The Colorado Avalanche looked like themselves again with a dominant 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, raising their winning streak to three games. Though they haven’t run roughshod over everyone as they did early in the season, the Avalanche have been gaining steam.
Thursday night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets felt like a slog at times, but the Avalanche managed to find a way. A pair of third period goals from superstar center Nathan MacKinnon wound up being the difference in the 3-2 win.
Nate Comes Through
Though the scoring title may be slipping away, MacKinnon is looking to capture his first Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading goal-scorer. With Montreal’s Cole Caufield closing in, MacKinnon needed a boost to separate himself.
He did just that in a big way against the Jets. With the game tied 1-1 going into the third, MacKinnon stepped up with a pair of ugly goals around the net to put the Avalanche up 3-1 just under four minutes into the final frame.
It may sound ridiculous, but this has felt like a trying season for MacKinnon. The failure at the Olympics, coming back and having missed opportunities, it felt like MacKinnon had been battling. Being the catalyst to this win had to feel good.
The Fourth Line Was Excellent
Another big part of the victory was the performance of the fourth line of Parker Kelly, Jack Drury, and Joel Kiviranta. This was a night of ugly goals for the Avalanche, perhaps best exemplified by Drury’s first period goal, poked through as he sprawled on the ice.
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The trio had a persistent forecheck, making life difficult on Jets defenders. Kelly, in particular, has been a nice surprise this season. It is that kind of depth that will truly make the Avalanche team to beat when the playoffs get underway.
Return of the Lehk
Winning games is always nice but the most important thing for the Avalanche of late is a return to health. We have already seen returns from Gabriel Landeskog, Logan O’Connor, and Ross Colton, but perhaps most important was the return of Artturi Lehkonen.
Lehkonen was eased back into the lineup, playing just 12:06, but immediately made an impact by assisting on MacKinnon’s second goal of the night. Lehkonen doesn’t have outstanding skills but has a natural rapport with MacKinnon that makes the superstar even better.
Getting healthy is critical and aside from Nicolas Roy, the Avalanche are fully healthy. Getting everyone into a groove will only make them more dangerous as the playoffs begin, as if the Avalanche needed another advantage over the rest of the pack.
Avalanche Keep Finding Ways to Win
This was far from your classic dominant Avalanche win. That said, they were excellent defensively, limiting chances and allowing Mackenzie Blackwood to keep almost everything in front of him en route to a 22-save win.
The Avalanche have won four in a row and are now nine points up on the Dallas Stars, a virtual lock to win the Central Division. The best teams win on off nights and that is precisely what the Avalanche have been doing.
