Mile High Sticking
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Colorado Avalanche Youngsters Looking to Shine vs Washington

By Nadia Archuleta

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We all know what happened in the Colorado Avalanche game against the Washington Capitals. Caps star Alex Ovechkin first broke Colorado forward Alex Tanguay’s face with his slapshot. He then broke the Avs Nation’s heart with a late-game goal that proved to be the game winner.

Backup goalie Reto Berra put out a decent performance, stopping 20 of 23 shots. Nathan MacKinnon earned two assists, with both Tyson Barrie and the ageless Daniel Briere scoring.

Different Avalanche Team

That was during a period when the Avs were in their whole “one step forward, two steps back” phase. Tonight’s game against Washington gives the Avalanche a chance to make a real statement, that they’re back and looking to be the team that played as well on the road as they did at home.

Naturally, they also want to climb in the standings. Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog remarked:

"“We are on a bit of a roll here, and we want to just keep this thing going and keep winning.”"

According to center Matt Duchene — and head coach Patrick Roy — the key is for the top guys to produce top points. As Duchene points out, that hasn’t happened this season, with players getting hot at the same time. “It’s been one guy here, one guy there,” he added.

Wunderkids

Veterans Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay are playing great, leading the team in goals and points both. However, those gentlemen were only ever supposed to be in supporting roles. They were supposed to provide leadership for the wunderkids, not do the job themselves.

The key for the Colorado Avalanche is the play of their young forwards — captain Gabriel Landeskog and centers Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan O’Reilly.

Matt Duchene

Duchene seems to be ready to take on his expected mantle of scoring leader again. With his goal and assist against the Dallas Stars, coupled with three assists in the last five, he’s now second on the team in both goals and points. The goal against the Stars marked the end of a 12-game no goals streak.

Duchene said of the busted streak:

"“Obviously you think about it. You don’t score for that long, it gets to you a little bit. Hopefully that’s the only stretch I go like that for the rest of the season.”"

We hope so too, obviously.

Gabriel Landeskog

Gabriel Landeskog has a goal and two assists in the last four games, but his leadership is shining. He’s recording up to 27 shifts a night and taking numerous shots. He’s fourth on the team for points.

Landeskog remarks on the team’s focus:

"“Without trying to stare at the standings, we are breaking it down into a few games at a time and trying to focus on a set goal that we have for the end of the season, or for the last (40) games.”"

Ryan O’Reilly

Ryan O’Reilly is definitely having a roller coaster season. He hasn’t scored since New Year’s Eve, but that was the overtime game winner. He also had two big assists in the game against the Ottawa Senators.

O’Reilly thinks the team has the right fire in its belly:

"“It’s an excitement and an intensity that we’ve got to have — that’s the way hockey should be played.”"

Nathan MacKinnon

Hopefully Nathan MacKinnon is finding his stride. He’s scored two goals and an assist in the last three games, despite diminished ice time. He seems to have found chemistry on a line with roommate/landlord Max Talbot. Likewise, he also appears to be working very hard:


So, everyone in the Avs Nation is hoping the youngster are going to go on a real roll. It certainly looks possible. Duchene thinks, “It’s starting to come now, and it’s fun to see. It’s exciting.”

One or more of the young forwards scoring tonight against the Caps most certainly would be exciting. However, we’re not going to turn up our nose at a goal by a veteran, a defenseman or a fourth-liner, are we?

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