The Colorado Avalanche have been one of the teams to watch for some time now. After easily handling the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1, they had three straight wins. Given how far behind the Dallas Stars they are in the Central Division standings, this may be the last push the Avalanche have to nail down the second spot.
Facing off against the lowly San Jose Sharks, it was just a matter of taking care of business for the Avalanche. They did just that, steamrolling the Sharks to the tune of 7-3. Let’s get into the takeaways from the fourth-straight win by the Avalanche.
Cale Makar Making the Norris Race His
There are a few directions we could go in to start, but let’s focus on the dominant performance by defenseman Cale Makar. Though he is facing pressure from Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Makar has really made it known that the Norris Trophy is his for the taking.
Makar was outstanding against the Sharks, piling up a power play goal and four assists on the night. He now leads NHL defensemen in goals (24), assists (50), and points (74) through 63 games played. He has been an all-situations defenseman since day one, but he has also been arguably the most consistent overall defenseman so far this season.
The numbers speak for themselves, but when you watch Makar play, you see what the hype is about. He may not be a shutdown defender in the caliber of someone like Jaccob Slavin, but his contributions on the offensive end are better than 95% of the forwards in the league. The Norris is Makar’s to lose at this stage.
Nathan MacKinnon Making Case for Back-to-Back Hart Wins
Speaking of taking home hardware, Nathan MacKinnon is making his case to win his second consecutive Hart Trophy and first Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s scoring champion. He has led the league in points wire-to-wire at this point and added to his league-leading totals with a trio of assists against the Sharks.
Related: Colorado Avalanche’s 3 Stars for February 2025
MacKinnon isn’t putting the puck in the back of the net at the same rate he has in recent seasons – his 0.37 goals per game is the lowest he’s had since his age-21 season in 2016-17 – but he’s at a slightly better assists-per-game pace than his 140-point Hart Trophy season.
MacKinnon has become the ultimate facilitator, and it makes those around him better. His play has made guys like Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin better players. It is easy to see the difference in Mikko Rantanen’s game since being traded. There is simply no better player in the world than MacKinnon right now.
Special Teams Domination
There are plenty of things that the Avalanche needed to address coming into the trade deadline, and they may have solved the biggest problem with a blockbuster trade. Having said that, the Avalanche’s special teams have left the fan base wanting more, putting in streaky performances from time to time.
Of late, the special teams have found themselves. The penalty kill is 14th in the NHL, the power play is 8th. Against the Sharks, the power play went 3-for-4, with contributions from Makar, Jonathan Drouin, and Martin Necas in the process. The Avalanche even added a shorthanded goal from Joel Kiviranta to start the scoring.
There are a few truths heading into the playoffs. One of them is that your special teams must be at their best if you want to advance. The Avalanche have one of the best power plays in the league already. Rounding the penalty kill into form – they did give up two power play goals – would make this team truly formidable.
Avalanche Rolling
The Avalanche have now won four in a row, but the margin for error is narrowing. They are tied with the Minnesota Wild for third in the Central Division, eight points back of the Stars for second place. It seems very clear that the ceiling for the Avalanche is a first-round matchup with the Stars, it’s just a matter of who gets home ice.
The Avalanche need to simply focus on rounding into form and being the best they can heading into the playoffs. Seeding isn’t everything, but the Avalanche will have their work cut out for them. Recent performances and the big trade deadline addition could have them as the team no one wants to face.
