Unlikely Stars Inspire Avs in 4-0 Win

Colorado crushes Columbus at home with Miner, Solovyov and Burns leading the way.

“Don’t play with your food!”

I used to hear that regularly as a kid, sitting at the dinner table while my mother scolded me for pushing food around my plate, uninterested in eating it. Usually, I had no issue with what my parents put in front of me, but like most kids, there were just some nights when I didn’t want what was in front of me.

I have to think there are nights like that over the course of an NHL season, too. Players look at what’s in front of them and just aren’t as interested in participating as they are on other evenings.

For the top players on the Colorado Avalanche, Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets felt like one of those nights. The Avs earned a 4-0 win — which, on its own, is great — but they did so in an unusual way. Any hint of disinterest in the opponent was replaced by the entire team rallying around the play of those making unlikely contributions.

On a roster filled with All-Stars and Olympians, the Three Stars of the Game featured… Trent Miner and Ilya Solovyov. And both were as well deserving of their spots on the postgame honor roll as they were unlikely.