It was Next Generation day at Ball Arena, which involves kids taking over key roles during the in-game fan experience.<\/p>\n
It turned into a day where the Colorado Avalanche stars took a back seat to some of the \u201cother guys\u201d as well.<\/p>\n
Brent Burns scored twice, Trent Miner collected his first NHL victory and shutout with 29 saves and the bottom-six forwards were all over the scoresheet in a 4-0 win Saturday afternoon against the Columbus Blue Jackets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got contributions from a bunch of different guys tonight,\u201d Avs coach Jared Bednar said. \u201cIt\u2019s how you win. If you want to win a lot, you\u2019re going to win in different ways and different guys are going to be chipping in. That\u2019s what our team has been doing a lot this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Avs have now won the first two contests of this season-long seven-game homestand. Colorado is halfway through its home slate this season, and is 19-0-2 at Ball Arena. The Avs have also won 17 straight here, which is one one shy of the franchise record set during the 2021-22 campaign.<\/p>\n
Burns gave Colorado the lead at 13:58 of the opening period. Gavin Brindley took the puck off the wall after a nice pass from Valeri Nichushkin and to the net on a rush. During the ensuing scramble, the rebound of a sharp-angle Ross Colton shot kicked out to the inside edge of the right circle and Burns snapped one through all the traffic in front for his seventh goal of the season.<\/p>\n
His second goal of the game and eighth of the year came with Colorado\u2019s fourth line on the ice. Brindley and Zakhar Bardakov collected assists as Burns\u2019 perimeter shot went off the goaltender, off a Blue Jackets\u2019 defenseman and trickled across the goal line.<\/p>\n
Burns is one of the great offensive defensemen on the 21st century, but his eight goals this year are already two more than his last season with the Carolina Hurricanes. He\u2019s well-positioned to hit double digits for the 14th time in his career, and 15 for the ninth time isn\u2019t out of the question.<\/p>\n
His two-goal game came two days after his defense partner, Josh Manson, scored twice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think either shot was going at the net,\u201d Burns said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t thinking about it. (Manson) even talked about it today, about how this game has a funny way of humbling you \u2026 we just talked about having a good game. It was lucky bounces, but it\u2019s (also) forwards being in good spots.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colorado\u2019s recently formed third line produced the next two goals after Burns\u2019 opener. Parker Kelly, up from the fourth line because of an injury to captain Gabe Landeskog, won a battle along the boards to the right of Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins. He got the puck to Jack Drury, who made a crafty little pass to Victor Olofsson for a backhanded shot and his eight goal of the season at 17:28 of the opening period.<\/p>\n
Olofsson, a shoot-first offensive player in his career, had gone 11 games without a goal, though Avs coach Jared Bednar has repeatedly praised his defense and all-around play in his first season with the club.<\/p>\n
Ilya Solovyov scored his first career NHL goal to give Colorado a 3-0 advantage midway through the second period. Olofsson led the offensive rush out of his own end, before leaving the puck for Kelly. His cross-ice pass found Solovyov, the trailing defenseman, and he buried a wrist shot from the left circle at 10:30 of the middle frame.<\/p>\n
It was the third straight game with a point for Solovyov. He had no goals and four assists in his first 25 career NHL games, but has a goal and two assists in his past three.<\/p>\n
Solovyov played in nine of Colorado\u2019s first 13 games this season while filling in for an injured Samuel Girard. Then the Avs\u2019 defense corps got healthy, and Solovyov didn\u2019t play for 63 days \u2014 a span of 28 games.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was unbelievable,\u201d Solovyov said. \u201cI was just happy for myself, proud of the work that I\u2019ve done for the two months that I was not playing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brindley, whom the Avs acquired from these Blue Jackets in an offseason trade, and Kelly both had two assists. Olofsson had a goal and an assist, while fellow depth forwards Drury and Bardakov added an assist each.<\/p>\n
This was the fifth career NHL game and third start for Miner. He has been up from the Colorado Eagles for the past four games since Mackenzie Blackwood went on the injured list Jan. 2, but this was his first NHL start since a 4-3 overtime loss Oct. 26 in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor sure, it\u2019s exciting to get my first win, but I think for us to get another win at home is just as exciting,\u201d Miner said. \u201cI think it went really good. I mean, there were a lot of shots blocked tonight that didn\u2019t get through, and I can\u2019t thank them enough for that. There were a lot of point one-timers, point shots that guys were eating pucks all night for me. I was pretty fortunate to be behind that group.\u201d<\/p>\n