A Shaky Debut in Raleigh

The Colorado Avalanche's five game road trip started on shaky ground. Down 4-0 in Buffalo after the first period. It became 4-1 in the second period, but we entered the third period needing a miracle. That miracle did come. Four goals in the third period. The second 4-0 comeback win for the Avs in as many seasons, and unlike the one last season, we didn't need overtime... or home ice. So we are one up on the Eastern swing, and next up was a trip to Raleigh against the Carolina Hurricanes.

This was the second and last meeting of the season between our former WHA brethren; our first meeting was another win that came after we didn't start on time. For this game, Scott Wedgewood was making his first start for the Avs, with his first appearance in net seeing him in relief in that game in Buffalo, stopping every shot he faced. Now it was time for Wedgewood to lead the way and start, doing so against Pyotr Kochetov. Avs killed off an early power play, and right after that, Nathan MacKinnon broke away, but was stopped. Later on, Artturi Lehkonen broke away, and was not stopped. 1-0 Avs, and we start on time for a change.

Avs had a power play right after that, but no go. We killed a Carolina PP, but we could not stop Eric Robinson from tying the game. So 1-1 was the score after 20, and the second period did the Avs no favors. We committed the only penalty in the period, and it allowed Seth Jarvis to give Carolina the lead. Jack Roslovic made it 3-1 just two and a half minutes later, and that was the score after 40 minutes. Did the Avs have another comeback in us? We did have an early chance. An early power play turning into a 5-on-3, but all of that was killed off. Valeri Nichushkin cut our deficit to one late in the period, but the Hurricanes received a late power play and Martin Necas made it 4-2. Seconds later, it was Nichushkin again, and that gave us a solid chance to tie it up. Wedgewood was pulled for the extra attacker, but with 16 seconds left, Andrei Svechnikov added an empty netter to go with the three assists he had.

If there's any saving grace, it's that we didn't have a shitty first period this time. The Avalanche have dropped to 14-13, and we are well past the one-quarter mark of this regular season. I am still very optimistic about this season. It'll be difficult. But then again, the Avalanche never liked doing things the easy way. We can do this. All we need is a red hot streak; I've seen many teams in the NHL have them for years. That roll could start with the next game. Or it could come in January. Who knows? I do now this. The Avs are a strong team capable of a lot of good things. I sense those good things coming out big time.

The Avs are now 1-1 in the road trip, and next up is a trip to Detroit against the Red Wings. After that, we had to New Jersey and Pittsburgh, followed by two home games before a three-game road trip. Holy moley, we are spending a lot of time away from Ball Arena already.

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