3rd Time's the Charm

Who here had Tuesday's battle between the Colorado Avalanche and the Anaheim Ducks as a battle between first place teams? The Avs leading the Central this early is no shock; a lot of the players on this team have "been there, done that" for the last few years. The Ducks, however, are another story. Anaheim hasn't experienced the playoffs since 2018. Think about how long ago that was. The Vegas Golden Knights debuted that year, and the Avs reached the playoffs in Game 82, starting our current playoff streak. Yet lo and behold, here are the Ducks, sitting on top of the Pacific Division.

And what I'm about to say can be saved for another story, but I'll only say this. I would respect the Ducks' good start more if they hadn't made a certain choice when it came to hiring head coaches. That's all I'll say... for now.

Regarding the Avs, we were coming off winning back-to-back in Western Canada, and in this go around, Scott Wedgewood was in net against Lukas Dostal. Oh boy. Dostal is one of those game-stealers. He's the type who will stand on his head stopping 40 or 50 shots like it's nothing. However, it took just 28 seconds to crack him. Artturi Lehkonen made it 1-0 for the Good Guys, and the assists came from Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon. Apparently, Lehky got just a bit too overexcited about his tally that he ended up committing a penalty. Ducks got the first power play, and it was killed off. Shots were pretty even, and then the Avs got on the PP. Nothing there. Matching minors were called later on, and during the four-on-four, the Ducks tied it, and it was Leo Carlsson. That's a name I've heard quite a bit when it comes to the Ducks, and for good reason: Carlsson's goal was his 11th this season.

Game was tied at one after 20 minutes, and it followed by a very tame 2nd period that saw a grand total of one penalty called. It was on the Ducks when Wedgewood was bowled over. The power play was killed off, but later on, at 11:37, it happened. It finally, officially happened. Sam Malinski gets it to Valeri Nichushkin, and his attempt is rebounded by Gabriel Landeskog, who puts it in. At long last, after three years and two review leading to reversals, Our Captain has his first goal of the season. Avs took the lead and the 2-1 score held up after two periods. Third period saw the Avs on the power play, leading to Martin Necas making it 3-1; Lehkonen and MacKinnon with the assists. Wedgewood continued holding the fort down, and after Dostal was pulled for the extra attacker, Parker Kelly iced it after receiving a pass from MacKinnon.

The Avalanche's hot streak continues with a 4-1 victory over the Pacific-leading Ducks, our fourth straight win. Scott Wedgewood was a brick wall en route to picking up his league leading tenth win of the season. Nathan MacKinnon added three more assists, giving him 12 points in his last three games. Ironically, the only goal he didn't assist on was Gabriel Landeskog's tally. March 5, 2022. That was the last time Landeskog scored. He did have a goal in last year's playoffs, and that was also at home. I see Landeskog getting at least 20 goals this season. He's one down, that's 19 more to go.

Next up, the Avs homestand continues on Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres, and that's followed by games against the Islanders (on Sunday) and Rangers (next Thursday).

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