Even with a clinched playoff spot, the Avalanche aren’t letting up and showed no mercy; neither did (F) Nazem Kadri tonight against his former “Foster Home” team. Key forensic evidence came back after the slaughter fest Colorado put on Calgary showing that there were several Avalanche players with their fingerprints all over Calgary’s net, with most of the shell casings coming from the 1st period.
The game got out of hand quickly with Colorado scoring 5 goals on 26 shots in the 1st period alone. Jack Drury banked a nasty shot from behind the goal line off the backside of Calgary’s goaltender to get Colorado on the board first. Kadri went back-to-back netting backdoor goals, both on the powerplay. Not even a few minutes later, Brock Nelson dished a cross-ice laser pass to Gabe Landeskog perfectly positioned in the slot with a nice shot going 5-Hole on (G) Dustin Wolf that got him pulled for the rest of the game. The goalie switch didn’t make much of a difference. Before the 1st period ended, Parker Kelly had a stellar tip on a long distance shot at the blueline from Cal Makar. Four different Avalanche players (N. Kadri, G. Landeskog, P. Kelly) scored in the first period.
Colorado took a break during the 2nd period only logging one goal that came from Nathan MacKinnon with a classic “Nate Clap Bomb”. Period 3, the Av’s got back to business and put up three more goals. First goal was an east net open look shot from Martin Necas, second goal Sam Malinski was fed a “gimme shot” on a pristine assist from Parker Kelly, thirst goal was a rebound clean-up shot scored by Artturi Lehkonen parked in the crease after a missed attempt by Nathan MacKinnon.
Cale Makar recorded three assists on the night and exited the game early, missing the 3rd period due to an upper body injury which was more than likely a precautionary call since Colorado was winning by a large margin. Scott Wedgwood only let in two goals on 29 shots and is now (26-5-6) as a starter in net, already in playoff form.
Eleven players on the Avalanche recorded a point with Colorado finishing the game going 3 for 4 on the powerplay which is what they’ve been struggling with all year. Kadri has made a huge impact on offense and is a considerable reason why this power unit has drastically improved since his return to Colorado. After a 50 shot and 9 goal throttling, Colorado is only one game away from 50 wins (49-13-10) and will try and keep the positive momentum on their return home next game against the Vancouver Canucks.
Dante Robinson | Senior NHL Analyst for The NSR Network
