Avs-Blackhawks Game 63 Studs & Duds

Studs

The rebound game

I know it’s the Chicago Blackhawks and they are absolutely terrible, but dominating another team in the NHL isn’t the easiest thing to do so I’m giving the Avs some flowers for responding to their bad loss in Nashville by bopping Chicago.

It’s weird to me that the Avs finished the season 3-1 against Chicago on the season and all three wins were shutouts. That’s fun and all.

More than anything I loved that the Avs jumped on Chicago and built up a lead without the Blackhawks seriously threatening at any point. It was encouraging that they just smoked a terrible team and put them in the rearview mirror.

Every point in the standings counts as the Avs are clearly in third place in the Central Division now so thumbs up.

Justus Annunen

Two straight shutouts and only one goal allowed in regulation in three games? That’s how you make the organization make decisions. He’s been a young guy that hasn’t been given very many good opportunities and then he got two straight starts against the lowly Blackhawks and produced.

He earned those starts with a great performance in Detroit against a better-than-expected Red Wings offense and then continues to earn more opportunities. He was again great tonight making every save that came his way, most notably shutting down a breakaway against Connor Bedard in the second period.

That save was huge as Bedard scoring would have made it 2-1 and could have gotten the game into a more competitive place. Annunen shut him down and that was kind of it for the game being in any doubt. The Avs handled their business from there.

With only one more game before the trade deadline, it would be a tough look if the Avs went and got a veteran goaltender to supplant him and his final two starts of the year were both shutouts.

Nathan MacKinnon

Four more points, bringing him back into a tie with Nikita Kucherov for the league lead in scoring. He was all of the offensive engine the Avs needed with two goals and two assists.

I’m just not sure what else there is to say about him other than he is a legitimate MVP candidate this season precisely because of games such as this. He is 15 points shy of tying Joe Sakic’s Avalanche record of 120 points with 19 games left. Could be some history in the making.

Cale Makar

That’s the Makar we have all been waiting to see. Dominant on both ends with production. It was great to see him get a goal and his reaction was telling in that you could see the pressure Makar puts on himself to be a difference-maker on offense.

If Makar gets rolling offensively, watch the hell out.

Duds

Andrew Cogliano

Another game where there really isn’t a lot to criticize, so I guess I’m going with Cogliano being called for two obvious penalties. The first of them came early enough in the game that it could have made a difference, so don’t do that, Cogs.

The second one wasn’t in a very consequential portion of the game so this is a super nitpick. It’s fine.

Unsung Hero

Zach Parise

This isn’t so much about his goal, which made the game 4-0 and hit a Blackhawks player before deflecting off of his foot first. This is about all the other dirty work he does every single shift.

He’s playing up in Colorado’s lineup a bit and I can’t help but wonder if he’s slowly taking Miles Wood’s entrenched job on the third line. Wood’s game has slipped lately and Parise’s has turned up quite a bit.

When Val Nichushkin returns to the lineup, Colorado’s left wing depth is looking like Artturi Lehkonen, Nichushkin, Parise, Wood, and Cogliano with Jonathan Drouin also able to jump into the mix and both Lehkonen and Nichushkin comfortable hopping to the right wing regularly.

Parise’s addition has been as advertised and we saw him taking advantage of some guys that probably shouldn’t be in the NHL. His work ethic every shift pops and the impact he has on every line he’s been on since starting with the Avs has been obvious. He took advantage of an overmatched team tonight but this is a guy that is emerging as an x-factor for this club.