Colorado Avalanche: 3 Players Facing Increased Pressure with the Win Streak

The Colorado Avalanche go into this three-game road trip on a winning streak. Three players should be feeling increased pressure.

The Colorado Avalanche won their ninth straight game against the New York Rangers on Saturday. Their nine-game winning streak means they haven’t lost in 2018. It’s the second-longest streak in franchise history and the current longest streak in the NHL.

That feels good. It feels good for us fans. And it obviously feels good for the players.

However, as Spiderman quoting Voltaire once said, with great power comes great responsibility. The level of win-streak described above is a sort of power in the NHL. And that means some players are going to see an increase in responsibility — or, in these case, increased pressure.

What’s more, the team has a lot of road games ahead of them. Even should the streak end tonight, they have a tenuous grasp on a playoff spot. They’ve got to do more winning than losing.

Let’s look at the three players who face the most increased pressure with this win streak happening.

Nathan MacKinnon has put this team on his back. He is the reason for their success. That’s not to take anything away from the rest of the Avalanche players, but it should come as no surprise that the nine-game winning streak corresponds with a nine-game points streak from MacKinnon.

What’s more, MacKinnon’s 59 points (23 goals, 36 assists) is good for second place in the entire NHL — he’s just two points behind Tampa Bay Lighting forward Nikita Kucherov. Nate is four points away and one goal away from matching his career best — both achieved in his Calder Trophy-winning year. He’s making a good case for winning the Hart Trophy.

Oh, and he’s an alternate captain. He’s in a leadership role.

If Nathan MacKinnon doesn’t stay hot, the Avalanche don’t stay hot. The fate of the Colorado team corresponds directly with what Nathan MacKinnon does. And that most certainly increases the pressure put on him.

But then, that’s what you expect from a first-overall draft pick. MacKinnon has been facing this kind of buzz his entire life — in fact, he recently hinted that the last couple years when he wasn’t getting attention was an anomaly for him in his career. (He’s not Harvard grad Alexander Kerfoot — the actual word he used was “weird,” not anomaly.)

Players go cold, though, so we’re all hoping MacKinnon doesn’t go more than a couple games without a point. (Last season he had several three- and four-game stretches without a single point.)

Gabriel Landeskog

Speaking of leadership, left wing Gabriel Landeskog is the captain. A captain takes heat when the team is doing poorly. A captain might also expect more pressure when the team is doing well.

After all, Landeskog is a second-overall pick. And you do expect a lot from any top-five pick who also happens to be the captain.

What’s more, by his own admission, Landeskog is streaky when it comes to scoring goals. He hasn’t had one in seven games — in the calendar year 2018, actually. However, he does have three points in that span — you almost have to when you’re on MacKinnon’s line. Indeed, the above-mentioned Kerfoot has even earned assists just by playing with MacKinnon in an overlapping shift.

That said, Landeskog has certainly been playing well. He’s currently on-pace to earn 64 points, which is close to his 65-point 2013-14 season. And his leadership is evident — the charismatic young captain is absolutely part of the reason the chemistry is working in the locker room.

Erik Johnson

For some reason, I always think of defenseman Erik Johnson as Landeskog’s henchman. Landeskog seems like an inclusive guy. But you’re not part of the in-crowd unless you’re in with Johnson.

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Erik Johnson wears the other A for alternate captain, and he’s a fellow first-overall pick like MacKinnon. What’s more, he’s the captain of the blueline — it’s no coincidence that the Avalanche’s season took a sharp nosedive when Johnson got injured last year.

Johnson has a lot of responsibility on his broad shoulders. A nine-game winning streak is tons of fun. But it only matters if such a streak happens in the playoffs. (In case you’re wondering, the longest consecutive winning streak in the playoffs is 11 — 1991–92 Chicago Blackhawks, 1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins, and 1992–93 Montreal Canadiens).

Anyway, as we all know, Johnson has been the workhorse of the blueline. MacKinnon gets all the glory, but many of not most of these wins aren’t possible without Erik captaining the defensive corps.