The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as the Avalanche race to the postseason

The Colorado Avalanche rolled through the past week, crushing some old demons, and climbing their way to the first Wild Card spot. While ‘Nate the Great’ MacKinnon continued to rack up points and garner national media attention, the Avalanche faithful feasted on the savory tears of old foes. The roller coaster ride plunges on, with a lot more highs than lows this past week.

THE GOOD

Where to start? So much good poured out of the past week that the cups runneth over.

1. The Avalanche plowed through the week to rack up three important wins out of four contests to reach the first Wild Card spot. While the postseason race looks to run to the wire, Colorado has a game in hand on most of the teams around them and lead in regulation and overtime wins. 10 games remain, most against other teams contending for playoff spots, with half the matchups at home. The team sits at 86 points and they have gone 7-1-3 in their last 11 games. Winning half of their remaining games should be enough to earn a postseason spot. Now is a good time to remember the Avalanche have gone 15-2-1 in their last 18 home matchups. May the home roll continue and propel them to the playoffs!

2. Few things taste as good as the salty tears of Minnesota Mild fans, which the Avalanche faithful got to feast upon this past week. Trouncing the Mildew in Minny 5-1, the Avalanche announced a whole new era for the rivalry, winning three out of four contests this year (only losing in an overtime contest in Minnesota) and winning in dominant fashion (outscoring the Mild 19-4 in the last three matchups).

3. The Detroit Dead Things provided further delicious snacking as Colorado smacked their old foes 5-1. Hard to beat the tears of Detroit fans for good eats, especially since the Avalanche win sealed a Dead Things record of 10 straight losses, something they hadn’t done in over 30 years. So satisfying. Does it get better than this? Oh yeah, and, just in case anyone has forgotten, the Red Wings suck! And all of those bandwagon fans in red jerseys at the Pepsi Can, it’s about time to trade in your jersey or hide in your closet. It’s gonna’ be awhile before Detroit comes close to even sniffing the postseason. Life is sooo good!

4. As if defeating the Mild on the road wasn’t enough, the Avalanche took on the St. Louis Blues and reversed their fortunes, beating the Blues in St. Louis 4-1. Yes, folks, the same Blues who won the past three matchups this year, lost, at home, to Colorado, while vying for a playoff spot themselves. That’s some darn good pirating skills, stealin’ the booty from a crafty band of bilge rats. Let ‘em sing the blues, ‘cause these Avalanche buccaneers mean to be seizing the playoff berth and leave the scourge of St. Louis crying. These two bands of pesky buccaneers will meet again at the Pepsi Can in the final regular season matchup. Hopefully, to put the nail in the coffin of the Blues playoff hopes.

5. In one of the best moments of the season, Erik Johnson returned to the lineup – in a sneaky surprise move – for the game against the Dead Things. The Avalanche announced his return about an hour before the game and didn’t even release a pre-game lineup. Johnson proved to be in good form as he checked Detroit’s Darren Helm on his first shift, skated for nearly 20 minutes of the game, and played the lion’s share of the penalty kills. Welcome back and praise be to miracle healing – however it happened. The next 10 games look even more winnable with EJ on the blueline.

6. Speaking of miraculous healing, rookie forward Vladislav Kamenev also returned to the lineup in Saturday’s matchup against the Dead Things. After a crushing hit which broke his arm four minutes into his first appearance as a Colorado player back in November, his return this season looked iffy, at best. Expect a little rust as he comes back from a long recovery. And remember, he’s only played four NHL games. But his future is promising and he brings added depth to a team that looked like an injury ward a month ago.

7. For individual honors, have to start with the NHL’s second star of the week – Nathan MacKinnon. He continues to rack up kudos and records as he moved into second place for NHL scoring leaders and leads the league in average points per game (1.39). His list of accomplishments occupies nearly a full page on the public relations pre-game notes. He’s on a 12-game point streak where he earned 24 points off of 13 goals and 11 assists. In the past week alone, he scored six goals and two assists for a combined eight points over four games. Six goals, people. One wonders what the guy has to do, though, to get some recognition as the league’s MVP. His dominant season should be enough to speak for itself, yet Colorado seems generally overlooked on the national stage. It’s okay, though, maybe the team can sneak up on unsuspecting opponents that way. Or not.

8. Mikko Rantanen also earned eight points this past week off of two goals and six assists. He now ranks 11^th for scoring in the NHL and is riding a six-game assist streak. Should he get more respect? Yes. But he plays for the Avalanche, so don’t count on it. Let it be a surprise. He-he-he. Evil laugh.

9. Tyson Barrie continues to rack up some milestones himself as he rides a career-high 10-game point streak, the longest by a defenseman for the Avalanche. It’s also the longest point streak of any NHL defenseman this year. And oh yeah, he managed that while playing 25 minutes a net as he helped cover the hole left by Johnson. He may have earned a pint or two. The question – a pint of what? Beer or ice cream? Probably both.

10. Don’t look now but Gabriel Landeskog has racked up some points himself, having a seven-point week where he scored two goals and seven assists. He’s third on the team in scoring and looks to be well on the way to a 60 point season (he has 56 so far). Where the Captain goes, the team follows. All hail the Captain!

11. The Avalanche penalty kill climbed to the best in the NHL, ranking number one with an 84.3% success rate. It’s time to give one-eyed pirate Big Carl Soderberg some credit, along with Blake Comeau, Matt Nieto, Gabriel Bourque, the slurry of rotating defensemen along with goaltenders Semyon Varlamov and Jonathan Bernier. It’s a team effort that has helped propel the Avalanche to playoff contenders and it’s high time each contributing player get the kudos they so richly deserve. And a big gift basket of energy drink.
With playoffs on the horizon, they are going to need it.

12. The power play continues to improve, now up to 13^th in the league. In the past week, they scored on three of 12 opportunities. The effective power play has helped the Avalanche move up to eighth in scoring, That’s a lot of good in a little package, there. Enjoy!

13. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov has found a way to dig deep, and without relief, climbed up to 17^th in save percentage. He currently boasts a .917 save percentage. Near the start of the season, he was below .900. Yeah, maybe it’s best to forget that.

14. Forward Colin Wilson was seen skating in a regular jersey today and goaltender Jonathan Bernier made the trip to Chicago. It looks like some more of the Lost Boys are returning! Cheers all around! Now, where’s Barberio?

THE BAD

1. Where did Alexander Kerfoot go? Remember the electric puck mover and inspired playmaker? The young’un in the running for top five rookies in the NHL this year? His six minutes a night seems nearly invisible. Perhaps the prolonged NHL season has taken a toll on the college player but the team could sure benefit from a resurgence. Perhaps he could miss a game or two to recuperate. A dynamic third or fourth line player could add a lot in the last few games of the regular season.

2. The officiating crew in the Detroit matchup apparently didn’t witness a single penalty in the first period. Does anyone – on either side – actually believe not a single infraction occurred during the entire first period between the Dead Things and the Avalanche? Yeah, didn’t think so. Between the nicest of competitions, it would be unlikely. For those that watched, it’s more like…unbelievable. Maybe they need to get their glasses checked.

THE UGLY

1. Colorado hosted the Nashville Predators and despite throwing everything at them but the kitchen sink, failed to defeat their yellow-jerseyed opponents. Nashville remains one of the few challenges for an Avalanche team that defeated three of their old foes this past week. Colorado lost all four matchups against the Predators this year, although they did scrounge up a point in their previous encounter on home ice. While the Avalanche played competitively, they have yet to crack the code on defeating the Predators – which is just ugly.

2. The Avalanche rank eighth in the number of man games lost at 261 and counting. That’s a lot of roster shuffling, especially considering the number of key players who lost time. The injuries have been bad, and ugly. The coaching staff and the rookies deserve a lot of credit for helping sustain the onslaught of injuries to stay relevant in the postseason race. More first aid packages may be in order and a case of beer for the trainers. Or two. Maybe three?

WHAT TO WATCH

1. The Avalanche traveled to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Blackhawks at 6 pm MST tonight. It’s time to pour on the snow and bury them. Right? Isn’t that what an Avalanche does?

2. Colorado returns for a brief two-game homestand. On Thursday, the will host the Los Angeles Kings for a 7 pm MST puck drop. This is a “must-win” game among a number of must wins as the Kings are also battling for a playoff spot.

3. The Saturday matinee game will start at 1 pm MST as Colorado hosts the Vegas Golden Knights. Hopefully, the Knights will find themselves sucking air skating around in all that armor at high altitude.

4. Next Monday, the Avalanche will travel to Vegas, hoping to bring a snowslide with them for the 8 pm MST matchup.

Fasten the jib, hoist the mainsails and raise the Jolly Roger! There are points for the taking and the Avalanche need to embrace their inner brigand and go for the treasure! The postseason beckons…