Put Some Respect on His Name

Forgive the lateness of this recap; so much goodness happened in the world of sports. It's typical of the month of October; the most chaotic month in the sports calendar. Hockey's in the early stages, the NFL is closing in on midseason form, baseball's on the verge of crowning a champion, the CFL is on the home stretch, and the NBA is coming. There's also the Sports Equinox, that one day of the year when the four main leagues all play at once, but that's later in the month.

The Colorado Avalanche were coming off our first loss of the season, losing via shootout to the Dallas Stars on Saturday. The Avs went on the road again, this time to the Northeast, as we were set to face off against the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres are in Year Fifteen of trying to find something, anything that get them to the NHL's Sweet 16, aka the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nothing has worked. Avs fans remember last year's season series against the Sabres. We won both games in big comeback fashion, and regarding our last visit to Buffalo, the Avs won 5-4... after trailing 4-0.

Scott Wedgewood was in net against Alex Lyon, and the Avs struck first and early. Who else? Nathan MacKinnon put it in and it was 1-0 for the good guys. The assists came from Martin Necas and Brent Burns, marking two straight games with a point for the latter. Right after that, Buffalo got the first PP of the game, it was killed off. So was their next one. Rasmus Dahlin ended up in the box, but the Avs' PP was knocked off as well. However, shortly after the PP ended, Tage Thompson (who, along with Dahlin, serves as one of the few bright spots for the Sabres) ties it up. Alex Tuch and the aforementioned Dahlin assisted. Sabres received a power play with 1:45 left in the first, which ended with the score tied at one.

Second period began with the rest of that PP knocked off, and at 4:32, the Avs regained the lead. It was Cale Makar, who put in 30 last year, putting in his first of the season, with the lone assist going to Valeri Nichushkin. Avs later get another power play that's killed off, and later on, we get a four-on-four situation after matching minors are called on Burns and Tuch. During that four-on-four, MacKinnon strikes again, 21 seconds after the penalties are called. Necas and Makar assisted on Mack's second goal of the game, and it was 3-1 after 40 minutes. The third period saw what we believed was a goal by Necas, but it was reviewed for offsides. Offsides was determined, goal removed, but it didn't matter.

I know our season is four games old, but come on, Nathan MacKinnon has to be leading the Hart Trophy talks this season. He better get it this year. He was screwed last year. How MacKinnon wasn't even a finalist is a travesty. I am deliriously happy right now. Last year, after four games, we were an injury-riddled mess with no wins. This year, we're a head turning juggernaut with no regulation losses. Seven points out of maximum eight.

Next up, the Avs will be off to Columbus to face off against the Blue Jackets on Thursday, and after that, the Avs return home on Saturday against the Boston Bruins. All of this is part of a string of games against Eastern Conference teams occurring very early in the season, which is interesting, because it means we'll be playing some important conference games when the season comes close to ending.

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