Three shutouts in a row is an insane sentence to write, but the Colorado Avalanche have managed to earn it after tonight’s 6-0 win over the San Jose Sharks.
The Avs dominated the first period, holding the Sharks to just five shots while going out and putting 15 on the Sharks’ young goaltender, Yaroslav Askarov. Ross Colton got things going with an unassisted goal early on in the period. This period also saw the power play get back on the board, thanks to Nathan MacKinnon.
The Avs still managed to win the second period, despite letting up on the gas a little. The Sharks led in shots 17-11, but three goals in less than two minutes from Sam Malinski, Josh Manson, and Joel Kiviranta (welcome back, Kivi!) gave Colorado the 5-0 lead heading into the final frame. Following Malinski’s goal, Askarov got pulled, and backup netminder Alex Nedeljkovic manned the crease for the rest of the game, giving his team a significant amount of momentum heading into the rest of the game.
The third period was much more even. The penalty kill did what it needed to do, and Mackenzie Blackwood continued to stun after his shutout performance in Nashville on Saturday. Artturi Lehkonen capped off an impeccable win with 3:45 left in regulation, finishing this thing off 6-0.
After tonight’s win, the Avs improve their win streak to 10 games.
Power play gets going
After going cold on the back-to-back this past weekend, the power play looked insane tonight.
I was shocked when they didn’t score during their first opportunity. Both units looked energetic with great puck movement, and the second unit especially had some really dangerous looks on goal. It’s (shocker) Nathan MacKinnon with the goal, though.
Special teams, overall, looked incredible tonight. The penalty kill went on a perfect streak tonight, improving on a less-than-pleasant performance against the New York Rangers, and held onto their top-3 PK%.
This blue line is MONEY
I mean this in the best way possible: the blue line was NASTY tonight on all fronts. From Devon Toews being a defensive monster to Sam Malinski and Josh Manson scoring within nine seconds of each other, the fourth-fastest time between goals in franchise history.
Numbers at the end of the first period: the Avalanche finished the first 20 minutes with five high-danger chances. Devon Toews had two of them. In the second period, he almost had a breakaway goal coming out of the box from his holding penalty.
Through the second period, Samuel Girard was the only defenseman who had not registered a shot on goal.
This past weekend, some of the conversation revolved around this team leaving their goaltender out to dry, but that was certainly not the case with the way they were blocking shots tonight and covering odd-man rushes. Backchecking was impeccable, as well (Sam Malinski first comes to mind for this point).
I have nothing bad to say about this team’s defense tonight.
