The Colorado Avalanche powered through a successful homestand to earn seven out of eight possible points and sit on the cusp of a playoff spot, one point away. There was a lot of good in the past week’s intense ride as the Avalanche continued to overcome past demons in their drive to the postseason.
THE GOOD
1. Colorado scored an Avalanche of goals to silence the Minnesota Wild in a 7-1 win. It was glorious! Hey, Minnesota fans who left early – Couldn’t happen to a nicer fan base. Cough, sputter, choke.
All kidding aside, seeing the Avalanche trounce a team currently sitting in the third playoff spot in the Central Division, a team that used to have their number, dispelled some old ghosts. They chased Devan Dubnyk out of the net for the second time this season and continued to rack up the score, proving they could put the nail in the coffin and made a dangerous team look harmless. Relish the moment.
2. The NHL named Nate ‘the Great’ MacKinnon the number one star of the week. This is the third time the NHL recognized MacKinnon’s play and comes off an eight-point week which saw the powerful forward score three goals and five assists in three contests. Just another average week at the office for Avalanche fans. For everyone else – that’s MISTER MacKinnon to you. He’s earned the respect.
While ranking 5th among point leaders, he’s played at least six fewer contests than those above him and he ranks 1st for average points per game earning 1.35 per matchup. Over the last three contests, MacKinnon took 22 shots. That’s not shot attempts. That’s actual shots on goal. Look out Nikita Kucherov, MacKinnon is gunning for your spot atop the point leaderboard! Impressive, young MacKwalker. The (hockey) force is strong in this one.
3. Colorado’s defensemen kicked it up a notch this past week. Tyson Barrie had a five-point week off two goals and three assists. Nikita Zadorov notched a pair of goals while Duncan Siemens hit the scoresheet with an empty-netter. Both Sam Girard and Patrik Nemeth contributed a couple assists apiece and even Anton Lindholm got in on the action as he added an assist in his first game back from injury. For those scoring at home, the Avalanche’s blueliners contributed five goals and eight assists to this past week’s effort. Not bad, not bad at all.
4. Somebody needs to buy Duncan Siemens a beer. Or two. He scored an empty net goal against the Calgary Flames to notch his first ever NHL goal. It was a long time coming for the 24-year-old defenseman. With 12 NHL games under his belt, he’s come up to the Avalanche as the level of play intensifies prior to the playoffs. Congratulations! And may you enjoy the ride!
5. The Avalanche put on an impressive show against teams that had been their kryptonite in former days. They hadn’t won a matchup against the Calgary Flames all year but worked to a 5-3 win, sending the Flames’ Lady Byng trophy winner Johnny Gaudreau into such a slew of cursing at officials that he drew a 10-minute misconduct penalty. Colorado then spanked the Minnesota Wild 7-1, a team which seemed to know how to disrupt the Avalanche – until this year. Finally, they took on arguably the best team in the league in the Nashville Predators and nearly earned the win, managing to come away with a point in a 4-3 overtime loss. In none of these games did Colorado look outclassed or outplayed. That is HUGE progress. Gift baskets for everyone!
6. Remember to include Bednar on those gift baskets. What looked like a crazy game of musical chairs – switching up player combinations in the Bednar blender – developed a team that can adapt to linemate changes without compromising their on-ice competitiveness. Impressive, Bednar-wan.
7. Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched but a number of the Lost Boys returned to practice with the team in some of the most hopeful news from the injury front. Goaltender Jonathan Bernier was cleared to play, forward Sven Andrighetto (remember the tenacious scorer?) will be traveling with the team while getting up to game speed, and rookie Vladislav Kamenev is practicing with the team but has yet to be cleared. Most surprising of all, defensemen Erik Johnson and Mark Barberio are skating and shooting the puck in no-contact jerseys. While they won’t be starting this week, having both blueliners shooting in practice brings hope for their return in a couple of weeks. Could the Avalanche actually be getting reinforcements while other teams are starting to rack up injuries? It’s almost too much to hope for.
8. Colorado signed promising defensive prospect Connor Timmins to an entry-level contract. Timmins proved one of the more valuable players for Team Canada in the World Juniors tournament. The organization continues to add weapons for the future arsenal. But hey, don’t worry, someone will find something to complain about despite the solid foundation Colorado is building. For the rest, it may be time to dig out those rose-colored glasses because the future looks bright!
9. The Avalanche lead the league with 16 goals scored on an empty net, tied for first place. They also sit in a second-place tie for the number of goals allowed when opponents have pulled their goalie. So, it’s kind of a mixed bag. Still, more good than bad as the Avalanche have forced their opponents to pull their goaltender more than any other team in the league. Playing with a lead can do that. Yeah, it’s unfamiliar territory. This year has been full of surprises.
10. Colorado sits in a seventh-place tie for scoring shorthanded goals this season.
11. Colorado’s special teams rebounded in the past couple of weeks. The penalty kill ranks third in the league and the power play returned to a respectable 18th. Colorado has earned the most power play chances of any team in the league. If they can convert a few more of those chances to actual goals, the Avalanche might be able to put a couple more wins on the books. It’s something to consider.
12. In case you missed it, Matt Nieto has scored a goal in the last three games and Carl Soderberg has earned at least one point over those games while Blake Comeau earned three points in the past week. Their line found a resurgence of late, logging tough ice time and racking up the minutes on the penalty kill. While not as flashy as the first line, their secondary scoring and physical play is a key factor in recent wins.
13. Forward Mikko Rantanen scored two goals and four assists in the past week, moving up to 21st in point scoring among all NHL players and putting him second on the team with 64 points – in his sophomore year. Stick taps hardly seem sufficient for that kind of performance.
14. With 10 minutes remaining in a tied game with Nashville, Coach Bednar ran out a line with five rookies on it. FIVE. Against one of the best teams in the NHL. That’s taking player development to insane levels of courage. Kudos to him, he’s braver than most. The Avalanche might want to consider having oxygen tanks standing by for fans who hold their breath during those kind of daring shifts. Or defibrillators. Just sayin’.
THE BAD
1. While the month of February could have turned out much worse, what with MacKinnon being out at the start and Erik Johnson getting injured midway through while facing a slew of road games, the team earned a 7-6-1 record. Last year, most people would have considered that an answer to prayer. This year, though, Colorado needs to do better than .500 for the remaining 17 games in order to reach the playoffs. The Western Conference looks like the Pelennor Fields as teams jockey for the final postseason spots.
2. The Avalanche have allowed the most shorthanded goals against of any team in the NHL. This is not a statistic a team wants to lead in. It’s stinky fish kind of bad.
THE UGLY
1. Forward Colin Wilson left the Minnesota Wild game midway through the second period and is going through concussion protocol. Meaning, there is no timeline for his expected return. Another injury at this time of year can only be considered ugly.
2. The Avalanche could stand some improvement in scoring when they have pulled their goaltender. So far, they have only scored once when playing with an empty net yet have allowed eight goals in. Kind of ugly.
3. It’s time for the NHL to revisit their points system for wins, losses, and ties. Colorado ranks 7th in regulation and overtime wins. But because of the revised point system, they currently sit one point out of a playoff spot. In what reality should a team be punished for winning games in regulation and overtime?
The San Jose Sharks sit in a comfortable playoff spot ahead of Colorado due to points from ties while the Toronto Maple Leafs have more points due to shoot out wins. Yet Colorado has more regulation and overtime wins than either team. The alignment system doesn’t help either. Instead of the top 16 teams going to the playoffs, the NHL has the teams divided by conference. So even though Colorado has more points than New Jersey or Columbus, those teams are in playoff spots. Thanks for nothing, Mr. Bettman.
PLAYER CAROUSEL
The player carousel continues to spin after the trade deadline.
1. Anton Lindholm returned from injury, prompting the Avalanche to send David Warsofsky back to San Antonio. He deserves some big thanks for helping Colorado get some much-needed wins and stepping up in a big way. Thank you!
2. The Avalanche waived defenseman Andrei Mironov who preferred to return to the KHL rather than play with the Rampage. While he didn’t get much time with the big club, he didn’t seem to enjoy learning the NHL game in San Antonio. Hopefully, he will be happier wherever he lands.
3. Goaltender Spencer Martin returned to the San Antonio Rampage as Jonathan Bernier was cleared to play.
WHAT TO WATCH
1. Colorado will take on the dreaded Blackhawks in Chicago at 6:30 pm MST tonight. Is it politically incorrect to hope they scalp the Blackhawks?
2. The Avalanche will head to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets with a 5 pm MST puck drop on Thursday, March 8. Hopefully, Bednar has some insight on how to defeat the organization he once worked in.
3. Colorado will return home for a 1 pm MST Saturday matinee hosting the Arizona Coyotes at the Pepsi Can. Don’t let the standings fool you. Arizona should not be taken lightly as they have played over .500 hockey since the start of the New Year.
4. While Colorado needs to focus on winning as many of their 17 remaining games as possible, they could use a little help from some other teams as well. A couple of key losses by the Dallas Stars and the Los Angeles Kings, as well as the St. Louis Blues, could help the Avalanche earn a playoff spot. Colorado has a game in hand on all of those teams so all they need is a little window of opportunity. Is it too early for sacrificing buckets of chicken?
5. The Avalanche will be facing a large number of teams either solidly in the postseason or fighting for those final spots going down the stretch. They need to adopt the attitude of what doesn’t kill them will make them stronger. Should they win out and secure a playoff berth, they will enter the playoffs well prepared for the postseason.
