Colorado Avalanche 3rd Line Producing for the Team
Three perennial bottom-six forwards have come together to comprise the Colorado Avalanche’s most consistent line.
The Colorado Avalanche are finding ways to win. They’re also finding ways to lose, as we saw against the Vegas Golden Knights. But the Avs are finding ways to win.
One of the ways they’re finding to win is by getting production from their third line comprised of Matthew Nieto, Carl Soderberg and Blake Comeau. This is a line made up of two players who have been healthy scratches and Comeau. Yet this season they’ve combined for 15 points.
Eleven of those points have come in the last four games, which is when they became a line. I repeat: 11 of their 15 combined points have come in just the last four games.
Coach Jared Bednar first put this line together in the October 24 game against the Dallas Stars. That was the game that saw Nieto get a hat trick — the first ever of his career. Colorado won 5-3.
The next game wasn’t a good outing for anyone. The Colorado Avalanche were shut out by the Vegas Golden Knights. However, they came back strong the very next day, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3. It was a night for the stars to shine, but the Soderberg line played good supporting roles.
And they were right back at it against the Carolina Hurricanes. Both Comeau and Soderberg earned a goal and an assist, while Nieto earned an assist. That’s five points from the third line.
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Bednar likes what he’s seeing from the trio. In his post-game presser, he remarked that the line was the “most determined, most consistent” line he had. He also remarked on their trustworthiness, adding they were playing hockey “the right way.”
Right now, the Soderberg line is everything you want your third line to be. They’re checking hard. They’re playing pretty responsible hockey. On a nightly basis, they’re not going to wow you with their plays. But they’re also not a throwaway line.
All three of these players are bettering what they did last season. Nieto wasn’t having a good year with the San Jose Sharks (2 assists in 16 games), so they put him on waivers, which is how the Avalanche acquired him. He recorded 11 points (7 goals, 4 assists) in 43 games with Colorado.
In 77 games, Comeau had 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists) last season. That’s not horrible for a bottom-six forward. But, of course, he also drop passed to Nathan MacKinnon on a breakaway, which will always be what he’s remembered for.
Carl Soderberg dropped froma career-high 51 points to a career-low 14 points last season. He only missed two games. Yeah, that was dreadful.
These three players have found what the entire Colorado Avalanche failed to find last year — chemistry. That’s not to say this line will produce every single game, or even be a consistent line throughout the season.
However, the line of Misfit Toys — Matt Nieto, Carl Soderberg, Blake Comeau — is doing very well for the Colorado Avalanche right now. Indeed, they’re helping the team win games.