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Colorado Avalanche: Best Goals vs. Minnesota 2017-2018

By Nadia Archuleta

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 06: Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates with his bench after scoring a goal against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center on January 6, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Wild 7-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 06: Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates with his bench after scoring a goal against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center on January 6, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Wild 7-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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ST. PAUL, MN – MARCH 13: J.T. Compher #37 of the Colorado Avalanche skates with the puck against the Minnesota Wild during the game at the Xcel Energy Center on March 13, 2018 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Compher’s Shorthanded Tally

The Colorado Avalanche didn’t start out as strongly as they would have wanted to against the (hated) Minnesota Wild in their first 2017-18 meeting. They went down early in the first period on a Jason Zucker goal. To make matters worse, they went on the penalty kill midway through the period when Nail Yakupov hooked Marcus Foligno.

Finally, though, the tide turned for the Avs.

Play is in the Avalanche zone. Captain Gabriel Landeskog is fighting for possession against the boards. Landeskog comes up with the puck. He loses his balance and is forced to dive. But he manages to poke the puck in Compher’s direction.

Compher steals it away from a similarly diving Wild player — Mike Reilly — but he doesn’t get the puck away from Compher, who now has nothing but open ice in front of him.

On the breakaway, Compher sprints in the Minnesota zone. It’s just him and Alex Stalock. JT doesn’t hesitate. He unleases a one-handed wrister that flies right by Stalock:

That’s a J.T. Compher special right there, and the reason some Avs fans made up a jingle about “877-JT Compher, Get goals now.” (That might not be it, but you get the point.)

Anyway you slice it, that’s a beautiful goal. Breakaway, shortie, against the Wild, breaking their curse on us…. Call JT when you need the magic. (Unfortunately, the game was a shootout loss, but that was better than the Avs had managed against Minny in a while.)

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