Avs blowout Jets behind Landeskog hat trick

Two nights ago, when the Colorado Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks in an overtime thriller, we talked on the DNVR Avalanche Postgame Show about how the Avs have been impressive this season in their ability to win in a variety of different games and situations.

Well, that was on display again tonight. After a back and forth first period that saw the Avalanche get into a little bit of a track meet with the visiting Winnipeg Jets, the Avs pressed the pedal all the way to the floor and absolutely buried the Jets by a final tally of 7-1. 

There were so many things to like in this game for me, it really had it all. Let’s dive into this on the individual side of it first.

Nathan MacKinnon aaced all skaters with five points, finally breaking through and potting a goal, while adding four helpers, most of them in impressive fashion. 

I Tweeted after the second period that MacKinnon is playing some of the best hockey we’ve ever seen from him, in my opinion. Is he dominating games by himself and carrying his team to every victory they’re earning like we’ve seen him do in the past? No. And that’s what is making what he’s doing so impressive.

 When you talk about some of the game’s all-time greats, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, one of the things most people would say these players all have in common, despite being very different stylistically, is that they make the players around them better.

Success follows them and it doesn’t matter who you put out there with them or what situation you put them in. They find a way to manufacture results out of nothing. None of MacKinnon’s assists tonight were cheap, he created offense and generated chances that led directly to goals.

Even though he only showed up on the goal column once, he was key in the Avs pulling away.

MacKinnon wasn’t the only Av to put on an offensive show tonight. Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog completed the hat trick with just 2:50 left in the game. 

He did everything you want to see Landy do over the course of a game. He was engaged physically, he was causing problems in front of the net, and obviously, he was filling the net.

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said he thought that tonight was the best game we’ve seen out of the top line, and that was attributed to them being a “hard-working line”, and I thought Landy was the leader on that front.

Easy to be overlooked in a game where the offense hangs seven goals on one of the best goalies in the league in Connor Hellebuyck, but I thought Darcy Kuemper was fantastic tonight.

I made a point to isolate my attention on him for a couple of the Avs penalty kills in the third period, and you could tell he was just dialed in. His tracking was phenomenal, his movements were sharp, and he was battling to find pucks in close.

The Jets’ lone goal came on the power play in the first period on a cross-ice play that Kuemper never really had a chance on. After that, he locked it down and turned in a big-time game, even though he got all the goal support he could’ve asked for.

Now, let’s talk about this game from more of a macro perspective. Like I said earlier, this Avs team is really impressive this season in their ability to adapt to whatever style of play they need to, in order to get a win.

Winnipeg is a big, heavy, skilled team that can play fast. In the first period, The Avs seemed content to play fast, north/south hockey and trade chances. After tying the game at one late in the first on a Nazem Kadri tip of an Erik Johnson shot, the Avalanche went to the room, regrouped, and completely took over the game.

It’s not that they couldn’t run and gun with the Jets, but rather than just try to out-skill Winnipeg (which they probably could’ve done), the Avs committed to their system, moved the puck efficiently, crashed the net, and really just leaned on Winnipeg in a way that many teams just can’t match.

As the season continues, and we inch closer and closer to the really meaningful part of the schedule on the lead-up to the playoffs, Colorado seems to be fine-tuning all of the details of their game that have kept them from getting to their ceiling in the past.

I really don’t know if the team cares about where they are in the standings, I think they’re just focused on bringing their best game every single night, and finding consistency in the way they play. 

They’ll get another chance to prove exactly what they’re made of, as one of the top teams in the NHL rolls into Denver on Saturday when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at 5 PM. The Avs will be looking to get some revenge after being on the wrong end of an 8-3 final when they last visited the 6ix on December 1st.

This version of the Avalanche is much different than the one Toronto saw the first time around, and after seeing the way Colorado tuned up a good Winnipeg team tonight, I can’t wait to see two of the league’s giants collide.