The Colorado Avalanche have already had a Jekyll & Hyde begin to the season. After shedding their first 4 video games, they abruptly got here into final night time’s sport towards the Utah Hockey Membership having received their final three, together with a decent 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken.
That streak is now as much as 4 video games after a powerful, dominant 5-1 win over the Utah Hockey Membership. The Avalanche abruptly appear like a complete new staff as they head again to Denver to start a three-game homestand, beginning with the Ottawa Senators on Sunday. Let’s get into the takeaways from this most up-to-date victory.
Goaltending Has Been Solved?
Three begins, three victories for Justus Annunen. He turned apart 25 of 26 pictures en path to the victory and the early returns are promising. His numbers have been ugly in spot obligation after Alex Georgiev was pulled twice early to start the season.
Because it seems, he simply wanted extra reps and being the starter for the previous three video games has proven what he can do. Annunen has stopped 75 of 79 pictures in that span, bringing him to 3-0 with a 2.08 goals-against common and .917 save proportion for the season.
Clearly, this can be a small pattern dimension. Utah and Seattle seem to be stable groups, however they aren’t the cream of the crop. It is going to be fascinating to see how head coach Jared Bednar handles the goaltending state of affairs transferring ahead, however it appears fairly clear that Annunen needs to be getting the lion’s share of the motion from right here on out.
Mittelstadt Quietly Having Nice Begin
Cale Makar is rightfully getting the vast majority of the eye laid on the Avalanche proper now, and rightfully so. He scored once more, bringing his NHL-best level complete as much as 15. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen are tied for second within the league with 13 factors every as effectively.
Associated: Avalanche’s Mittelstadt in for Profession Yr Offensively
Having mentioned all that, Casey Mittelstadt deserves his flowers for his early-season efficiency. The commerce that introduced him to Denver late final season got here with the hope that he may lastly fill the void that was left by the departure of Nazem Kadri.
He has been wonderful to date, registering 5 objectives and 9 factors by the primary 9 video games of the season. He picked up a aim and two assists within the win over Utah, the third sport in his final 4 through which he registered a degree. Getting that type of offensive manufacturing out of their second-line middle would go a great distance for the Avalanche.
Secondary Scoring Dominates
Gabriel Landskog denied retirement rumors, claiming he might be again in some unspecified time in the future this season. The excellent news for the Avalanche is that the secondary scoring has come to life within the final couple of video games, lowering the strain to return for Landeskog.
Ross Colton scored but once more, placing him one behind Nikita Kucherov’s eight objectives for the NHL lead. Joel Kiviranta scored for the third straight sport as effectively, displaying that the Avalanche can win even when MacKinnon, Makar, and Rantanen aren’t their standard ridiculously dominant selves.
Good groups discover scoring all through the lineup and that’s what is occurring for the Avalanche proper now. The Central Division is stacked, and the Avalanche nonetheless have quite a lot of work to do, however this current string of performances bodes effectively for when the schedule begins to grow to be harder.
The Tides Have Turned
The Winnipeg Jets are apparently incapable of shedding, the Minnesota Wild haven’t misplaced in regulation, and the Dallas Stars have received six of their first eight video games. It’s going to be powerful sledding regardless of how effectively the Avalanche play, however streaks like this are good to see no matter context.
If something, this stretch is extraordinarily promising. The goaltending points that have been so overwhelmingly unhealthy have swung completely within the different path. Secondary scoring has proven up in a giant approach and there might be assist coming later within the season. Successful the division could also be a bit bold given the extent of competitors, however the Avalanche are removed from completed.
