Hockey Fights Cancer nights hit home for a lot of people. Fortunately, this Colorado Avalanche team was able to take away a win against the New York Islanders, who have been on fire recently, to punctuate a night spent celebrating those who have fought the tough fights.
The first period was atrocious, almost in its entirety. Colorado had nothing to show for during that period, but the Islanders did, picking up a goal off a deflected skate courtesy of Emil Heineman.
In the second period, the Avalanche seemed to wake up. Two goals in 1 minute, 19 seconds from Ross Colton and Victor Olofsson give the Avs the lead heading into the final frame. It helped that Scott Wedgewood was a complete monster in the net, especially during the Parker Kelly interference call the Avs had to kill off.
The third period wasn’t an overall exciting one. Josh Manson engages in a kerfuffle with Anders Lee, earning 5 for fighting and using his physicality to find some momentum to keep the Avs on top. The six-on-four penalty kill toward the end of regulation was a huge exclamation mark on this win, but it’s Martin Necas’ empty-netter with 34 seconds to go, then another added against Ilya Sorokin by none other than former New York Islander Brock Nelson that caps off a huge win to improve the team’s win streak to 6 games.
Scott Wedgewood might be Superman in disguise
I’d love to just leave this tweet here and call it for this takeaway, but it would do Scott Wedgewood a massive disservice if I didn’t sing his praises a little more than that.
By the time the second period ended, the Isles led Colorado in high-danger chances 6-3, and put up 12 total shots in that period alone. Scott Wedgewood, especially with the save shown in the tweet above, is the sole reason the Avs came out of the first 40 minutes on top.
Add the big saves he made in the third, namely those on a late penalty kill due to a Martin Necas delay-of-game call… He was MONEY tonight.
Coach Bednar says all the time that while it’s hard to have a perfect night, the expectation is that your goaltender can come up with the necessary saves to not give up soft goals. Wedgewood did that and so much more tonight.
All I’ll say to close this out: it’s performances like tonight’s that make it so difficult for Jared Bednar and company to give Mackenzie Blackwood the minutes he was signed to take the brunt of.
Ross Colton… Sneaky good lately?
Ross Colton has two points in his last two games with the Avs.
To the average hockey fan, that’s nothing to really bat an eye at (for the most part). But for Colton, his performances in these last two games have been nothing short of impressive.
When we talk about smart players on this Avs team, Ross Colton is not a name that comes up very often, but once or twice in a certain stretch of games, he proves why he’s earned his spot on the second line next to Brock Nelson.
Colton sees the breakout develop and begins a speedy journey up the ice. Cale Makar finds him, Colton engages in a footrace with Adam Pelech, and ultimately takes the upper hand to find an open window on Ilya Sorokin to get the Avs on the board.
