Despite a puzzling loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, even more confusing after topping the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, the Colorado Avalanche are one of the hottest teams in the NHL. Thursday’s tilt with the Minnesota Wild was a pivotal one both for regaining momentum and gaining ground in the Central Division.
The Avalanche responded by absolutely dominating the Wild on their own ice. It started early and the Avalanche didn’t let up until they finished with a 6-1 victory. There is a lot to unpack here, so let’s jump right into the biggest takeaways from this critical victory by the Avalanche.
An Easy Night for Blackwood
Isn’t it nice when you don’t even have to think about the goaltending? Granted, it also helps when team defense shuts things down and limits the opposition to just 12 shots through two periods. Mackenzie Blackwood had to be merely functional, only giving up an absolute snipe from Zach Bogosian of all people.
He stopped 24 of 25 shots on the night, looking calm and in control throughout. Even facing 13 shots in the final frame, he never looked pressed. It will be talked about ad nauseam throughout the remainder of the season, but the swing in goaltending can’t be discussed enough.
Blackwood gives the Avalanche a legitimate number-one goaltender and the difference is clear. That’s not even mentioning the number of chances the Avalanche have been able to take because they know that there’s a pretty good chance that Blackwood makes the save should something go awry.
Let’s Go Streaking (Part 2)
Not only did the Avalanche lose to the Blackhawks on Wednesday, but we also saw the end of a pair of point streaks. Nathan MacKinnon, the early Hart Trophy favorite, saw his eight-game streak snapped while Mikko Rantanen saw his 14-game point streak come to an end.
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With players of this caliber, you can’t keep them down for long. Rantanen put the Avalanche up 3-1 midway through the second period (assisted by MacKinnon) and the MVP favorite added his 15th goal of the season midway through the third period to fully bury the Wild.
As nice as it is to have good depth (more on that below), there is something about having not one but two of the most dynamic scorers in the league. MacKinnon holds a seven-point lead on Leon Draisaitl and Rantanen is just one back of the…
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