It had to feel a bit like the proverbial monkey off the back for the Colorado Avalanche after they beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Friday. After all, they had just lost to the Dallas Stars, making it an uncharacteristic four losses in five outings for the once dominant team.
Things may not have felt so easy against a tough Washington Capitals team, but the Avalanche found a way to get it done. With a bit of overtime heroics, the Avalanche walked away with the 3-2 win, their second in a row.
Welcome Back, Landy
First and foremost: welcome back Gabriel Landeskog. It has been a tough season for the Avalanche captain, dealing with a plethora of injuries (including a broken rib) along the way. But his most recent trip to the injured list had to have every guy out there cringing.
Landeskog revealed the cause of the injury, a bit of friendly fire from teammate Cale Makar. It is the epitome of the kind of bad luck that Landeskog has experienced this season. Hopefully, the worst of it has passed and he can remain in the lineup for good.
If anything, it just underscores how tough Landeskog is. Coming back from the massive knee injury that nearly cost him his career, Landeskog has fought through adversity to get back into the lineup time and time again and he even scored the first goal for the Avalanche.
The Fourth Line Looked Better
The fourth line hasn’t been bad but has felt like a missing component for the Avalanche of late. With a bit of shuffling, including Nicolas Roy moving down, the fourth line looked a bit stronger than it had of late.
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Roy picked up his third goal since joining the Avalanche despite playing just 8:40 on the night. Perhaps head coach Jared Bednar has found greater effectiveness in the fourth line by playing them a bit less. When a few guys get back into the lineup, the bottom six will be stronger as a result.
Brock Nelson Isn’t Talked About Enough
He has been talked about a fair bit this season but Brock Nelson continues to be absolutely awesome. He scored the game-winner in what has been one of the best seasons of his career so far. Any questions about the cost of bringing him in have definitively been put to rest.
Nelson scored his 32nd of the season, putting him just five off his career-high of 37 in 2021-22. Given that he isn’t playing top line minutes as he was with the New York Islanders, that is even more impressive. His two-way play was more than welcome but his renewed scoring touch is a major bonus.
Nelson would be a No.1 center on a lot of other teams. He’s scoring just south of a point per game while playing 20 minutes per night, winning just over 50% of his faceoffs, and playing responsible defensive hockey. That’s the formula for winning playoff hockey right there.
Avalanche Finding Ways to Win
The air came out of the Avalanche a bit after Alex Ovechkin tied it late, but they managed to find a way to gut it out and get the second point in overtime. Things definitely have not been as easy these last couple of months as they were early on, but the Avalanche keep moving forward.
The schedule is among the easiest in the league and the Avalanche are taking advantage. They now have five points on the Dallas Stars with a game in hand, and can effectively grab the division over the next few games.
