An Ice COLT Glass of Juice
The Colorado Avalanche returned to the road for a meeting with the San Jose Sharks
The Colorado Avalanche were coming off finally picking up Win #1 in this young 2024-25 season, which is actually our 30th season since moving out of Quebec City (our 29th in play). The Avs defeated the Anaheim Ducks in overtime for our first win of the season; vibes are positive, and now, it was time to go back-to-back. Our opponents for Game #6 were the San Jose Sharks. It's always interesting when the Avs and Sharks get together, and I'm speaking as an Avs fan who remembers those early years when the Avs and Sharks were both strong playoff contenders. Sadly, those days are behind both teams, especially the Sharks, who are still rebuilding and trying to get something going in the midst of their longest playoff drought in franchise history.
And yes, that is true. The Sharks have gone five seasons without playoffs. That is the team's longest playoff drought. The sound you hear is literal sobs from Buffalo.
For this game, Justus Annunen made his first start of the season for the Avs against Vitek Vanacek. Avs ended up with the first power play of the game at 6:00--a Too Many Men penalty committed by SJ. The PP comes through, which has been the case a lot this seaon for the Avs. What's also been the case: goals scored by Ross Colton. Colton on the PP with the assists coming from Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Avs ended up right back on the PP barely over a minute later, but that gets killed off. However, at 16:37, it's Colton again! Makar and Mikko Rantanen with the helpers, and for the first time all year, the Avs have a multi-goal lead. It gets cut in half late in the period by a Sharks PPG, William Eklund with the tally, but after 20 minutes, the Avs led 2-1.
For the first time all season, the Avalanche led after a period. That score would remain after 40 minutes as well, and this is despite a penalty filled 2nd period that saw both teams with 5-on-3 opportunities! The 3rd period saw both teams on their best behavior, very quite and back and forth. The ice was broken by Joel Kiviranta, who netted his first of the season and made it 3-1 for the Avalanche. It was pretty much done after that. Vanacek was pulled for the extra attacker, there were attempts by MacKinnon to try to get Colton that third goal for the Hat Trick, but to no avail. It would be Makar who put in the empty-netter, and that would be it.
The Avalanche have now won back-to-back games. This is a big step in the right direction. I know the wins were against the Ducks and Sharks, but still, as the saying goes, one has to crawl before they can walk. We will beat a bunch of real teams as the season progresses. Annunen gets his first win of the season, but let's talk about Ross Colton. If I told you that an Avs player leads the league in goals, you'd assume I meant MacKinnon or Makar, or Mikko Rantanen. You would never think about Ross Colton. Yet Colton has six goals, which leads the league at the moment. He has been red hot in the last few games; he had two goals in the win against Anaheim, and two in this game, with the second one being the game winner.
The Avalanche's road trip continues with a visit to Seattle on Tuesday, during the NHL's second annual Frozen Frenzy, and on Thursday, it's our first trip to Utah against the UHC (Utah Hockey Club).
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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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Comments (1)
This was a real blast to read.