Red Hot and Never Bothered

The month of March is coming to an end, and as for the Colorado Avalanche, we are coming off a three-game Eastern Canadian road trip that saw us win two of the three games. Now it's back to our home ice for the next four games--the four games that will end the month of March. First off, our longtime old foes: the Detroit Red Wings. The rivalry isn't the same as it once was, but even so, the long and prestigious history from that past rivalry is there. Five Stanley Cups between the teams during that heyday, a load of Hall of Famers, and a lot of gritty battles.

The tables have turned in recent years. The Avs are the perennial playoff team, clearly on the verge of our eighth straight playoff appearances, continuing a streak that has included a Stanley Cup. As for the Red Wings, they're looking to get back in the playoffs for the first time in nine years, and after being very close last year, and I mean very close, the Wings have fallen off in the last month or so, and it looks like the drought will continue. I'll say this, even as an Avs fan who hated the Wings, it still shocks me that they have a drought. Once upon a time, you couldn't get away from the Wings in April, May, and (at times) June. Now? This team can't last past March.

Mackenzie Blackwood was in net against Alex Lyon in this go-around. The first power play went to the Red Wings, and it cashed in. Guess who? If you said "J.T. Compher," you guessed correctly. That's the Avs' thing lately. Any of our ex-players, especially those from our Cup year--they score on us. So it's no surprise that "877-GOALS-NOW" was dialed up. Compher's goal came at 6:00. 44 seconds later, Cale Makar (one of the men who helped Compher get that Cup, though J.T. pulled his own weight as well) tied it up. It was originally Nichushkin's goal, but it was changed to Makar later on. Hoever, Nichushkin would get one later in the period, and just like that, the Avs had a 2-1 lead heading to first intermission.

In the second period, the Avs received a power play for the first time, giving us the chance to face off against the worst penalty kill in the league. I said, "We should score." We do. Devon Toews made it 3-1, and that was his second point of the evening, with the assists coming from Martin Necas and Brock Nelson. Two minutes later, Nathan MacKinnon went in the box, but the Avs killed the penalty. Score remained 3-1 after 40 minutes, third period was back and forth, and the Avs went back on the PP. Our red hot PP as of late stayed on fire, and it was MacKinnon, who is now wearing his goal total for the season. So it was 4-1, and it was pretty much sealed. Austin Watson scored late, but it was still sealed. Logan O'Connor made it even more official with an empty netter, assisted by Toews, his third point of the game.

The Avalanche's 5-2 win over the Red Wings continues our red hot March! We are now 9-1-1 in the month of March, we are picking up points left and right, and with the Minnesota Wild still struggling and sputtering, it definitely looks like the Avs are staying in the Central's Top 3. The Avalanche are now 11 points away from reaching the playoffs for the eighth straight season, and we are keeping in pace with the Dallas Stars for second place in the Central. We are three points behind Dallas, who heads to Edmonton for the second half of TNT's Wednesday doubleheader.

As for the Avs, that's two points down, and six more to get in this homestand. Next up, we'll face another red hot team on Thursday: the Los Angeles Kings. If things go well for us, the Avs can clinch a playoff spot before the month of April begins!

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