Two Wins in Two Nights and the Avs Lead the Central

Boring wins count the same in the standings. Also: who hurt Dean Evason?

This guy had to be so happy and sad with Saturday’s game. His team lost, but his other team won!

Two games. Two days. Two time zones. Two wins. First place.

The Colorado Avalanche dispatched the Minnesota Wild, 3-2, and the Calgary Flames, 3-1, Friday and Saturday nights, respectively, to move into first place in the Central Division.

Two boring games. But four great points.

In Minnesota on Friday night, the Avs got goals from likely scorers in Ross Colton and Valeri Nichushkin. But when the game was tied in the third period and it seemed like they were in jeopardy of blowing a 2-0 lead to a division opponent and heated rival, Colorado got a goal from its most unlikely source: Kurtis MacDermid.

And it’s not just that MacDermid was the one to score the eventual game winner. It’s that he did it in style. Taking a pass in the slot from Andrew Cogliano, Dermy was able to go forehand-backhand and slide the puck past the outstretched left pad of Wild netminder Filip Gustavsson for — what I can only assume without doing any research — was the prettiest goal of MacDermid’s career.

Likely inserted into the lineup to matchup and deter the likes of Minnesota’s Pat Maroon, MacDermid made the most of his very limited icetime to contribute to the team’s win in the most unexpected way: scoring.