The Colorado Avalanche had a nice little break of three days between their win over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday and their trip to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets on Thursday night. Aside from a few glaring omissions, the lineup looks basically the same as it has since the start of the season.
For the Avalanche, it turned out to be just another day at the office. After a solid but unproductive first period, the Avalanche opened up the floodgates in the second and coasted to the 4-1 victory. Here are the most important takeaways from their latest victory.
The Defense Has Been Outstanding
With so many pieces of an explosive offense, it can be easy to forget that the Avalanche are very good defensively. Need more proof? They are tied for third in the league in goals against with nine goals allowed through five games and are second in goals against per game at 1.60 GA/GP.
They shut down the teams they are supposed to – the Sabres and Blue Jackets – and had a little trouble with a dynamic team like the Stars. In any event, they have been a very good 200-foot team so far this season.
In order to beat a team like Dallas or Winnipeg in the playoffs, the defense has to be good. It’s a long season, but this is a good indicator that the Avalanche can play shutdown defense with the best of them.
The Avalanche Have Elite Quick-Strike Ability
It was actually the Blue Jackets who started the scoring thanks to Ivan Provorov. But the Avalanche showed once again that they are capable of burying teams in no time. All it took was roughly 10 minutes for the Avalanche to swing the game heavily in their favor.
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Cale Makar, with arguably the most lethal wrist shot by a defenseman in the league, tied things up at 1-1 just over 10 minutes into the second period. Just 1:12 later, Brock Nelson picked up his first of the season on a nice little deflection. With 0:04 left in the period, Valeri Nichushkin put the Avalanche up by a pair, and they never looked back.
It took the Avalanche 9:22 for them to not only erase the deficit but push the game in their favor to the tune of a two-goal lead. That kind of quick-strike offense is invaluable in this league, and the Avalanche have the potential to overwhelm teams in short order.
Scott Wedgewood Is Playing the Best Hockey of his Career
It really cannot be talked about enough how good a start Wedgewood has had. Mackenzie Blackwood’s return timetable is still a bit uncertain, which means that Wedgewood is getting more consistent work than he has ever before.
He has responded by playing the best hockey of his professional career. Through five starts, Wedgewood is fourth in the league in save percentage (.939) and goals-against average (1.58) among goalies with multiple starts. He also leads the league in time on ice at more than 300 minutes.
Losing your starting goalie is always a scary thing. Thankfully, the Avalanche have gotten more than they could have ever asked for out of Wedgewood in response. Ideally, it won’t be much longer before Blackwood returns, but the Avalanche know they are in good hands with Wedgewood.
The Avalanche Continue to Roll
Aside from the blemish of a shootout loss to the Dallas Stars, the Avalanche are nearly perfect through five games so far this season. Compared to last season, when they started 0-4, the Avalanche look completely different.
The surprising Boston Bruins are next on the slate, visiting Ball Arena on Saturday night. The schedule certainly isn’t easy – two against the Bruins, two against the New Jersey Devils, a visit from the Carolina Hurricanes, and a trip to face the Utah Mammoth – but this team feels like it can take on anything right now.
