After a three-game road trip, the Colorado Avalanche returned home today to start a seven-game homestand with a matchup against the Ottawa Senators. Ultimately, it was the Avalanche who would come out on top and get back in the win column, as they won by a final score of 8-2.
Let’s take a look at all the action from tonight!
First Period
Looking at the boxscore, one wouldn’t expect Josh Manson would be the one to start the scoring in this game, as he was able to take the puck off of a faceoff win, walk to the top
of the circles, fire a seeing-eye puck through a screen, and find the back of the net. It was an eventful night for Manson was also the one to set the tone early in this game by fighting Tyler Kleven after he laid a hard hit on Ivan Ivan.
Nathan MacKinnon would score a second goal to make it 2-0 before the first period ended, as Martin Necas was able to find him with a great pass as MacKinnon came flying into the zone, and he ripped the puck past the Ottawa goaltender.
Second Period
It was an eruption of goals in the second frame starting off with Cale Makar who would make it 3-0 with a beautiful goal off a feed from MacKinnon, and Manson would secure a Gordie Howe hat-trick with a secondary assist on this goal as well.
Ottawa initially would not go quietly, and did manage to get one back, as Shane Pinto got the Senators on the board, making the score 3-1.
After that, Ottawa never really had a fighting chance in this game. They did score another goal to make it 3-2, but it was overturned for being offside. From there, Colorado absolutely buried the Senators. Martin Necas would get on the score sheet next, with a one-timer that he was able to rocket past the Ottawa goaltender, putting Colorado up 4-1.
Brent Burns would score just 17 seconds after Necas, as he put the puck on net looking for a shot-pass, and it deflected in off a Senators player to make it 5-1.
Brock Nelson would hit the 20-goal mark on the season next, as he scored on a one-timer, simultaneously converting on the powerplay for the Avs, bringing the score to 6-1.
Manson would then score his second of the night in a similar fashion to his first goal, as a seeing-eye puck found its way to the back of the net, making it 7-1.
To end the scoring spree in the second period, Nelson would get his second goal of the night as well with another one-timer that he just rocketed past the goaltender, to make it 8-1 in favor of Colorado heading into the third period.
Third Period
Brady Tkachuk would be the only player for either team to score in the third period, as he scored a short-handed goal in garbage time. The Senators were primarily uninterested in setting the score with the puck so they decided to rough up Samuel Girard instead who responded by dropping Tim Stützle in a fight. Even more hilarity ensued as Josh Manson even featured on Colorado’s power play as they tried to get him a hat trick. The Avs were able to coast through this final period, given the sizable lead they had built earlier, for a final score of 8-2.
Takeaways
After dropping back-to-back games and losing a couple of key players to injuries in those losses, it was great to see this team get back in the win column in such emphatic fashion here tonight. There were so many players from all over the lineup that contributed tonight, which makes it even better. Yes, your superstars were your superstars tonight, as Nathan MacKinnon had a four-point night and Cale Makar had a three-point night, but you also had Josh Manson and Brock Nelson each score twice in this game, Ross Colton quietly had a three-assist night, and even Zakhar Bardakov and Ilya Solovyov each got credited with an assist tonight as well. It felt like you were able to get scoring from just about everywhere in your lineup tonight, which is what makes this team so good. Obviously, this won’t happen on every given night, but it was awesome to see it happen tonight, as the Avs got back into dominating. Overall, this game was certainly a great way to start a seven-game homestand.
Upcoming
The Colorado Avalanche take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, January 10. Puck drop will be at 2:00 p.m. MT for a matinee game.
