After stumbling in Nashville, the Colorado had the perfect opportunity for a bounce-back game Monday evening against the visiting Blackhawks. The Avalanche certainly took advantage of it, winning another 5-0 game at the expense of the league’s worst team.
Here are a few of my takeaways from what was a boring blowout.
Nathan MacKinnon is good. Let’s get the most obvious one out of the way first. As Allan Roach said during the 3 Stars last night, “Another four points as it’s just another day at the office.” MacKinnon’s first-period goal got the tension of the home-point streak out of the way early, pushing the mark to 30 games. The streak is alive, but it’s the way he’s picking up points in these games that makes it all the more impressive. It’s not like he’s going out and getting a secondary assist and moving on. He’s usually notching multiple points and scoring big goals. Last night marked his 21st multiple-point effort and eighth game of three or more points at home in 2023-24. In three more road games than home games this season, MacKinnon has 25 fewer points, scoring 40 (14-26-40) away from Ball Arena, while 65 (25-40-65) a mile above sea level. I understand ‘Playoff MacKinnon’ is a real thing, but we need this year’s ‘Home MacKinnon’ to merge with the aforementioned ‘Playoff MacKinnon’ and it will be something special. We need to get home ice in the playoffs…Oh, and he’s tied for the league lead in points. Which, last time I checked, was good.
Justus Annunen is playing himself into a new role. After spending much of the year in the AHL as the Eagles’ starter, Annunen is solidifying his place with the big club as the No. 2 (for now). His emergence the last week as a capable NHL goalie (against Chicago albeit) will play a crucial role down the stretch in pushing Alexandar Georgiev in his stars, while also affording him the opportunity to rest some games in an effort to be more fresh for the postseason. Annunen’s back-to-back shutouts of the Blackhawks are impressive as he turned aside all 37 he faced on Monday night after stopping 24 last week in the Windy City. In his last three starts, the Finnish netminder has allowed just one goal in regulation and another in the overtime loss at Detroit. I am not ready to proclaim him as the goaltender of the future, as I would like to see him play more games and against more quality opponents, but he has looked sharp against NHL talent when called upon recently.
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