New Month, Same Juggernaut

What a month of November that was! 13 games, won 11 of them, and our only two losses came past regulation. No regulation losses in November, and still only one regulation loss all season! But we are now in a new month, the month of December. The final month of the calendar year, but in the NHL, December ends the whole "it's early" vibe. December begins the NHL's transition into midseason form, with January placing the league at that exact part of the season.

As for the Avalanche, we start the month against the Vancouver Canucks, who are in a total nightmare right now. Remember when this team was a win away from the Western Conference Final? That was only two years ago! Last year, they were in the race, but just missed out, though even that is better than where they are now. They are a mess. Everything's going wrong. Their only other meeting with the Avs this season? A 5-4 OT loss. They actually lost in OT to a team who is 1-6 past regulation this year. That's absolutely not good.

Scott Wedgewood was in net against Kevin Lankinen. Avs had an early 2-1 shots lead, but Vancouver's second shot of the game went in. Linus Karlsson (lot of Karlssons in the NHL nowadays) put it in on a borderline breakaway. So we're down 1-0. Minutes later, the Avs get the first power play of the game, and as bad as our PP is, Vancouver's penalty kill is worse. They are 30th in the league, which is third to last. Avs had a lot of shots, but nothing. Penalty killed off, but as the final minute of the frame began... guess who?! Nathan MacKinnon ties it up; he's the first to hit blackjack--21!

Devon Toews and Sam Malinski had the helpers, and it was 1-1 after 20. Early in the second, Vancouver gets a PP after the Avs commit too many men. It gets killed off, and guess what, folks? That was it for the PPs. This was a well behaved game; only one penalty on each side. Each team had close calls, but it would be the Avs who took the lead, and it was Brock Nelson, who has been red hot lately. Ninth goal of the season; Gabriel Landeskog and Ross Colton with the helpers. A few minutes later, MacKinnon struck again! 22nd of the season, second goal of the game. Another assist for Landeskog, with the other one going to Josh Manson. 3-1 after two periods, and the third period saw both teams really try for something, especially Vancouver when Lankinen was pulled. Avs' shots at the empty net never connected, but we didn't need it.

The beat goes on, folks. The Colorado Avalanche won, 3-1; our 19th win of the season, and it's only the second day of December. The Avs have won 12 of our last 13 games, and this game saw Nathan MacKinnon continue to make his early case for the Hart (NHL MVP), Ross (points leader), and Richard Trophies (goals leader). Seriously, what he's doing is absolutely epic. Also, Landeskog's racking up the points lately. I think Our Captain's form is coming back!

The Avs will go on a four-game road trip starting on Thursday against the New York Islanders. This will mark Brock Nelson's first appearance in Long Island since the Isles traded him last March, that's going to be an interesting one, indeed.

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