In this original DNVR series, we take a look at some of the best Avalanche photography of the last week as well as the top picture in the game of hockey.
Assistant captain Nathan McKinnon emerges during the Opening Night ceremonies at the sold-out Pepsi Center. In a rematch of last season’s Stanley Cup first round, Colorado torched the Calgary Flames once again, 5-3. The Avalanche/Nordiques franchise is now 23-10-7 (.663) all-time on Opening Night, good for the second-best record in the NHL behind the Tampa Bay Lightning (18-7-2, .704). Since moving to Denver, the Avs are 16-5-3 (.729) in home openers, including a 14-4-2 (.750) record at the Pepsi Center. Only the Minnesota Wild (13-1-4, .833) has a higher points percentage in home openers. (Credit: USA Today)Forward J.T. Compher places his first call of the season during game one against goalie David Rittich. His wrister – assisted by Matt Calvert and Nikita Zadorov – with 12:22 remaining in the second period gave Colorado a 3-2 lead from which they’d never look back. The two-points gave the Avalanche a win in seven straight regular-season games at The Can dating back to the 2018-19 campaign. (Credit: USA Today)Joonas Donskoi scores the fifth and final goal of the night on an empty net. In his Avalanche debut, the Finnish forward recorded two goals to match a career high for goals in a game and continue his strong play against the Flames. He has 17 points (10g, 7a) in 16 games against Calgary, his most goals and points versus any opponent. (Credit: USA Today)Head coach Jared Bednar looks on during another strong start to the 2019-20 campaign, his fourth consecutive season opening win. The 47-year-old has his work cut out for him with an NHL-leading nine countries represented on the opening roster (tied with Columbus): Canada, 9; United States, 4; Russia, 3; Finland, 2; Austria, 1; Czech Republic, 1; Germany, 1; France, 1; Sweden, 1. (Credit: USA Today)Gabriel Landeskog’s second-period goal put up Colorado 3-2 against game two opponent Minnesota and was the 178th of his career, tying him with Matt Duchene for seventh place in franchise history. The Swede’s marker was the 27th game-winner of his career. The eighth-year captain said of his goal, “I mean I’m not surprised when I get those on my tape from Mikko (Rantanen) anymore, he’s been serving those for years. I was glad I was able to put it in.” (Credit: USA Today)Philipp Grubauer recorded 29 saves in the 4-2 victory over the Wild on Saturday night and was incredibly prepared for the matchup. “I watched all the goals they scored in preseason, all the goals they scored in the first game. They just like shooting from the blue line and getting bodies in front so you can’t really give too many rebounds. If we give up rebounds we have to eliminate the secondary chances, which our guys did an amazing job today taking away the second chances and committing to blocking the shots.” (Credit: USA Today)
Picture of the Week
St. Louis Blues watch as their Stanley Cup Champions banner is raised – the first in the franchise’s 52 NHL seasons – prior to their home opener – a 3-2 loss in overtime – against the Washington Capitals at Enterprise Center on Wednesday night. (Credit: USA Today)
