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Colorado Avalanche: 5 Awesome Defenseman Goals

By Nadia Archuleta

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 02: Erik Johnson #6 of the Colorado Avalanche is named the third star of the game against the Winnipeg Jets at the Pepsi Center on January 2, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 02: Erik Johnson #6 of the Colorado Avalanche is named the third star of the game against the Winnipeg Jets at the Pepsi Center on January 2, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Nikita Zadorov Opens Playoff Scoring

At the other end of the season, we had Nikita Zadorov. He didn’t score the final goal of the year for the Avs — that honor belongs to Sven Andrighetto. However, he did open scoring in the playoffs.

The goal came toward the beginning of the first period. The rush started in the Avalanche zone with Jonathan Bernier lobbing the puck to Mark Barberio. Nathan MacKinnon takes possesion of the puck, and the team drives the Predators net. MacKinnon sends it to Mikko Rantanen, who drops it back to Nikita Zadorov. Big Z beats Pekka Rinne with a nifty wrister:

Unsurprisingly, MacKinnon and Rantanen earned assists on the play.

Next: Plan for Getting MacKinnon a Cup

The Colorado Avalanche are going to continue with their smallish, speedy, puck-moving defensemen. With the exception of Siemens, all the players on this list are returning next season. They’ll be joined, at least at some point, by high-scoring defensive prospect Conor Timmins. (Side note: His noggin is reported to be fine. Everyone breathe a sigh of relief.) Cale Makar will also be joining the group, likely within a year’s time.

We might have to start making this list longer.

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