We haven’t seen many Avalanche games this season play out the way Friday night’s matchup against the Winnipeg Jets did. Colorado won 3-2, extending its home winning streak at Ball Arena to 11 games.
But what stuck out most was the physicality. There were several massive hits, scuffles after whistles, fierce battles in the crease, and a whopper of a fight between Josh Manson and Tanner Pearson. It was quite the night for the 34th game in the middle of December.
“We haven’t seen much of that, but you have to be prepared to be able to win whatever game’s being played,” head coach Jared Bednat said. “We kind of talk about all those things.”
The Avs still did a lot of the things that have made them successful throughout the year. Most importantly, they dominated at five-on-five.
“I thought we could have been up more in the second period,” Bednar said. “We were really good again, one of our better defensive efforts of the year. We spent some time in the D-zone in the second period, but didn’t give up any dangerous chances.”
Brent Burns, Martin Necas, and Parker Kelly scored for Colorado, which improved to 25-2-7 on the season and 14-0-2 at home.
Manson also recorded two assists in what was one of his best games of the season.
“When my game’s going, my feet are moving, it’s creating good gaps and finding the opportunities to get physical,” Manson said. “It’s just part of my game.”
The scoring started nearly halfway through the first period. The Avs were pressing and getting quite a few good looks on goalie Connor Hellebuyck. Both Brock Nelson and Artturi Lehkonen had clean looks and were stopped by Hellebuyck.
But then a Burns shot from the point found the back of the net. Burns sent it towards the goal, and it deflected in off Jets defenseman Hadyn Fleury’s skate. The puck just squeaked in between Hellebuyck’s pad and the right post at 9:45.
Colorado added another before the break, but not before taking a penalty. Gabe Landeskog was called for holding in the offensive zone, but the Avalanche killed the penalty with ease. Moments later, the Avs doubled their lead.
Nathan MacKinnon gained some speed up the neutral zone, as he and Necas entered the zone on a two-on-one. MacKinnon fed a nice pass to his linemate, who fired it bar down past Hellebuyck to make it 2-0 Colorado at 15:05.
Despite having a power play, the Jets did not record a shot on goal between the Avs’ first and second goals.
The second period was more of the same for the home team. The Avalanche had the majority of the chances in what ended up being a chippy 20 minutes of hockey.
Colorado couldn’t extend its lead because of Hellebuyck. The reigning Vezina and Hart Trophy winner was exceptional, making at least three high-danger saves to stop Colorado from extending its lead.
Before the period ended, Morgan Barron broke in on Scott Wedgewood all alone and scored a shorthanded goal on his backhand. It cut the Avs’ lead down to 2-1 with 38 seconds remaining in the period.
The biggest storyline coming out of the second was the status of Necas. And the Avalanche ended up avoiding what could’ve been a disaster. The superstar forward was hit by Logan Stanley while Colorado was on the power play and went right down the tunnel upon exiting the ice.
Necas did not play for the remainder of the second period, but was back to start the third. He was instantly re-added to the top line and the No. 1 power play unit.
“I was fine. I was just a little cut inside [the mouth], that’s why I left,” Necas said. “And then the [concussion] spotters got me. Had to do a test, and it was fine.”
That power play, again, was unsuccessful to start the third. But it didn’t take long after that to restore the two-goal lead. Kelly stood in front of Hellebuyck and redirected Manson’s point shot to make it 3-1 at 1:58.
The Avalanche took a penalty of their own shortly thereafter, and it only took six seconds for Mark Scheifele to put it past Wedgewood. Both of Winnipeg’s goals came on special teams.
Despite pulling their goalie late, the Jets couldn’t get the game tied up. Colorado outshot them 26-22, and Wedgewood made 20 saves to match Karel Vejmelka and Jake Oettinger for the most wins in the league (15).
Good: The Best Version of Josh Manson
The Avs have been blessed with the best version of Manson all year. Early in the second period, Manson leveled forward Cole Perfetti with a clean hit along the boards in the neutral zone. Moments later, he was challenged and willingly accepted a fight against Tanner Pearson.
Both of them started throwing, but Manson got the better of him, even landing punches while both were down on the ice, and tried to get back up to continue the bout.
Manson’s physicality has been a highlight for Colorado since opening night. He’s playing some of the best hockey of his tenure with this team, and it’s been beneficial for a blueline where Manson sticks out as the most physical of the bunch.
Bad: Power Play Gives One Up
It’s one thing to struggle on the power play, but it’s another thing when the other team scores.
Colorado played 39 minutes of perfect hockey, not allowing the Jets to score while maintaining the offensive advantage. Cole Perfetti was called for tripping at 19:04 of the second period, setting the Avs up for an opportunity to really get a stranglehold of the game.
They were already 0-for-2 on the PP, but this was going to be a big one. Instead, a bad bounce led to Barron going the other way and beating Wedgewood to get Winnipeg on the board. Wedgewood’s shutout bid ended, and the Jets entered the third with a far greater chance to fight back than they had before.
The power play has been a sore spot for the Avalanche almost the entire season. In the last game, the top unit scored a crucial goal against Seattle to secure a third-period comeback victory. But failing to score and allowing a shorthanded tally on top of that was not great.
Bednar still doesn’t seem to have answers for the struggling PP. But it’s something they know they need to work on.
