Avalanche back up Landeskog's bold words in blowout over Blackhawks

“It’s going to be completely different and we’re going to come back tomorrow and bounce back.”

That was Colorado Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog Friday night following the team’s embarrassing 7-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. It was a good quote and what the captain of a team should say. Too frequently in recent years, however, the team had only excelled at saying the right things. Too rarely have they taken to the ice and backed up their words.

Back at home against the Chicago Blackhawks, Landeskog and his new linemates, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, led the way on the ice in a redemptive 6-3 victory. For once, the strong words from the team’s leadership core had the backing of its on-ice performance. For now, they can take pride in how they responded to an on-ice humiliation that became all-too commonplace last year.

“Like I told you last night, we’re a different group,” Landeskog said. “When we talked about it last night after the game, basically, shit happens and we’re going to turn the page and we’re going to move on and make sure we respond the right way. I thought we did that.”

Following the loss to Vegas, Landeskog brought the team together and sent a message that he refused to be part of another group that was going to quit.

“We had a meeting to make sure it wasn’t going to be like last year,” MacKinnon admitted. “No one can enter that mindset like ‘here we go again’ and [Landeskog] relayed that to us. I don’t know if anyone is thinking like that but just to make sure that it’s a brand new season with totally different players and we showed that tonight.”

Looking to spark his team’s struggling top line, head coach Jared Bednar made the decision to put Landeskog on the left wing next to MacKinnon and Rantanen, dropping Sven Andrighetto down to Landeskog’s old spot next to Matt Duchene. The decision paid immediate dividends as the trio was responsible for Colorado’s white-hot start to the game, scoring just 3:24 into the contest.

“Obviously, when you don’t get results, you put a lot of pressure on yourself and we had some losses that were a result of us not producing,” MacKinnon said of his line’s slow start. “We were playing solid and we had lots of chances but it was only a matter of time.”

The line was arguably Colorado’s best in Vegas before the scoring began but clearly, something needed to change. With MacKinnon languishing with five points and Rantanen at seven and both players struggling mightily to find a rhythm at even strength, insert Landeskog and boom goes the dynamite. Rantanen and MacKinnon recorded two goals and one assist apiece and Landeskog chipped in with a highlight-reel worthy assist of his own.

“I think we found the x-factor here,” Landeskog jokingly said of his line’s instant success. “I think we know who the X-factor is at this point. These guys have been cold as of lately until they put me in!”

It was a light-hearted moment rarely, if ever seen, from last year’s squad as Landeskog playfully jabbed his linemates.

“No, obviously, we’ve played together in the past,” Landeskog began to explain. “As far as the way we play, these guys obviously have a lot of talent, a lot of speed, and a lot of skill. I just tried to make sure I’m hard to play against and create some room for them out there and be strong on pucks and get to the net. I think for us as a line, we’ve just got to make sure we’re doing the little things right and we’re responsible in our end and make sure we play the right way breaking out of our zone. Obviously, with the speed we have up the middle, we should be attacking some defensemen off the rush. It felt good as a starting game.”

After a 3-0 explosion in the first period, there was the threat of a letdown looming over the entire squad. Instead, they took important steps to continue to prove they are not last year’s team as MacKinnon and Landeskog executed a beautiful two-on-one that saw Landeskog’s initial shot stopped but he corralled the rebound and tapped it across the crease to MacKinnon, who had the entire net and made no mistake, giving Colorado a 4-0 lead just 2:56 into the period and setting the tone of dominance that followed.

“As a player, you gotta shoot those and force the goalie to make a save,” Landeskog stated. “I wasn’t too happy with my first shot but [MacKinnon] stopped on the back door and I stopped on the puck and was able to poke it over to him.”

Despite giving up two goals to Chicago late in the second that draw the game to a 5-2 score, the Avalanche held strong and played a respectable third period. While Chicago poured on the shots, very few were of a dangerous variety as Colorado limited the Blackhawks’ offense to the perimeter. A 6-3 final served as an impressive response to the Vegas debacle.

It wasn’t just the top line that enjoyed success as Rocco Grimaldi, called up today after another string of injuries yesterday, recorded a goal and as assist in his bid to stick around longer. Andrighetto also notched a goal and an assist on Colorado’s second line next to Grimaldi and Matt Duchene. The depth scoring has been a huge improvement this season but tonight’s story was driven by Colorado’s stars.

“I think the confidence,” MacKinnon said of the ultimate difference in this year’s team. “Last year we might have blew that 5-0 lead honestly. They scored two, we might have gotten tight. We’re young but we’re mature and we have guys here right now. Last year, we had guys that caved in. We don’t want to be under .500 and we want to keep climbing. We’re younger and faster I think is the biggest thing because we can skate with anybody in this league. A couple key injuries but we needed to step up and we did.”

Instead of listening to another rousing rendition of “The greatness of Chicago” as sung to them by people who don’t live there, the Avalanche serenaded their hostile environment with a steady stream of their own goal song. It was music to the ears of a Colorado fan base looking for any reason to believe this year is different.