Colorado Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog Hits Milestone

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog hits a personal milestone when he scores his 30th goal of the season in the game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, like the majority of the team, has been struggling of late. Before last night’s contest against the Winnipeg Jets, he had just three assists in the last eight games. He hadn’t scored a goal since the January 19 blowout against the LA Kings.

Well, that goal against the Kings kept Landeskog in a career-high. Prior to this season, the most goals he had scored was 26 in the Golden 2013-14 season. On January 8, Landeskog surpassed that marker during a two-goal night. Then, after the Kings game, he remained in the 29-goal limbo for eight games.

Those were eight games that the Colorado Avalanche lost, incidentally. Not that the two facts are directly correlated, but it is an interesting observation.

Well, last night, that changed for our captain. Gabriel Landeskog scored midway through the first period to put the Avs up 2-0 over the Winnipeg Jets.

The play is in the Jets’ zone. The top line of Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, and Mikko Rantanen, which were so dominant early in the season and so quiet recently, are passing the puck to around.

A Jets player mugs Rantanen. The puck squirts free. Normally at times like this Landeskog is already in the slot, ready to clean up any garbage. However, as the puck squirts free, he swoops in to take a pass from MacKinnon, who’s hovering bear the hash marks.

Landeskog settles the puck then sends a successful backhand past Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck:

Before this play, the game had already felt different. Granted, it was only the first period. However, the Colorado Avalanche, coming into the Central Division leaders’ home barn, seemed inexplicably calm. Indeed, the team would go on to score two more goals.

However, the Avs won 4-1. Since Gabriel’s goal was the second of the game, his was the game winner. Indeed, it’s his ninth game winner of the season.

In case you’re wondering, that’s another career best for Landy. His rookie season, he had five game winners, which is part of the reason he won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.

And, you might like to know, Landeskog currently leads the entire NHL in game-winning goals with nine. Four players have seven game-winning goals.

And, as the Altitude TV announcers observed more than once, Landeskog has now entered the 30-goal club for the first time in his NHL career.

Side note: In the last game, Landeskog was sporting a goatee. In this game, he had shaved completely. Sorry, Landy, you know how hockey superstitions work. Your face has to remain naked now.

There are a lot of types of captains in the NHL. Some lead by character and grit. Some lead by their on-ice dominance. Our Colorado Avalanche captain has always been somewhere in between with a healthy dose of charisma.

Well, he’s a 30 goal scorer now.