The Colorado Avalanche put their home-ice point streak to the test this evening against a young, rejuvenated, and talented San Jose Sharks club. The Avalanche were looking to log their 10th consecutive
victory overall, and found their game early and often. Let the good times roll!
The Game
Things started very positively for the Colorado Avalanche, who looked fresh-legged after a couple of days off, and Ross Colton and his newly shaved face tallied the first goal. The great Nate MacKinnon added a late power-play goal to put the Avalanche ahead 2-0 after one period of play.
The Avalanche would build on that two-goal lead by notching three goals in scorching fashion. All three second-period goals came in the first five minutes of the second period. First, it was Sam Malinski putting on a snipe show, before Josh Manson did his best impression. It’s good to get some points from the back-end that’s been relatively quiet (offensively) outside of Cale Makar.
Then Joel Kiviranta scored in his first game back from injury, fresh off the draw caused by the fourth goal. It was straight-up domination at this point, and San Jose took a timeout to gather themselves amidst the 5-0 disaster. The timeout was effective in stopping the bleeding for the rest of the middle frame.
Takeaways
The Avalanche and Sharks exchanged chances and power play opportunities for most of the third, but none of them tickled the twine. That is, until Nathan MacKinnon fed Artturi Lehkonen, who put away his own net-front rebound. That made it 6-0.
The Avalanche have led many games this season, and this one was no different. They have made one thing abundantly clear this season. They are great at playing with the lead. That said, I’m almost starting to worry about the lack of adversity the Avalanche have faced this season. I know that it’s awfully spoiled of me to be welcoming struggles, but something tells me it won’t be this easy in the playoffs. It would be nice to get some reps playing from behind.
Good to see Joel Kiviranta get back on the ice and back on the board. It really does feel like this Colorado lineup is more than capable of thriving inside of the “next man up” model. It was also good to see Ivan Ivan get the call-up. He has plenty of experience, having played 40 games for the Avalanche last season.
The penalty kill was an unsung hero this evening, going a bit under the radar with the Avalanche scoring three goals in five minutes. They weren’t just perfect but also gritty and feisty—borderline postseason-level penalty killing typified by a diving clearance from Josh Manson in the middle of the third period.
Thirteen different Avalanche players logged a point in this outing, with Lehkonen, MacKinnon, and Necas logging two each.
We certainly didn’t learn this tonight, but it was most definitely reaffirmed— this Avalanche team is outstanding.
We certainly didn’t learn this tonight, but it was most definitely reaffirmed— this Avalanche team has two outstanding goalies.
If it sounds like I’m repeating myself, I’m just attempting to pay homage to MacKenzie Blackwood’s second consecutive shutout.
Upcoming
The Colorado Avalanche will head to Minnesota to face the Wild in a matinee contest on Friday at 1:30 p.m. MT. It should make for great visuals to complement your day-after-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich.
