Avs Notebook: Importance Of Val Continues To Show

Two and oh. Ten goals scored, three against. One goal in two games, 10 shots on goal.

Those are the numbers for the Avalanche and Valeri Nichushkin himself since he returned from injury two games ago. Yeah, we all know what a checkered last two years he’s had. But even those two early playoff departures have only accentuated just how valuable the big Russian has been to the Avs for quite a while now.

Colorado is now 211-74-27 in games when Valeri Nichushkin has played for the team since signing as a scrap-heap free agent in 2019. That’s a winning percentage of .720. That does not include playoff games (the stats of which I don’t have right off hand here, but I know those have to be damn good too).