As with every game, you take the good with the bad, so time to take a look at the pluses and the minuses in the game against the New York Rangers for the Colorado Avalanche.
+ Nathan MacKinnon’s Incredible Run
I don’t expect the scoring to change on the second goal, and neither do the Avalanche (from the sounds of it), so it does appear that the home point streak for Nathan MacKinnon has come to an end at 35 games.
And what a run it was.
There is only one name ahead of him in the record books, and that’s Wayne Gretzky. Pretty good company, if you ask me. Odds are that we’ll never see a run like this again, so when you look at the context of everything, it’s pretty incredible. When MacKinnon was announced as having an assist in the Pittsburgh game the other day, with just 17 minutes left in the game, it was probably the loudest I’d heard Ball Arena. Avalanche fans knew he was doing something special, and just waited until they could cheer his name.
It’s a shame that it came to an end the way that it did, but what an accomplishment. I’m not sure MacKinnon ever really cared about the streak, but now all the focus will be on winning, which is what he really cares about.
– The Non-Assist
As soon as I saw the replay, I knew there would be trouble.
Mikko Rantanen did not celebrate like a guy who had just scored a goal, and Ryan Lindgren definitely looked like a guy who put it into his own net. That’s exactly what happened.
I see both arguments here. Rantanen’s stick looks like it taps Lindgren’s stick, but at the same time, Lindgren was trying to shove it under Shesterkin’s pads anyway. I don’t see Mikko’s stick ever touch the puck on a few angles, so I don’t think it was ever Rantanen’s goal, but you could make the argument that Lindgren never had possession. I’m sure that’s what the Avalanche will challenge, but I don’t expect the league to change it at this point.
+ Good Effort
The first period was definitely two teams feeling each other out, but after that, it was a solid game to watch. Sure, the Avalanche lost, but I don’t know if you can really be mad about anything. They outshot, out-attempted, and out-chanced the Rangers, but there was one big difference – Igor Shesterkin. Colorado did a lot of things right on Thursday night, they just couldn’t beat a goaltender who has gone back to being elite since the All-Star Break.
Maybe that’s people’s biggest concern, though.
– Georgiev Outplayed? I Guess
I don’t think Alexandar Georgiev played bad at all. In fact, I think he played quite well. The goal from behind the net stinks, but he didn’t get much help on the second Rangers goal.
Shesterkin, especially in overtime, showed why he’s elite and you could say he stole two points. I don’t think Georgiev has stolen points for the Avalanche much this year, and that’s probably the biggest concern for folks heading into the postseason.
+ Jean-Luc Foudy
Came away impressed with the young forward again, especially in the first period. I say first period because he really didn’t play a whole lot after that, but another strong showing from him.
– The Powerplay
At morning skate, the Avalanche tried out some new looks for their powerplay. When Thursday night rolled around, the top unit looked a little confused on where they were supposed to be, because the new look isn’t what they’re used to. Casey Mittelstadt got moved to the top unit, and didn’t look comfortable at all. On the powerplay in the first period, he turned it over a few times and looked frustrated heading to the bench.
No powerplay makes it through the season without dips, and the Avalanche are currently in a lull right now with the man advantage.
– No Val
Yeah, Colorado played well, and certainly well enough to win, but every time Valeri Nichushkin is out of the lineup, it’s so very clear that his presence is missing. Duhaime made a nice play on the Mittelstadt goal, but I didn’t like that second line all that much.
Hopefully this Nichushkin thing is something that can heal up, because they simply can’t afford to be without him during the most important time of the year.
+ Miles Wood Keeps It Simple
When Miles Wood was on the ice, the Avalanche out-attempted the Rangers, and most of that is because Wood was just throwing everything at the net. Eight shot attempts in 12:39 of ice-time, and five individual scoring chances. Nothing is going in for the guy at the moment, but it does feel like his game has been trending in a positive direction the last week.
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