Things were already pretty exciting for the Colorado Avalanche, being the best team in the league and all. Then they went out and had one of the best trade deadlines in the league, acquiring Nicolas Roy to shore up their depth before adding Nazem Kadri as the deadline expired.
To top off an exciting day, the Avalanche headed to Dallas for a heavyweight showdown with their rivals the Stars. It lived up to the hype, a slugfest that saw the Avalanche garner late heroics en route to the 5-4 shootout win.
The Big Dogs Got it Done
While depth is certainly critical, there is nothing like watching your thoroughbreds carry you to victory. The trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Cale Makar were excellent against the Stars, combining for three goals and six assists on the night.
Necas was particularly excellent, scoring in the second period to cut the Dallas lead to one while adding three assists and scoring a nifty goal in the shootout. The power play even looked lively, with man-advantage goals from Makar and MacKinnon.
This was the kind of dominant effort that we haven’t seen out of Colorado’s big guns in quite some time, and it wound up being the difference. As it turns out, it pays off to have a couple of the league’s leading scorers in your lineup.
A True Heavyweight Battle
This game felt like a slugfest from start to finish. Both teams were physical and nine penalties were called on the evening. The star power stepped up on both sides and helped bring this game right down to the wire.
Related: Avalanche Made a Solid Move by Adding Blankenburg
The Stars added their own fortifications even if they didn’t quite garner the attention that the Avalanche’s moves did. Even better, there are still two regular season matchups remaining on Mar. 18 and Apr. 4.
Those games will both be sneak previews of a potential playoff showdown. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the two will avoid one another in round one, but seeing both fully fortified and with their recent additions will be fun as each has a home game against the other before the end of the season.
Let’s Talk About Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood wound up being one of the heroes on the night, but he wasn’t even supposed to be in action. The reason he was needed was because Mackenzie Blackwood was just flat-out bad. He looked disjointed and out of place, allowing four goals on 11 shots before being given the hook.
Since the turn of the calendar, Blackwood is an average 5-5-0. Even more troubling is that in his 11 starts since the start of the new year, he has a save percentage of just .891. He’s had miserable outings against the Philadelphia Flyers (six goals against), Nashville Predators (five goals), and now the Stars.
The good news for the Avalanche is that Wedgewood has remained excellent. Blackwood hasn’t been awful, but he has been inconsistent and that is something that needs to be resolved before the playoffs begin.
Just Win, Baby
With all of the fortifications, the Avalanche have zero excuses this season. It is Cup or bust and they will be the unquestioned favorites when the playoffs begin. They are still human – this game showed that – but it will be interesting to see how things look when the reinforcements arrive.
The Avalanche have another weekend showdown coming, a mid-afternoon matinee against the equally pesky Minnesota Wild. There are four manageable games between that and another showdown with the Stars, this one in Denver.
