Unlikely faces power surprising comeback win in Avalanche regular-season finale

The Colorado Avalanche finished off their regular season with their 49th win of the season, a 4-2 comeback win over the Anaheim Ducks. The win came on the heels of a spirited effort to no avail last night in Los Angeles. We thought last night’s lineup was compromised, but the group that took the ice tonight for the Avalanche would be considered light even for a preseason game.

If you’re curious (you’re reading this, so I’m assuming some curiosity applies), the Avs opened the night missing:

• Nathan MacKinnon
• Cale Makar
• Jonathan Drouin
• Ross Colton
• Val Nichushkin
• Artturi Lehkonen
• Devon Toews
• Ryan Lindgren

That is five of Colorado’s top nine forwards and three of their top six defensemen. They also started backup goaltender Scott Wedgewood, though he has outplayed presumed started Mackenzie Blackwood over the last few weeks, so that isn’t really much of a step down.

Anyway, the Avs began the game with some pep in their step but the Ducks snagged the lead when Mason McTavish ripped a shot past Wedgewood and showed flashes of why he was a top-five pick a few years ago.

The second period didn’t go as well for Colorado as the Ducks finally imposed their will on what we lovingly called the “Eaglelanche.” The Ducks walked all over Colorado and pushed their lead to 2-0.

Things didn’t look great for the Avalanche as the third period progressed. This was a punch-less offense whose most dangerous players weren’t having a busy night. And just like that, the game flipped on its head when Wyatt Aamodt stole the puck in the defensive zone and started a breakout that resulted in some nice passing and good fortune as Aamodt was credited with the first goal of his NHL career in just his second game.

Not long after, the Avs got on the power play and Jack Drury tipped a Sam Malinski shot from the point in and we had a tie game. Fast forward 3:17 from there and Charlie Coyle buried the game-winning goal on a great pass from Jimmy Vesey. What would a fun comeback win be without the ultimate feel-good empty-net goal from Erik Johnson, his first since returning to the Avalanche at the trade deadline on March 7?

That gave us the 4-2 final and the Avalanche finished their regular season with 49 wins and 49 players used (50 dressed with goaltender Kevin Mandolese, but he never played so he doesn’t count for this).

We just kind of did, but let’s talk about it a bit more, I suppose.

This is why the depth of the Avalanche is a problem for other teams

The story with the Avalanche in the post-2022 Stanley Cup victory has been elite talent at the top of the roster, but the depth just hasn’t been good enough. We saw the Avs smash into that same wall last year in Round 2 against the Dallas Stars where the Stars were able to throw line after line at the Avs and simply wear them down until ultimately prevailing in an exhausting double-overtime Game 6 win that eliminated Colorado.

Sensing a similar problem this season, Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland made nine (!!) trades during the season to shore up, well, all parts of his roster. He changed both goaltenders, added a defenseman, and overhauled the center position.

The wings were actually set to be a strength for Colorado, but it was predicated on the opening-night centers of Nathan MacKinnon, Casey Mittelstadt, Parker Kelly, and whoever the Avs wanted to slot in as the fourth-line center for the first 40 games or so. The trade of Mikko Rantanen began that overhaul and by the time MacFarland was done, the Avalanche center depth became one of the league’s strongest.

MacKinnon remains, of course, but Brock Nelson, Charlie Coyle, and Jack Drury are the guys down the middle for the Avs now and that change alone has become one of the great strengths of this Avalanche roster.

No longer is Colorado’s fourth line a rotating cast of random players that head coach Jared Bednar does not trust. I’ll dig way more into this over the next few days as I write my in-depth playoff preview, but the Avalanche depth has become a real power. One of the reasons the Avs are so respected (read: feared) as a Cup contender this year is the combination of elite talent matching up with high-end depth.

To bring this back to tonight, we saw that depth flex its muscle once again to lead the comeback win over the Ducks.

Coyle finished with a three-point night and Drury had two. Those are bottom-six forwards for the Avalanche next weekend when their postseason series against Dallas opens up. Jimmy Vesey had the first assist on Coyle’s goal and there’s a good chance he is Colorado’s 14th forward in a healthy lineup.

This is a flex for the Avs, for sure, but I do have to add that Anaheim is a mess this year and head coach Greg Cronin does not seem like he is going to survive this season. Despite an improvement of around 20 points in the standings, the Ducks’ youth movement is still struggling to produce the kinds of pieces that they need to move back into a contending status.

The Avalanche still get tons of credit for punching back in a game that meant nothing to them tonight, but I did want to acknowledge that this is not a Ducks team that garners a lot of respect for a reason.

Anyway, Coyle’s big night continues his blistering pace lately following his first 13 games with the Avs where he had just two assists. Coyle finished the regular season on a six-game point streak that saw him put up 11 points in that time. Coyle and Nelson each scored 13 points in 19 games for the Avalanche after being acquired on deadline day.

When we’re talking about improved depth, those are exactly the contributions we’re focusing on. Add in Drury matching the nine points he scored in Carolina this year but in just 33 games (versus the 39 he played in Carolina) and you’re talking about a steady fourth-line center who has helped transform Colorado’s bottom line into a matchup weapon that is regularly fighting head-to-head against opposing top lines.

Defensively, it’s a similar story. Sam Malinski has been on fire since the deadline and Erik Johnson’s play since being reacquired has been so good that even if Ryan Lindgren misses Game 1 next weekend (a very real possibility), the Avs might just be okay for a game or two.

It isn’t relevant to this season, but Wyatt Aamodt’s play in these two games hopefully serves as an eye-opener for the Avalanche. He’s been steady for the Eagles down in the AHL the last few years and he is a rugged defender who possesses limited puck skill but can help them defend. As a fan of his the last few years, I would not mind seeing him involved in a serious roster battle next fall. Anyway, he’s one of “my guys” so I’m thrilled to see him have a couple of decent showings with the Avs.

Anyway, that’s 82 games in the books for the Avalanche. They open next weekend (likely Saturday) in Dallas for a rematch against the Stars. There will be lots of written content as well here on the site to dig through the nuts and bolts of a series pitting the Avs against their white whale of the last decade.