The Race Tightens

The Colorado Avalanche's winning streak was snapped on Tuesday, but the points streak remains, as the loss in Minnesota was via shootout. The Avs are still red hot and moving closer to the Dallas Stars in the Central Division standings. Next up, the two-game road trip concluded with a visit to Calgary against the Flames--the Avs' final trip to Western Canada this regular season. In this game, both teams are fighting for something. The Avs are trying to keep pace with the Dallas Stars, but the Flames are trying to hold to their very small advantage over the Vancouver Canucks in the playoff race.

The goalie matchup was Scott Wedgewood against Dustin Wolf, the latter being considered for the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year). Wolf was put to work early, the Avs fired a lot of shots in a period that saw a lot of close calls for icing. The Avs dominated the Flames in shots; Wedgewood really didn't have to work for most of this game. We struck first in this battle, and it was Ryan Lindgren with his first in Avalanche colors, adding to the already immense total of points by Avalanche defensemen. Avs ended the first 20 minutes up 1-0, and ahead 7-2 in shots.

The second period was more of the same, for every one shot the Flames had, the Avs had about three or four of them. The Avs also had the game's first power play, but that was successfully killed off. Calgary's next penalty resulted in a penalty shot opportunity for Cale Makar, but Wolf stopped it. However, Wolf could not stop Parker Kelly, who broke away in between two Flames, and scored. Avs now led 2-0 after 40 minutes, but the shots gap was decreasing.

The Flames started to wake up in the third period, as Blake Coleman put Calgary on the board early in the period. It didn't take long for the Avs to get that goal back, as Kelly struck again after a pass from Ross Colton. So it was 3-1 for the Avs, and good news; the Stars were flattened by the Winnipeg Jets. And yes, I was pulling for the Jets, because the Avs don't have a chance to win the Central Division. So all we had to do is hold on and we gain ground on Dallas. Calgary had their first PP of the game at past the 10 minute mark, but it was killed off. However, Calgary's next PP wasn't. A weird scramble led to Jonathan Huberdeau putting it in, and it was a one goal game. After Wolf was pulled for the extra attacker, Valeri Nichushkin put it in to make it 4-2. Wolf was pulled again, an attempt was made to get Kelly the hat trick, but no go.

The Avs' 4-2 victory over the Flames increased our points streak to eight games (7-0-1), and we are now three points behind Dallas, who we host on Sunday on TNT. It definitely looks like the Avs have a good chance to finish in second place in the Central, which guarantees home ice in Round 1. This win also came without points from Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, or Artturi Lehkonen, which is more impressive. It does have me worried, though. Mack's points lead is decreasing; Leon Draisaitl reached the 100 point mark, and he's now two points behind Mack in the Ross Trophy race. As for the Flames, they and the Canucks have identical records, but Calgary still has the tiebreaker at the moment (more regulation wins).

As I stated before, the Avs host Dallas on Sunday, but after that's, it's three straight games in Eastern Canada. The trip begins in Toronto on Wednesday, and continues in Ottawa on Thursday before concluding in Montréal on Saturday.

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