Wedged

Well, Avs fans, the month of March is finally here. March is a highly important month in the NHL season, but fot the Colorado Avalanche, it is immensely vital. We need as many points as possible in order to rise out of the Wild Card standings and into the Central Division Top 3. Thankfully, the Avs are still on a six-game homestand, and it's "so far, so good." The Avs ended February with home wins against the Devils and Wild. Four points down, eight to go.

For our first game this March and our third in the homestand, the Avs host the Pittsburgh Penguins, meaning that it's Sid and Nate together again. Scott Wedgewood was in net against Alex Nedeljkovic, and the first period was quite eventful. The Penguins were firing everywhere, but Wedgewood stopped them cold. The shots on goal were 12-8 Pittsburgh after 20 minutes, but it was 0-0 where it counted.

The second period was more of the same; Pittsburgh was still firing. This time, the Avs were as well, and we struck paydirt! At 6:36, Artturi Lekhonen scores for the 25th time this season, and the assists came from Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. After the first goal of the game, the first penalty was called, and it resulted in a power play for the Penguins. Killed off, but Pittsburgh went right back on the PP minutes later. Pens had close calls, but no go on PP #2. It looked like we would still be up 1-0 after 40, but Rickard Rakell changed that. Game tied, and the assists came from Bryan Rust and some guy wearing #87.

So after 40 minutes, it's 1-1. The third period saw a lot of shenanigans. Refs clearly did not want to call anything on the Penguins. We should have had a PP in the second. A blatantly obvious high sticking infraction on Pittsburgh was ignored, and of course, Mack was the victim. But remember: "MacKinnon gets all the calls." That's the lie they tell. I was actually preparing for overtime, but then a funny thing happened: they actually called a penalty on Pitt. Power play time, and Casey Mittelstadt scores! Valeri Nichushkin and Mack with the helpers, and the Avs lead again. The goal was scored with 4:09 left in regulation, and the Penguins pulled the goalie quickly. Lehkonen fired it into the empty net for his second of the game, and that pretty much sealed it. Goalie pulled again, and Jack Drury really ices it!

The Avs remain perfect on the homestand; it's now six points down and six to go! We actually had to steal this one. We were outshot in the first two periods and we only had one power play, but it was successful. Artturi Lekhonen added two more goals, totalling 26 so far, and Nathan MacKinnon had a pair of helpers. The two assists gives him 93 points this season, moving him seven away from his third straight 100-point season and he's now eight points away from the 1000-point mark. Unfortunately, the Minnesota Wild won yet again, so the Avalanche remain two points behind Minnesota. We will head to Minnesota on the 11th.

As for now, the Avs' homestand continues on Thursday against the lowly San Jose Sharks. After that, the Avs host the Toronto Maple on Saturday, and the homestand ends on Monday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

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