Studs Discipline Lost in what was ultimately a disappointing night, one upside I enjoyed was that the Avalanche only had to kill one penalty on the night. It’s a little skewed because they also were called for another one that resulted in a penalty shot, but both situations were thisclose to going well for the Avalanche. They didn’t, however, but…
Studs Nathan MacKinnon Remember two whole games ago when I was frustrated that Nathan MacKinnon hadn’t taken over a game in a while and even though he was finding his way to points, he just didn’t look like Nathan MacKinnon? Fair to say that’s over. His goal and assist tonight felt like the Jets got off easy as he was…
Studs Nathan MacKinnon This is the all-world player that we’ve become accustomed to seeing in Denver. I criticized him in this space the other day for some lazy habits that creep into his game when he isn’t playing his best. Tonight we saw the monster, the dominant player who doesn’t get discouraged when he doesn’t make the play he wants…
Studs The Avs through two periods Some context here is important: The Avs were playing their second game within 24 hours (tonight’s game started two hours earlier than last night’s game that ended in a shootout), traveled (Anaheim to LA is probably the easiest travel, but still) lost their best player in Cale Makar to injury, and were playing a…
Studs Bowen Byram I wrote after the loss to Arizona that despite Byram’s obvious miscues I felt his game was moving in the right direction and I feel this was a small vindication of that. He scored two goals in the first period and had chances for the hat trick throughout the game. Both goals were a result of exactly…
Studs Nathan MacKinnon I actually really liked most of what MacKinnon did tonight. There were some of those maddening passes into space to nobody and some offensive zone turnovers that created extended defensive possessions, but in that third period when the Avalanche needed a lift, he was there. It was his one-timer that got the Avalanche tied and, arguably, got…
Studs Ryan Johansen You score two goals in a game the Avs win, you’re a Stud. Those are the rules. The Avalanche have needed that offense to come from other areas because they are not as prolific offensively through their defense (despite Cale Makar’s brilliance) as they normally are, so it’s vital that the man brought in to be Colorado’s…
Studs Ivan Prosvetov There’s no chance a goaltender wins a game without the team in front of him scoring goals, but there’s no chance that team wins games during a third period in which said team turtles hard without a goaltender meeting the moment. I can nitpick all I want and bring up that the Flames beat him cleanly twice…
Studs Alexandar Georgiev We’ve talked a lot recently about how the Avalanche needed more from their starting goaltender. Tonight, they got it. Georgiev rose to the occasion in the third period as the Avalanche had some defensive zone breakdowns and opened the door for the Wild to tie the game. It was nothing doing for Minnesota, however, as Georgiev refused…
Studs Cale Makar The run-up to the game featured a lot of attention on Makar versus Quinn Hughes, Vancouver’s star defenseman who is off to an unreal start with 31 points so far this season. In the game itself, both players had their moments as Hughes was solid against Colorado’s best players but tore up the depth guys. On the…
Studs Cale Makar The guy was awesome tonight right up until the moment he wasn’t. He had three assists and was driving play in a way nobody else on Colorado’s team was. His skating was on point and he was using his legs to cause problems and his puck-moving was, well, good enough for three more assists tonight. Makar was…
Studs Colorado’s third line The combination of Miles Wood, Ross Colton, and Logan O’Connor has been nothing short of spectacular together. They are killing it. When the Avs were down and out in tonight’s game, that line was the one to give them life. They were playing well when the rest of the team wasn’t, so it seems appropriate they…
Studs The obvious guys Eight players had multi-point nights tonight, led by Joel Kiviranta’s three (1g, 2a) and Cale Makar (3a). There were only five Avalanche skaters to not register a point tonight, so instead of doing extended write-ups on each of those players I’m taking the obvious way out and saying all of those guys were really good. I’ll…
Studs The third period I want to start here. There’s back in the first (see below) and much better in the second, but the third period is where teams close games out. Being a great team in the third period is one of those traits that is shared by nearly every championship team in the NHL’s long and storied history.…
Well, that was a little better. Following the team’s dreadful loss on home ice to the St. Louis Blues two nights ago, the Colorado Avalanche traveled to the friendly confines of Seattle to take on the Kraken for the third time in the season’s first 14 games. They split the first two with the Kraken eeking out a win in…
Studs Nope. Duds The forwards There were some nice moments early on. I really liked the hard drive to the net by Ross Colton. He should have scored that goal and had the Avs tied it 1-1 at that point, who knows how the rest of the night goes? Momentum is a huge factor in hockey games and the longer…
It is a very rare thing during an 82-game NHL season that I watch a game and don’t have any interest at all in looking at any of the numbers that went into it. I have an insatiable curiosity and there is almost always something to pique my interest. Not tonight. From Colorado’s perspective, there is not one single redeeming…
Studs Bowen Byram This was my favorite game of the year from Byram. I get into my frustration with the defense at the bottom of this piece, but I thought Byram was awesome tonight. He skated the puck out of trouble and into danger for the Kraken. He attacked up the ice with his skating and aggressive mentality. He put…
Studs Colorado’s third line The Miles Wood-Ross Colton-Logan O’Connor trio was great tonight. Hell, I thought they were pretty great (for the most part) in Vegas, too, but the speed and physicality they play with is a total departure from that line’s identity last season and you saw tonight why two of those guys were brought in over the summer.…
Studs The schedule That was an embarrassing showing that isn’t going to leave the minds of either fan base for a long time, but the reality is that the game only counts as one in the standings. The Avalanche finish their first ten-game stretch at 7-3 and return home for the next week of games, which will be nice because…
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