen from him, which led to an easy goal for Jamie Benn. A total trainwreck from Manson.

His puck management was awful, his mistakes were the worst kind and led to scoring chances against, and he was a chaotic disaster throughout the game.

This was a mess from Manson and the Avalanche are going to need much better from him. Brent Burns could also be lumped into this, too, because he looked pretty lost in the defensive zone on several occasions. I think there are some more positives from his game than other people, but his defensive coverage has slipped badly over the last two months.

I’m a little worried about this pairing and think there should be some separation beginning to take place. I know the shot metrics were excellent, but the ones that got allowed were rough.

Avs Unsung Hero

Ross Colton

Plenty of love to the Avalanche penalty kill tonight, who came up huge in the third period to keep Dallas from extending their one-goal lead, but I want to use this space to give extra love to Ross Colton.

His name has been dragged through the trade mud quite a bit over the last couple of weeks and players have always said that it is a very stressful time in their lives. Colton has struggled to score goals, but we’ve seen quite a bit of great process from him even though the finish hasn’t been there.

With the acquisitions of Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy, Colton’s dream of playing in center in Denver is pretty well dead. His long-held desire to play more of a top-six role with the Avs is also much more difficult now with Kadri back in town.

So, with those disappointments now hanging over him, what did we see from Ross Colton?

He completely embraced what the Avalanche need him to be moving forward. He laid out an insane 10 hits, broke even in the shot metrics, and added two shots on goal. He was active, feisty, and leaned into the physicality as the temperature ramped up.

This is why I have been saying all season that, yes, Colton’s scoring drying up is a significant problem, but his playstyle is a perfect fit for what the Avalanche need in the postseason. He was an underrated loss for him their seven-game loss to the Stars last spring and if he can stay healthy this time around, it feels inevitable that we’ll see a game-winning goal from Colton sometime in the playoffs that will make this entire journey worth it.

As it was, I loved seeing him flying around and laying the body. The Avs need that wild man spirit. He’s got it.