The Colorado Avalanche wrapped up their last back-to-back of the regular season today as they took on the Calgary Flames. Ultimately, the Avs would win this one by a final score of 3-1, and close out their final back-to-back of the year with two wins in a sweep of Alberta.
Let’s look back at the action from tonight!
First Period
It wasn’t the most exciting start as both teams would have some looks throughout the first period, but neither one was able to score, and we would head to intermission tied at 0-0. Colorado
did have the edge in shots 10-6 at that time.
Second Period
That momentum didn’t do Colorado much good as Blake Coleman would get the Flames on the board first in this period, as he was able to direct the puck past Mackenzie Blackwood as he was falling over in the slot.
Calgary didn’t celebrate for long as Artturi Lehkonen would tie the game at 1-1 off a beautiful effort and feed from Cale Makar, who returned to the lineup tonight after missing the last few games with an injury. A lengthy 5-on-3 couldn’t give Colorado the lead so the game was still in a tie at the second intermission.
Third Period
The clock started running short and perhaps to another overtime period but with less than five minutes to go Gabe Landeskog would break the tie and give Colorado the lead late off a great deflection that he was able to beat the Calgary netminder Dustin Wolf with.
The party was just getting started as Martin Necas would get his 100th point of the season with an assist on Nathan MacKinnon’s empty-net goal to pas his lead for the Rocket Richard trophy as well, for the final score of 3-1.
Takeaways
As this was the second-to-last game of the regular season for the Avs, the expectation was for it not to be all that exciting, as players are likely just trying not to get hurt before the playoffs, which is exactly what happened tonight. It was great to see Makar make his return to the lineup tonight after missing a few games due to injury, and he played really well tonight. Mackenzie Blackwood also played really well tonight, and it’s been great to see him have some good performances before the playoffs start. And of course, Martin Necas hit the 100-point mark for the first time in his NHL career as well. Now, we turn our attention to the last game of the regular season for Colorado, and keep waiting for the playoffs to finally start.
Upcoming
The Avs return home for their final regular-season game of the year to take on the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, April 16. Puck drop will be at 8:00 p.m. MT.
