Soooo... That Happened

Game One of the Colorado Avalanche's homestand saw us win in overtime against the New York Rangers in comeback fashion; a clutch with almost 1 1/4 minutes left in regulation, and then, a Devon Toews overtime goal. Next up, a home meeting with the Edmonton Oilers; a battle between superstars Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid. The meetings have been quite interesting ever since that 2022 Western Conference Final; we all know how that ended.

Mackenzie Blackwood was in net against Stuart Skinner, and the Avs struck first. Logan O'Connor made it 1-0 just over five minutes in to the opening frame. After that, it was Mack time. The best #29 in the league made it 2-0 halfway into the first period, and less than two minutes later, Mack struck again. Two goals just like that. Avs led 3-0, with three goals on five shots. The Oilers were doing the one thing they know how to do best: kissing the Avs' ring.

Then the rest of the game happened.

Moments before the period ended, Victor Arvidsson ended Blackwood's shutout bid, but even so, the Avs led 3-1 after 20 minutes. MacKinnon nearly got the Hat Trick in the second, but during that frame, Brett Kulak shoots a huge snipe from barely in front of the blue line. It's a one-goal game. Avs finally get a power play, but it doesn't connect. That's been a problem for us lately. It also doesn't help that the refs are blatantly biased for the Oilers, which is always the case when we play against Edmonton. So why didn't the PP connect, because same biased refs decided to make up something to call against MacKinnon. So four-on-four, followed by an abbreviated PP for the Oilers that was knocked off.

You know what wasn't stopped. That guy wearing #97. So ol' You-Know-Who tied it up because of course he did. Oilers get another gift power play because of course they did. That was killed off, but so was our three goal lead. 3-3 after 40 minutes. In the third, Avs received another power play that also went flat. Yikes. Oilers went on the PP, also killed off. I was hoping for either overtime or for us to just get 'em here. Neither happened. Even worse, Evan Bouchard, who is quite underrated, struck. Oilers had the lead. Avs had plenty of time to get this thing even. Blackwood was pulled for the extra attacker. Shot after shot was delivered. Skinner was a brick wall when the Oilers needed him to be, and that was that.

Oh boy. We've blown out better teams than Edmonton (which is a long list), yet a 3-0 lead evaporated against this team. So the season series is lost. Even worse, both losses were at home. Not good. Also, the Avs power play has been a ghost in the last couple of weeks. We also failed to gain some important ground, as the Dallas Stars were defeated earlier that day. It's a pretty close cluster in that Central Division; the Wild, Stars, and Avs separated by three points in the Central, but all behind the Jets.

Good news for the Avs. We have a golden chance for the next few days. On Saturday, we host the Stars. On Monday, we host the Wild. And finally, on Wednesday, we host the Jets. If this all works out, the Avs could actually end up in second place after this homestand ends!

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