On This Day, We See Clearly

After a bad loss in Raleigh, the Colorado Avalanche bounced back and took it to the Detroit Red Wings, a 2-1 win in Motown, with Alexandar Georgiev shutting down the Wings. It was back to work for the Avs the next night, as the fourth game of the five-game road trip took the team to New Jersey to face a strong and red hot Devils team who is going toe-to-toe with the Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division.

In the second game of this back-to-back, the Avs started Scott Wedgewood in net, and this was a homecoming for Wedgewood, as he spent over a decade with the Devils organization in some form. Wedgewood was going up against Jake Allen, making this the second straight time we'd face off against an ex-Blues goalie after facing Ville Husso on the previous night. Avs struck first quick, and it was Ross Colton (who returned on Saturday) from Casey Mittelstadt and Val Nichushkin. Both teams pressed during that opening frame, and it was late in the period that Logan O'Connor made it 2-0! Calvin de Haan and Joel Kiviranta assisted.

Avs killed a Devils PP later on, and the opening period ended 2-0. The second period saw the Avs totally dominate; the Devils were having a devil of a time getting shots together, and the Avs would add on to the score, as Artturi Lehkonen made it 3-0 late in the period. Mittelstadt picked up the lone helper, his second of the game. 3-0 was the score after 40, and the third period started with the Avs shorthanded. New Jersey was really pushing to end that shutout bid, but Wedgewood would not budge. Penalty's killed off, the score remained the same until Allen was pulled for the extra attacker. That allowed Parker Kelly to get his second goal of the season, and the countdown was on for Wedgewood. The empty netter was scored with 3:55 left in the third, but all of that passed without anything getting past the ex-Devils' netminder.

It took 29 games, but the Avalanche picked up a shutout win, and against a very game and strong New Jersey Devils team! Despite the goaltending being under intense scrutiny and side eyes for the entire season, the Avs not only blanked the Devils on the road, we only gave up one goal in the back-to-back set. This is absolutely amazing. So the Avalanche are now 3-1 in this road trip. We won this game despite no points from either Nathan MacKinnon or Cale Makar, and also despite Mikko Rantanen not putting one in the net. Casey Mittelstadt and Calvin de Haan had two assists each, and of course, Scott Wedgewood was the top star, stopping 23 Devils shots. So we won the road trip, and honestly, I think we can build off this and get back to being one of the big powerhouses in the league.

The Avalanche's five-game road trip concludes on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and that's always a fun matchup. Crosby vs MacKinnon. The two best players in the league going today, and, well... we have to drink in these matchups in case Crosby ever decides to call it a career. After that, the Avs return home for a pair of games: first against Utah (Thursday), and then against the Predators (Saturday).

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