In the wake of a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars, it felt like the pressure had come to a head for the Colorado Avalanche. Just two points up in a divisional race they had once seemingly had in the bag, the Avalanche had been hit with adversity that didn’t exist until the last month of the season.
Needing a statement win against a weak opponent, the Avalanche got just that on Friday night. They dominated the Chicago Blackhawks from bell to bell, coming away with a decisive 4-1 victory and a much-needed two points.
Martin Necas Needs More Love
It has been talked about before in this space but Martin Necas deserves far more praise than he gets. He’s not totally under the radar – you can’t really be top 10 in league scoring and be underrated – but he doesn’t get the kind of love that Mikko Rantanen did when he was in Denver.
Necas has meshed so well with Nathan MacKinnon and has already set career-highs across the board in just 65 games. He has incredible vision, uses his teammates well, and has been a difference-maker on the power play of late.
Necas could very well finish the season with 40 goals and 100 points, illustrating how well he has fit in since coming to the Avalanche. At 27 years old, he’s just now hitting his prime. He and MacKinnon are going to do some incredible things.
This Game Should Have Been So Much Worse
There was a hot minute where this was a 2-1 game and a single bounce for the Blackhawks could have tied it. Considering just how lop-sided the shots and chances were, that statement is crazier than it seems on the surface.
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The Avalanche dominated the shot battle 49-20 and Chicago’s Arvid Soderblom played his butt off to keep his team within shouting distance. To sum up his night, there was one sequence in which a shot from the point got deflected, Soderblom somehow made the save, and then he sprawled out with his left pad to make not one but two fantastic saves.
The Avalanche were out for blood and could have easily put eight or more into the net. Hats off to Soderblom for having his team in a position to tie the game heading into the third period when they had been outshot 35-11 to that point.
The Avalanche are So Well-Balanced Defensively
After MacKinnon let it be known that he was less than pleased with playing seven defensemen, head coach Jared Bednar went back to his six regulars and things seem to have gone back to some semblance of normal.
Only Cale Makar played more than 20 minutes and a big chunk of that came across five power plays. With everyone playing at least 16:18, the load doesn’t seem so heavy on the workhorses like Makar and Devon Toews.
The addition of Brett Kulak has been nice as well. He brings size, skating, and a veteran calmness to his game that this group has benefited from. The fact that they all chip in offensively to some degree is nice as well, and part of what makes the Avalanche so dangerous.
Let the Run Begin
The race for the Central Division is still tight, with the Avalanche holding a four-point edge. That said, their 14 remaining games are second-easiest in terms of strength of schedule in the league. They play the Washington Capitals, Winnipeg Jets (twice), Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames (three times), and St. Louis Blues (twice).
The showdown with the Stars in Dallas on April 4 looms large, but the Avalanche need to use the next seven games to give that game less meaning. Either way, we have a great race ahead of us with the two best teams in the league.
