Since losing to the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3, their third loss in four games, the Colorado Avalanche have had a bit of a shift. Strong defensive efforts resulted in wins over the Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils, leading into Tuesday night’s tilt with the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins.
Fans keenly watched for the lineups, looking for the newly acquired goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to make his Avalanche debut. Because of illness, they would have to wait, but the Avalanche quickly made them forget about their own goaltending. Here are three takeaways from the Avalanche’s 6-2 smoking of the Penguins.
The Two-Headed Monster
It has been said about a million times before but the combination of Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen is absolutely insane. It isn’t uncommon for one of them to score several points, but to get a five-point night out of each of them is just otherworldly.
MacKinnon opened the scoring with his 10th goal of the season, a streak down the wing that ended with a lightning-fast release that handcuffed goaltender Tristan Jarry. Rantanen would add two of his own, giving the Avalanche a three-goal lead by the six-minute mark of the second period.
The duo combined for four goals and six assists on the night, an insane total for two players. That’s a great week for two players in the NHL but these guys are capable of blowing the doors off on their own. Mack is now at the top of the scoring race once again, with Rantanen four points back.
Wedgewood Filling the Gap
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Avalanche goaltending has been questionable this season, to say the least. There is hope that things are on the upswing thanks to recent trades for all the wood names in the NHL, adding Scott Wedgewood on Dec. 1 and now MacKenzie Blackwood in a deal with the San Jose Sharks.
Related: Avalanche Address Goaltending Problems with Georgiev-for-Blackwood Trade
Blackwood was unable to play against the Penguins due to illness, so the start went to Wedgewood. Aside from giving up four goals to a very good team in Carolina, Wedgewood has been good. He shut the door 22 times in the four-goal comeback against the Buffalo Sabres and shut out the Devils.
Against the Penguins, he stopped 25 of 27 and the only goals of the night came because of sizable defensive lapses. He’s clearly the backup going forward, and Blackwood is going to get the lion’s share of the starts, but it is nice to know that Wedgewood is there to lean on in spot duty. Hopefully, this is the biggest issue for the Avalanche turning a collective corner.
Faceoffs Are a Problem
How can you get nitpicky when the Avalanche scored six, pouring it on with three goals in the third period to bury the Penguins? Unfortunately, you look to the faceoff circle where the Avalanche have been one of the worst in the league so far this season.
The Avalanche barely won 38% of their faceoffs on Tuesday night, clearly outmatched by Sidney Crosby and company. Currently, they are 30th in the NHL in faceoff percentage at 43.53%. As if that weren’t context enough, the Avalanche are only better than the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks.
During the regular season, faceoffs generally don’t mean quite as much aside from a handful of specific situations. When the playoffs roll around, things change. Those faceoffs become more important and can lead to challenges that are tough to overcome. The Avalanche are flat-out bad in the faceoff circle right now.
3 in a Row
That makes three in a row for the Avalanche, who remain neck-and-neck with the Dallas Stars (the Stars have three games in hand, however). The Winnipeg Jets have slowed down and have been caught by the Minnesota Wild in what may be the best and most competitive division in the league.
The coming stretch is the time for the Avalanche to capitalize. They play the Utah Hockey Club (twice), Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Seattle Kraken, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, and Chicago Blackhawks between now and Jan. 8. If the Avalanche can put together a big winning streak, it might not be long before they are suddenly threatening for the division lead.
