A Cacophony of Shenanigans
The Colorado Avalanche played host to the division rival Minnesota Wild in the second half of a back-to-back
The Colorado Avalanche's resumption began with a 4-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth, win #38 of the season. We were back to work on the following night, this time at home, but still facing a division foe. In this case, it's our oldest division rival: the Minnesota Wild. Our third meeting of the season against Minnesota, but it's the first time that the Avs hosted the Wild, as the previous two meetings were in Minnesota. It is also the second time that the NHL's top two defensemen, Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes, battled each other this season (the third if you count the Gold Medal Game this year).
Mackenzie Blackwood was in net against Filip Gustavsson, and the first period saw the Avs dominate in shots, but it was scoreless after 20 minutes. The penalties were two to one, and it was the Avs who had the two, because the refs always have their Minnesota Wild armbands on in Wild/Avs games. It would get much worse in the 2nd period. Cale Makar was called for slashing, but he did absolutely nothing of the sort. So thanks to the refs, Minnesota got an undeserved power play goal, and it was Joel Erikson Ek, with Matt Boldy (who scored Team USA's first goal in the Gold Medal Game) and Kirill Kaprizov assisting. Avs pressed for the tie and got it six minutes later, and it was Martin Necas, who has been red hot lately. Nathan MacKinnon and Josh Manson assisted, but after that, oh boy.
Gabriel Landeskog was put in the box (for the second time) under the claim of elbowing. 49 seconds laer, it was Valeri Nichushkin in the box. They say cross-checking, but I saw no such thing. Then it was Brent Burns for delay of game. That one actually was right, so the 5-on-3 was much longer. It looked like we would kill it off, but... Eriksson Ek struck again. Boldy and fellow Gold Medalist Quinn Hughes with the assists, and after 40 minutes, the Refs... I mean Wild (I was right the first time) led 2-1 after 40 minutes.
A miracle happened in the 3rd period: something was actually called against the Wild. Avs had a power play, but we would not score. That would have been another miracle, and the hockey gods would only allow one miracle at a time. Even worse, Mats Zuccarello made it 3-1 late. It was goalie-pulling time, but that only allowed Matt Boldy to put it in the empty net for his first goal since scoring in the Gold Medal Game. Martin Necas did score again in the final minute, but all that did was make the score look a little bit better, until Boldy scored again.
The Avs lost to the Refs, I mean Wild (again, I was right the first time), 5-2, and with that, everyone now has double digit regulation losses, as this was our 10th of the season. The refs who worked that game need to be fired. They're always biased against the Avs when we play the Wild, but this was a whole other level here. I don't even think that the Golden Knights got favored by the refs as badly as the Wild did. We were shorthanded from the get go; five Avs against the Wild and the zebras.
The last meeting of the regular season will happen on March 8, and I say regular season because this could be a second round matchup here. As for our next game overall, we'll host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, and we will kick off the month of March with a three game road trip in LA (Monday), Anaheim (Tuesday), and Dallas (next Friday).
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About the Creator
Clyde E. Dawkins
I'm a big sports fan, especially hockey, and I've been a fan of villainesses since I was eight! My favorite shows are The Simpsons and Family Guy, etc.
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