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Welcome back to the NHL regular season, friends! As fun as the Olympics were to watch (oh my gosh, what a tournament), I’m sure glad to be back to the grind… And what a grind it’s set up to be. Straight out of the Olympic break, the Avs kicked off the first of five games in seven days at the Delta Center against the Utah Mammoth.
A couple of housekeeping notes made ahead of this one, the largest of which is that Brett Kulak is officially an Av! Kulak was acquired in a trade that happened ahead of practice on Tuesday, the same trade that sent long-tenured Avs defenseman Samuel Girard to the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with a 2028 second-round pick in the NHL Entry Draft.
Kulak debuted on the third pair with Sam Malinski, but the expectation is that he can be flexible on the left side of all three pairings as the rest of the season progresses.
Nathan MacKinnon did not dress for tonight’s game, but the other three players who appeared in the gold medal match in Milan played, including Brock Nelson, who announced his playing status before puck drop today.
Scott Wedgewood got the nod in net tonight, starting opposite Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka, who is fresh off a trip to Milan to represent Team Czechia in the Olympics. Wedgewood earned his 21st win of the season.
The first period saw many notable chances, including a goal from gold-medal winner Brock Nelson, but ultimately, a goaltender interference challenge nullified it, and the period ended without either team on the board.
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The second period, though… *chef’s kiss*. All six goals scored in this game were tallied in the middle frame.
Parker Kelly got the scoring started with an incredible individual effort through the offensive zone. From the transition to the goal itself, perfect stuff from the Avs’ fourth-line regular, who is having a career season this year.
Victor Olofsson, who hasn’t scored since January 23rd against the Philadelphia Flyers, made it 2-0 with a snipe in the slot. Another impactful effort from Kelly to recover the puck at the blue line, and he created a tic-tac-toe masterpiece with Sam Malinski and Olofsson to get an edge on their lead.
Utah responds just over a minute later with a power play goal courtesy of Dylan Guenther, a jab to the second-best penalty kill in the league.
Who else but Brock Nelson to pick up a goal? A heck of a response for the Olympic gold medalist, not only to Guenther’s goal, but to get on the board himself after having a goal taken off in the first period.
Guenther found another goal for Utah, his second of the night, scored exactly a minute after Nelson’s goal.
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But… if Guenther’s allowed to score power play goals, so is Martin Necas, who tallied a snipe from the left circle on the man advantage to cap off the scoring for this game.
No one was able to finish on any of their opportunities in the third period, so this one ends 4-2, a wicked way to come out of the Olympic break for the best team in the league.
Special teams came out to PLAY
Aside from the first Guenther goal, the Avs’ special teams were on it tonight. 4/5 on the penalty kill on any given night is something I can look at on any given stat sheet at the end of the night and be pleasantly satisfied with.
Also… I know it’s probably dramatic, but I’m way too excited about the Avs being 1/3 on the power play since the regular season resumed.
In all seriousness, there are a few things you could dissect from this.
First off, a reminder that Nathan MacKinnon was not in the lineup tonight.
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And second… How freaking good did Martin Necas look in his place?
Coach Bednar was quick to nip that line of thought in the bud tonight when asked about it, saying, “That’s kind of [MacKinnon’s] spot” in response to a postgame question about entertaining Necas in that spot instead, but it’s a valid question. Martin Necas scored a few different times in that exact spot for Team Czechia, which makes you wonder just how effective he might be there if given a real shot. MacKinnon’s proven to be effective outside of that spot, so what’s the harm in giving it an actual, meaningful chance?
Mandatory special teams check-in:
Power play: 15.4% (32nd)
Penalty kill: 84.5 (2nd)
Avs postgame pod
Upcoming schedule:
As previously mentioned, this is the first of five games in seven days for the Avs.
They head right back to Denver on Thursday night to host Olympic gold medalist Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild.
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No practice on Friday for the group, nor will there be a morning skate ahead of Saturday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks at 4:00 pm MT.
They cap this week-long stretch with a back-to-back series in Southern California, playing the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, March 2nd, before driving north on Tuesday to play the Anaheim Ducks.
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