Even in the face of adversity, Cale Makar is a generational player breaking franchise records

The Colorado Avalanche capitalized on a weary Dallas Stars team on the second leg of a back-to-back. Crucial division points were on the line and the Avs’ 5-1 win over the Stars put them within two points with a game in hand. A Winnipeg Jets win over St. Louis in the same night made the points mean that much more.

Colorado received a flood of secondary scoring, successful special teams, an excellent goaltending performance, and important contributions from the top guys. After a heartbreak against Toronto on Saturday, the Avs could take off for their next road trip on a positive note.

Alexandar Georgiev’s Blueprint

It was another confidence building game for Alexandar Georgiev. In his 48th start of the season, Georgiev stopped 33 of 34 shots and finished with a 0.971 save percentage.

The lone goal-against had two points of breakdown before Logan Stankoven wristed the puck past him from the crease. A lost board battle and an assignment left uncovered allowed the dangerous chance in close.

Dallas may have struck first, but the Avs responded quickly and stepped on their throats with two goals before the end of the first period.

Georgiev locked it down after the first goal one minute into the contest. Through two penalty kills and a Dallas team forced to chase the game, it’s unsurprising the Stars led the shots battle by the end. The Stars were forced to play from a place of desperation – the Avs dropped five unanswered goals.

In that, Georgiev stopped an impressive 18 of 19 high-danger chances. The Stars generated a lot from between the hash marks and at high-volume.

Despite the worst stretch of their season coming out of the All-Star break, Georgiev has made the fourth-most saves of any goaltender (221) since that point and maintained a 0.909 save percentage in the face of it all.

It’s important to note that Georgiev’s confidence in the net was supported by five different goal scorers for the Avs. Jake Oettinger is a strong goaltender, so the influx of goal support helped the Avs definitively win the battle in net.

A Moment for Cale Makar

With an assist on Nathan MacKinnon’s goal, Cale Makar became the highest-scoring defenseman in franchise history with 308 career points. He surpassed Tyson Barrie to do it and did so in 293 games. To emphasize how impressive that is, Barrie achieved 307 points in 484 games.

Colorado brought Dallas to the point of no return in the second period with three goals and Makar helped with the fourth goal-against.

The play started in their d-zone. Makar dumped the puck into the Stars’ end from distance. Oettinger tried to rim the puck around the boards and out, but Makar pulled up to stop it at the wall.

Artturi Lehkonen worked a give and go with MacKinnon, and MacKinnon took off with the puck, cut across the crease, and lifted the puck in.

“Struggles for him are normal days for most people,” Devon Toews said after Makar broke the record despite a recent stretch that kept him off the scoresheet.

“Breaking a record at such a young age, he’s going to demolish it. He’s got a lot of time ahead of him playing in this organization,” Toews added.

“I think offensively the points aren’t coming, but he’s generating opportunities and trying to consistently impact the game in a positive way. Even though he’s been struggling offensively, he’s been able to do that still. It’s just a testament to him and how hard he works and what he expects from himself.”

Jared Bednar sang his praises in the postgame too. “When I saw that the other day he tied Tyson Barrie, I was thinking about his age and how much hockey he still has in front of him,” he said. 

“They’ve had some pretty good defensemen play here for long periods of time, so to be at the top of the list already, that’s pretty impressive. He’s got so much hockey left to be played and probably his best hockey yet to be played.”

One point a piece in back-to-back games might seem like a slow pace for the defenseman with the second-most points in the league right now, but it’s a welcome sight after Makar’s struggles on the road trip earlier this month.

Makar doesn’t look back to being himself 100%, but it’s an important reminder that even not at his best in the throes of the toughest stretch of his young career to date, he’s a generational player breaking franchise records.

Ask anyone in the room and they’ll affirm that it’s never a lack of effort from Makar. He’s faced some adversity this year after rehabbing a nagging lower-body injury from last year that kept him out at the start of preseason. He’s had to adjust to a new normal of discomfort with that, and it may come with some adjustments – especially for a player relied on for so much.

At this point last year, he led the league in ice time and remains in the top-ten for minutes this season as well.

Formula for Success

When the fourth line chips in a goal, Colorado’s record is really good. The Avs haven’t had a consistent fourth line for much of this season with a revolving door of personnel to accommodate guys coming in and out of the lineup.

Last night Bednar was able to roll four true lines with some trust – trust that was earned.

The tying goal came from an unlikely place, but you should never underestimate the power of an ex-player facing his former team.

Dallas cleared the puck out of their zone, but Toews was ready for it in the neutral zone and quickly set Andrew Cogliano to re-enter.

Cogliano skated the puck to the top of the right-circle and found Joel Kiviranta opposite him. The ex-Dallas Star wristed it past Oettinger. 

Then a Dallas turnover in the defensive zone allowed Colorado to set up in transition. Lehkonen broke out the puck and Mikko Rantanen helped set up Nathan MacKinnon for entry.

MacKinnon’s initial attempt was blocked and Lehkonen tried to go for the rebound. He wasn’t successful, but his presence at the net allowed Rantanen to sneak to the low-slot and grab a failed Dallas-clear.

Rantanen sent the puck back to MacKinnon and he wristed it on net. Oettinger made another block and Rantanen slipped in front of Ryan Suter – as gracefully as a Moose could – and tapped the rebound in while falling to the ice.

MacKinnon’s home point-streak was extended to 29 games, and the fun really began in the second period.

Now with a goal in back-to-back games, Cogliano joined the ex-player scoring party too with his fifth goal of the season.

Chris Wagner got his first point with the Avs this season after he battled along the boards at center ice to nudge the puck ahead so that Cogliano could chase it with speed. Cogliano skated to the low-slot and wristed the puck in.

MacKinnon added to the tally and a powerplay goal from Lehkonen completed the night.

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It was a great bounce back game from the Avs that better showed what they’re made of. It was not without some defensive errors, but they moved their feet well and better supported each other in their coverage.

Goal scoring on the whole was down over this last stretch, so the flood of goals felt like a revival. The true test of course will come on the road where they’ve continued to struggle this season. Hopefully they can use Tuesday’s game as a launch pad.