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The Colorado Avalanche opened their season in Los Angeles last night to take on the Kings in the final game of the NHL’s opening-night triple-header. It started with some fun from the Kings as they came out for warm-ups in their usual jerseys, only to make a switch to a new jersey that had not been revealed yet.
To me, that was a pretty fun moment. The jersey releases on social media all come across as sanitized PR and nothing that actually drives fan engagement, so I loved this approach to a jersey reveal.
Other fun moments included Martin Necas scoring two goals as he was one of four Avs players to record a multi-point night in Colorado‘s 4-1 win over the Kings. It was a fun night in LA, so let’s tackle some of the big observations from the game.
We begin with Necas.
Avs need this version of Martin Necas this season
This wasn’t a dominant performance from Colorado’s top line, which was made up tonight of Artturi Lehkonen, Nathan MacKinnon, and Necas. While Lehkonen is the ultimate lunch-pail player and MacKinnon one of the league’s true superstars, Necas has been in the spotlight quite a bit as he heads into the final year of his contract.
The contractual tango taking place around the league and several high-profile pending free agents is interesting everywhere, but the Avs and Necas are unique because of how Necas landed in Denver to begin with as he was the main piece the Avs got in exchange for franchise icon Mikko Rantanen, who entered last year with no new contract before general manager Chris MacFarland threw in the towel on grinding out a new deal and shocked the NHL with the three-team blockbuster last January.
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Necas is a fascinating case because of the warts in his profile but also his obvious stylistic fit as a guy who was bred in a lab to play for this version of the Avalanche.
We saw his blazing skating and skill on display at times, but it was the lethal shot that he has so underutilized throughout his career that was the difference-maker against the Kings.
While the first goal of the season was more of the result of the gravitational pull of MacKinnon, Necas finished it off with a great shot that beat former Avs goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
This is the kind of electric hockey that even the best defensive teams, which included the Kings last season, struggle to shut down because it can come from nothing and one poor read leaves Necas sniping pucks with no Kings defender able to provide resistance.
Necas scored a similar goal later on the power play and the key here, to me, was the confidence Necas shot both pucks. He didn’t overthink it, something he has been prone to throughout his career, and instead believed he could pick the corner and succeeded. The first goal was on the short side and Necas set Kuemper up with an identical-looking approach, only to shoot it far side and in.
It’s unreal stuff from Necas, who is tied with Justin Brazeau for the NHL lead in goals scored after the league’s first night. The Avs hope to see much more of this kind of quality from Necas throughout the year.
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The Avs were not interested in being bullied
When Josh Manson absolutely crushed Warren Foegele late in the first period, it ignited a whole new phase of the game where the teams stopped feeling each other out and started trying to hit each other – a lot.
Manson’s hit was met with an immediate challenge to a fight by Kings forward Jeff Malott, whose brother apparently fights in the UFC (thanks to the ESPN broadcast for pointing that out approximately every single time Malott was mentioned). It was a good tilt and led to a more spirited affair the rest of the way.
Things got particularly chippy in the third period as the Avs extended their lead to 4-0 and Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke smoked Lehkonen with a dangerous cross-check that left Lehkonen sliding hard into the boards. MacKinnon took exception and went after Clarke, taking an Interference penalty in the process. Just over a minute later, Manson also went after Clarke and connected with a rough cross-check to Clarke’s ribs and put the Kings on a 5v3.
Los Angeles scored their only goal of the night, but things weren’t finished. For some insane reason, Clarke wasn’t done going after guys as he went and cross-checked Lehkonen again. As the Avs were blowing a gasket, Clarke quickly put the linesman between himself and the nearest Av and skated away to the penalty box with great haste, leaving his teammates behind to deal with the mess he left.
Ignoring what a bunch of selfish nonsense it was from Clarke to refuse to acknowledge any of his behavior, it also effectively ended the game as the Avs went back onto the power play and ran out the clock on the rest of the game.
The real story from all of this was Colorado’s tight-knit approach. While we saw the Kings half-heartedly trying to step up in defense of Clarke on a few occasions, the Avs were far more resolute in their approach to defending the crest. This was hockey with a side order of hate and the Avs were far more effective in harnessing theirs than the Kings.
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Colorado looked like a team that wasn’t going to take any nonsense from anyone and the Kings looked like they knew they were stuck trying to rally around a young player who was out of control. Parker Kelly mentioned to me during the preseason that Gabe Landeskog‘s tone-setting beatdown of Utah prospect Sam Lipkin in the first preseason game was an infectious energy and that it was easy to get inspired to stand up for a teammate when your leader is so quick to do it.
We saw that contagious energy catch hold in a major way in the third period as the Avs were suffering from downright bloodlust as Clarke continued to take shots at guys. The Avs have earned a reputation as a bit too soft and easy to play against in recent years. They seem intent on trying to change that narrative already.
The power play wasn’t great…again
The reality is that unless the Avalanche power play succeeded above a 50% clip in Game 1, we were going to be lamenting its struggles once again. The final total was one goal on six attempts with the man advantage and nobody really feels very good about the early returns following the offseason coaching swap from Ray Bennett to Dave Hakstol.
There are obviously 81 more games to go this season, so let’s not overreact too much here and all, but how do you feel good about a unit that spent 10:24 on the ice and managed just five shots on goal, two scoring chances, and two high-danger chances? Those aren’t nearly good enough numbers given both the quality of players in Colorado’s lineup and the number of opportunities given by the undisciplined Kings.
The fit of Necas and MacKinnon continues to be a clunky misadventure where nobody looks quite comfortable with the plan, but at least we saw them try a few wrinkles with rotating the two and being more active in general.
Lots of time left and all, but in a world where we want to make too much of Game 1, I’m nervous.
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Gabe Landeskog is okay…right?
Parsing ice time and trying to dig deeper into the meaning derived from it can be tricky business, but it did stand out to me that Landeskog played just 11:12 total on the night. Now, he’s not part of the penalty kill and the Avs did have to kill four penalties and Landeskog is on the second power-play unit so he wasn’t getting top billing there, either, and that’s all important to note.
I only mention this because we’re all going to be a little touchy about Landeskog’s health after watching the last three years play out and the rampant uncertainty surrounding his status. Why am I bringing all of this up? Because I couldn’t help but raise my eyebrows when I saw that Landeskog played just two shifts (1:32 of ice time) in the third period.
Beyond the special team considerations mentioned above, the Avs also entered the final frame leading 3-0 before the penalty parade began for both clubs (combined seven penalties in the third period), and that might have given head coach Jared Bednar the perfect excuse not to push it with his captain.
I’m hoping that’s the case because I’m not ready to go back into a world of constantly wondering what might be happening with Landeskog’s knee.
Avs interviews
Jared Bednar
Scott Wedgewood (who was great, by the way!)
Cale Makar
Martin Necas
Gabe Landeskog
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