Colorado Avalanche: Anatomy of Patrik Nemeth’s 1st Avs Goal
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Patrik Nemeth scored a beauty of a goal for his first as an Av — and in his NHL career.
The Colorado Avalanche acquired defenseman Patrik Nemeth off waivers from the Dallas Stars. The 26-year-old defenseman was completing the third year of his entry-level contract, having played 108 games with Dallas.
In those 108 games, Nemeth didn’t score a ton of goals. The shutdown defenseman didn’t, in fact, score any. So, when he scored a goal with the Colorado Avalanche on November 2, it was not only his first Avs tally, it was his first NHL tally.
The goal came against the Carolina Hurricanes, who were playing at the Pepsi Center. ‘Canes center Victor Rask drew first blood with a goal that came in the first minute of the first period — essentially, fans were still in the Loaded Tots line.
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That said, Colorado came back to tie the game on the strength of a Carl Soderberg tally. Midway through the first period, the score was tied 1-1.
With 7:51 left in the first period, Nail Yakupov takes possession of the puck at the Hurricane’s blue line. He drives to the net. Yakupov drops the pass back to A.J. Greer. (The Avs do love their drop passes.)
Alexander Kerfoot takes up residence in front of Carolina goalie Cam Ward and also tangles up a Hurricane defender. Meanwhile, the puck scoots out to Patrik Nemeth, who’s flying down the right side. He skates into the corner and passes to Yakupov, who keeps possession just long enough to settle the puck. He sails it back to Nemeth.
Nemeth, who’s low in the circle, takes the slap shot from a sharp angle. And the puck actually goes in top shelf:
His teammates are elated at his accomplishment, scoring his first NHL goal.
This is a pretty nice first NHL goal. Patrik Nemeth shows perseverance. What’s more, his shot shows strength as well as some accuracy. Overall, it’s a respectable defenseman goal.
The Colorado Avalanche went on to win the game 5-3 — goalie Semyon Varlamov had to make 57 saves to help secure the win. The loss represented the third straight for Carolina.
Patrik Nemeth finished out his entry-level contract by playing 68 games for the Avalanche. In that time, he recorded a total of 15 points (3 goals, 12 assists). Those totals represented a career season for the defenseman by a wide margine — his previous best season was eight points (all assists) in 28 games.
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Currently Nemeth is awaiting salary arbitration with the Colorado Avalanche. Last season, his contract carried an annual average value of $870,000. According to the rules set out by the CBA, the qualifying offer Colorado made had to at least total $945,000. I don’t know if he’s looking for more money of for term — if he’s smart, he should give up a little money for term.
In any case, I’m glad Patrik Nemeth worked out for the Colorado Avalanche in ways he just didn’t work out for the Stars.