The Good, the Bad and the Ugly from the fighting Avalanche week

The Colorado Avalanche battled through another week, staying alive in the playoff chase though they struggled through their Canadian road swing. Yet, Colorado earned five points over the four games and continue to battle for hope.

THE GOOD

1. Alternate Captain Nathan MacKinnon to pre-injury production with a vengeance this past week. He notched four goals and four assists, racking up eight points in the last four games. Look out Nikita Kucherov, Nate the Great looks to be making a run for your spot as the NHL’s leading scorer. All while earning some serious credibility for most valuable player consideration. In the last four games, he totaled 23 shots. That’s not bad – for a cannon. Fire him up and let him loose!

2. Defenseman Tyson Barrie stepped up in a big way with the loss of Erik Johnson. Barrie not only leads the team in ice time this past week, he notched a goal and six assists. Barrie became the first Colorado defenseman to score five points in a single game (in Vancouver against the Canucks on February 20th). He also made some key hits and blocked some dangerous shots. Let’s reiterate that. Barrie made key hits and blocked shots. It’s almost like he’s becoming the top tier defenseman everyone hoped for. Kudos, stick taps, and keep it up! Barrie’s elevated play could be the light in the tunnel of the defensive corps injuries. Cross your fingers, sacrifice a bucket of fried chicken, whatever it takes.

3. The Avalanche scored five, yes, count ‘em, FIVE power play goals against the Vancouver Canucks. Of course, it all happened after TGBU questioned their recent effectiveness on the power play, making an entire portion of last week’s column irrelevant. But, in for the good of the team, do it again. The Avalanche hadn’t scored five power play goals in one contest since coming to Denver.

4. Despite struggling though the Canadian road trip, the Avalanche managed to come away with three points over the three games. With last night’s win, Colorado sits two points away from the final Wild Card spot with a game in hand. The road to the postseason may not be easy, but they have every chance to fight their way into a final slot. With 20 games left, Colorado can still make a run for the playoffs. That’s amazing for the youngest team in the NHL, especially when one takes into account the injuries to key players throughout the season. Way to go!!! Root beers for everybody!

5. All hail defenseman Duncan Siemens! The 2011 draft pick who struggled to prove his worth the last couple years and languished in San Antonio, has found a way to play solid NHL level defense since his call-up. He looks to have secured his spot on the team for the rest of the year as he was not made eligible to be loaned to San Antonio. Siemens did a surprisingly effective job battling Connor McDavid and has 20 more games to show the Avalanche what he offers. Make the most of your shot, kid, as you may not get another one.

6. Blake Comeau played his 700th NHL game in last night’s home win against the Canucks. It’s a milestone few players ever reach. Congratulations on the career milestone and may you set even more!

7. A huge shout out to USA’s women’s hockey team which won the gold medal in the Olympics, defeating Canada in a shootout. Way to go! Now, let’s see what can be done to eliminate the shootout in medal competition. Both teams deserve to play until someone wins. ‘Nuff said.

8. The Lost Boys have been sighted! Sven Andrightetto has actually started skating, Mark Barberio has been seen in the local facilities, Anton Lindholm was skating in a no contact jersey yesterday, Jonathan Bernier has returned to the ice on his own, and Vladislav Kamenev was seen without a single bandage on his arm. Are any of them ready to play yet? No. But there is now proof of life so progress is being made.

9. Three Avalanche players have passed the 20 goal mark for the season so far – Nathan MacKinnon (no, really?), Gabriel Landeskog, and now – Mikko Rantanen. Remember last year when Rantanen was the only player who had 20 goals for the season? Colorado still has 20 games to play. Who knows what other scoring highs this team can reach? It should be exciting to find out.

THE BAD

1. What happens to the Avalanche Russian contingent on the Canadian road trips? Varlamov looked weak against the Calgary Flames, Zadorov got benched twice, and Nail Yakupov was ineffective in limited minutes. Is there some incredible Vodka available? Cute girls? Too much poutine? Whatever the cause, it may be time for the organization to do a root cause analysis and perform a root canal.

2. The Avalanche penalty kill has suffered over the past month. This past week, their opponents scored on three of 10 opportunities with the man advantage. While not critical, Colorado’s penalty kill has fallen to eighth place among all NHL teams.

3. Please, for the love of hockey, those who are concerned about the lack of significant Avalanche trades by the deadline, take a deep breath and relax. Joe Sakic said they weren’t going to be doing much at the trade deadline and they didn’t. They also didn’t trade away any picks or young assets. So let’s be grateful they actually stayed the course instead of veering off to some mystical never land of imaginary awesomeness. That hasn’t gone so well in recent years.

THE UGLY

1. Defenseman Nikita Zadorov played some really ugly hockey this past week, leading Coach Bednar to bench him twice during key games. For a player who wants to be THE guy, he put himself in a difficult position, especially against the Calgary Flames when in less than eight total minutes of playing time, he lost his cool and racked up six minutes of penalty time, caused a couple of costly turnovers which led to a couple of Calgary goals and forced the coach to bench him for the entire third period. With the depleted defensive corps, Zadorov has an opportunity to step up and fill the void. His road swing was ugly. He did, however, play a much improved game last night. Maybe he needs a baby sitter for road games. Or a cattle prod.

2. Defenseman Erik Johnson apparently suffered a separated shoulder. The Avalanche haven’t disclosed the severity of the injury but one hopes he can reach a full and complete healing in a timely manner. One could hope he might be able to return for the playoffs. Okay, guess that may be getting ahead of oneself, but hey, those rose colored glasses are better than the death spiral last year. Glasses up, boys!

PLAYER MOVEMENT

1. David Warsofsky and Andrei Mironov were called up from San Antonio last week to help shore of the injury riddled defensive corps. Mironov was sent back down to the Rampage yesterday to make room for a waiver wire pick up.

2. Yesterday, during the trade deadline frenzy, the Avalanche made a slight ripple late in the day when they moved defenseman Chris Bigras to the New York Rangers for 22-year-old defenseman Adam Graves. Graves was sent to the San Antonio Rampage, where Bigras had been playing. Bigras, once considered a key piece for Colorado’s future blue line, was hampered by injuries and his development stagnated. Hopefully, both players find a better fit with their new teams. The Avalanche have made a trade at the deadline for 16 consecutive years.

3. Colorado picked up defenseman Mark Alt off the waiver wire yesterday as well. At 26, the former Philadelphia Flyer has just nine NHL games to his name. Being right handed may have had some influence with this acquisition since the Avalanche are currently short in that area. The rest of his resume doesn’t scream ‘Sign me!’. He looks to be a better fit with the Rampage but Colorado can’t reassign him so who knows what the team is thinking.

4. At the trade deadline, NHL clubs are allowed to expand their rosters beyond their 23-man limit as well as determine which players should be eligible for the AHL playoffs. Also, after the deadline, NHL teams are allowed only four non-emergency call ups for the rest of season. This results in a lot of ‘paper moves’ where players are reassigned and recalled in the same day without the players actually going anywhere.

Colorado made both Warsofsky and center Dominic Toninato available for the AHL club (although both players are still with the Avalanche), allowed for backup goaltender Andrew Hammond to be ‘loaned’ to San Antonio sometime in the future.

ODD SOCKS

1. In a weird twist of fate which has almost become normal for the Avalanche, the one game Colorado won their faceoff matchup was against the Calgary Flames, the one contest they lost 5-1. The game with Colorado’s worst faceoff wins was last night when they won 3-1. It’s just so incredibly odd that one sock may not be enough. Let’s give it two socks, and make it the colorfully striped ones with all the separate toes.

2. The NHL needs to determine if they will only look for contact on goaltender interference or if they should consider context leading to the interference. For example, In Monday’s matchup, an Avalanche goal was reversed on review because it was determined Landeskog’s stick made contact with the Canuck’s goaltender. The problem – Vancouver’s Darren Archibald slashed Landeskog’s hand (an infraction that wasn’t called), causing Landeskog’s stick to move into light contact with Markstrom’s stick. So should it be goaltender interference if the team scored on caused the contact? The issue isn’t just about this goal. It’s about the inconsistency surrounding goaltender interference. And the Avalanche aren’t the only team adversely affected. When players and coaches no longer know what constitutes interference, the rule isn’t working. Yeah, yeah, old news. But still relevant.

WHAT TO WATCH

1. The Avalanche play host to playoff rival Calgary Flames Wednesday night at 7:30 pm, MST. This is a critical matchup as Colorado needs to climb over Calgary for the final Wild Card spot.

2. The dreaded Minnesota Wild come to Denver for a Friday night 7 pm MST matchup. With the Avalanche postseason spot on the line, there had better be more Avalanche fans than Mild fans at the game. And if a Minnesota fan buys a ticket, remember to behave like a guest in someone else’s stadium. Matt Cooke didn’t happen long enough ago for the Avalanche faithful to have forgotten.

3. On Sunday, the Nashville Predators come to town for a 1 pm MST matinee. Cheer loud as the Avalanche will need to bring their ‘A’ game all the way around. Maybe a little pirate luck as well.

The Avalanche continue to fight the good fight and hope is still alive for a playoff berth as well as some exciting hockey down the stretch!