Gabriel Landeskog vs the Western Conference

Gabriel Landeskog’s history with the Colorado Avalanche should be pretty well-known since it’s relatively brief and so storied. The Avalanche selected Landeskog second-overall in the 2011 NHL Draft, which was the highest the team had selected to date. Landeskog made the team right away, winning the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. The next season, as a 19-year-old he was already named captain of the Avalanche. He’s been the Avs’ leader ever since.

Last season Landeskog finished second overall on the team for scoring with 59 points. He was also second overall with 23 goals. Interestingly, he also finished second overall for penalty minutes with 79. (Energy player Cody McLeod, of course, had 191.)

So, in short, Landeskog had a pretty busy season for one that started out so inauspiciously. Though hockey is a team sport, let’s examine exactly how Landeskog did against Central Division foes and the Western Conference as a whole.

Gabriel Landeskog, Personal Assist-man

We all know Gabriel Landeskog suffered a terrible scoring drought through the month of December. Despite that, there’s not a single Western Conference team against which he didn’t earn at least a point. There were three, however, against which he didn’t score a single goal, and two of them are Central Division rivals.

The Colorado Avalanche struggled against the Winnipeg Jets this season, though they did manage to squeak out a 2-2-1 record in the series. Landeskog earned three assists in the series. Of course, he’s more famous for the late-December captain fight with Andrew Ladd of the Jets:

A little more ominously, Landeskog didn’t manage to score against the St. Louis Blues. The Avs had an even worse time against the Central Division rivals, going 1-2-2. However, Gabriel Landeskog did earn four assists over the five games.

Gabriel Landeskog, Meh

It’s not too often the Colorado Avalanche captain inspires apathy. You either love him, or you’re Mikko Koivu. (I’m sure Landy’s very sorry he sucker-punched the Minnesota Wild captain — actually, I’m pretty sure he’s not.)

Against another Central Divison rival, the Nashville Predators, Landeskog earned just one goal and two assists in five games.

In three games, Landeskog managed only a single assist against the Edmonton Oilers. The 2014-15 season was not a good one for the Avs vs. Oilers. That single assist came during a 4-3 loss to the Oilers on a goal by Alex Tanguay.

The Avalanche only played the San Jose Sharks twice last season and didn’t beat them once. Landeskog earned a goal in the first of their two games, though the Avs eventually lost 3-2 in the shootout.

Gabriel Landeskog, Terminator

There were certain teams against whom Gabriel Landeskog was dominant. One was the Dallas Stars, whom the Colorado Avalanche swept in their five-game series. Landeskog collected an impressive seven points against the Stars, three goals and four assists. He also earned the funniest shootout goal in the history of ever:

I like to call that move Landebowling.

In three games, Landeskog scored three goals and earned an assist against the Arizona Coyotes, too. He got a point-a-game against both the Vancouver Canucks (2 goals, 1 assist) and the LA Kings (1 goal, 2 assists.) One of those Kings assists came in that awful April game when the Avalanche got only 10 shots on goal the entire game.

Though the Minnesota Wild troubled the Colorado Avalanche during the entire season, Landeskog dominated them a different way. He got one of only four goals the Avs scored against the Wild, in their 3-2 March win. It was a power play goal, and that felt good. He also assisted on Zach Redmond’s second-period goal. He earned the #1 star of the game — in Minnesota, no less.

Landeskog also earned 18 of his penalty minutes against the Minnesota Wild.

Gabriel Landeskog’s power play goal, which also happened to be the game winner:

Gabriel Landeskog, Etc.

In all, Gabriel Landeskog scored 23 goals and earned 36 assists. Two of those goals were game-winners, including the one above against the Minnesota Wild. The other game winner came against the Chicago Blackhawks on February 20. That also was a power play goal, by the way. In all, Landeskog earned that goal and three assists against the Blackhawks.

To round out the Western Conference, Landeskog also earned a goal and an assist in three games against the Calgary Flames and two goals against the Anaheim Ducks. In all, he got six goals and 16 assists against Central Division foes, 10 goals and six assists against the Pacific Division for a total of 16 goals and 22 assists against the Western Conference.

Analysis

It’s strange to think that Gabriel Landeskog started off so slowly because he finished off so strong. More than once during the season Landeskog remarked that goal often came in bunches with him, and that was certainly the case this year. After failing to score a single goal for almost five weeks — and all through December — Landeskog not only started scoring goals, he even went on a couple scoring streaks. He even got quite a few power play goals in the end.

Landeskog is barely getting into his stride as an NHLer — he just finished his fourth season and first-ever regular season (Not rookie, not lockout, not Olympic season). Now that he has a more solid footing, he’s likely to improve consistency and be a real force on the team — even more so.

More Player Profiles vs the Western Conference:

Next: Is Landy Going to be a Beast Next Year?