The Colorado Avalanche got five goals in a must-win situation over the Chicago Blackhawks. The goals came from four players.
The Colorado Avalanche had an important win at home against the Chicago Blackhawks. In fact, they won the game 5-0.
It’s significant that the Avalanche got five goals last night. They only scored that many in the previous four games combined. It was starting to get a little worrisome.
All five goals the Avs got in the game were beauties. (Remember, we like ugly goals, too, but these weren’t that variety.)
Sven Andrighetto, who’s been in and out of the lineup with a lingering injury, reminded us of why we need him on the team. The Avalanche had been playing a… hesitant period in the first, to put it mildly. They came out typically slow. Goalie Semyon Varlamov kept the team in the game.
Colorado went up on the power play when Chicago goalie Collin Delia tripped Gabriel Landeskog. And that’s when Andrighetto got his first goal of the game:
It’s such a relief to see the Avalanche score on the power play — it hasn’t been clicking for them a lot this season. And those were some beautiful moves by Andrighetto.
I love to rag on Tyson Barrie because his gaffes are gigantic. However, when he’s on, he’s on. And last night, Barrie had a great game. It started in the second period when the Avalanche scored a 4-on-3 power play, thanks to a mutual scrum between J.T. Compher and Connor Murphy followed by a high-sticking penalty on Nikita Zadorov.
So, with all that open ice, Barrie received a pass from Mikko Rantanen. He put the puck on net, and somehow it squeaked through Delia’s five-hole:
I don’t know how that went in, but it did, putting the Avalanche up 2-0.
The Colorado Avalanche went into the third period with a two-goal lead. It would have been so easy for them to sit back on their heels. While it’s true they played a solid defensive game, they capitalized when they had chances.
And another great chance came when the Avs went on the power play again thanks to a holding penalty inflicted by former Av Andreas Martinsen.
The Colorado Avalanche, who hadn’t scored a power play goal in a while, got their third of the night. Nathan MacKinnon threaded a pass to Mikko Rantanen, who scored a Ranty special:
Mikko loves those on-the-knee goals, and he loves to fall down — he found a way to put the two together. We had the Dutchy, and now we have the Ranty.
Just a couple minutes later, with the Avalanche up 3-0, Colorado found a way to score at even strength:
That is a beautiful tic-tac-toe goal with Alexander Kerfoot drop passing to Tyson Barrie, who passes to the younger Tyson, Jost. I can’t decide if that or the Rantanen goal is my favorite.
Not to give and disrespect to the final goal of the game. One player scored two goals in the game, and it was our prodigal Swiss, Sven Andrighetto.
His final tally of the night, also at even strength, came with just over two minutes left in the game. He started in the Blackhawks zone and skated coast to coast before unleashing a wrist shot:
Now, keep in mind that this was only Andrighetto’s 46th game of the season. He struggled to come back from a leg injury. Prior to last night, he hadn’t scored a goal since December 23. Mostly that was because he was on injured reserve, but he did go 11 games without a tally. So the two-goal night had to feel good to Sven.
It felt good for Colorado Avalanche fans, too.