A drubbing of the Ottawa Senators kicked off this seven-game home stand and the Colorado Avalanche hoped to keep the train rolling against another eastern conference foe in the Columbus Blue Jackets. As
expected the Avalanche took care of business in a routine 4-0 shutout victory.
Multiple Avalanche got on the score sheet including goals from Brent Burns, Victor Olofsson, Ilya Solovyov.
It was a game of firsts as Solovyov scored his first career NHL goal. Trent Miner picked up his first NHL win and shutout making 29 saves for Colorado.
The Game
It was a cautious start for both teams to begin this matinee affair. However, following a failed Avalanche power play, Colorado’s depth decided to take matters into their own hands scoring two quick goals. The first from Brent Burns pinching down into the slot to ram home a rebound. Then following a wall battle Victor Olofsson took the puck to the front of the net and crafted a backhand shot which went past Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins. After the first period it was a tidy 2-0 lead for Colorado.
Adding to the scoresheet in the second period was Ilya Solovyov’s first career NHL goal at the midpoint. He walked into an ocean of space the Blue Jackets gave him and rifled the puck into the net. After 40 minutes of play Colorado held a commanding 3-0 lead.
The third period was rather uneventful other than another failed Avalanche power play and Burns scoring his second goal of the game on a puck that deflected off several Blue Jacket players. Columbus did not vacate the net for the extra attacker so the score remained 4-0 at the final horn.
Takeaways
This game was a good time for increased trade deadline scouts in the building as not a single top Avalanche player scored a point in this game. Burns led the way with two goals but Olofsson picked up two points (his first bit of production in 12 games), Gavin Brindley had two assists, the aforementioned Solovyov goal, Ross Colton extended his point streak to two games and even an assist for Zakhar Bardakov. That truly is winning the game with depth and likely some depth the Avalanche hope to upgrade on in the coming months.
After snubbing Trent Miner the previous weekend it was good to see him get the start and even better to witness his 29 save shutout. Miner was cool, calm and collected in net as he always is and made it look easy. Hopefully that buys him a little more trust moving forward.
Upcoming
The Avalanche welcome the always spotlighted Toronto Maple Leafs to town on Monday night at 8 p.m. MT.
