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Colorado Avalanche: Thoughts on the Win in Ottawa

By Nadia Archuleta |
OTTAWA, ON - FEBRUARY 6: Matt Nieto #83 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates his second period goal against the Ottawa Senators with teammates Pierre-Edouard Bellemare #41 and Tyson Jost #17 at Canadian Tire Centre on February 6, 2020 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON - FEBRUARY 6: Matt Nieto #83 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates his second period goal against the Ottawa Senators with teammates Pierre-Edouard Bellemare #41 and Tyson Jost #17 at Canadian Tire Centre on February 6, 2020 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Colorado Avalanche beat the Senators in Ottawa by a score of 4-1. They can build off this to have a successful road trip.

The Colorado Avalanche have now tipped the scales with their win in Ottawa. They’re now 2-1 on the roadie. And they’ve leap-frogged Dallas for second in the Central Division again.

It’s a good night to be an Avs fan.

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Colorado handled the Senators 4-1. Matthew Nieto scored the game-winning goal on a feed from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare with Tyson Jost picking up an assist.

Ottawa’s lone goal came from Brady Tkachuk just as the Avalanche announcers were praising him and his brother Matthew to high heavens. Super annoying.

And now some more random thoughts about the game.

Thoughts on the Game

  • You saw a lot of Colorado Avalanche jerseys in the stands. According to Adrian Dater, that’s because Ottawa is close to Quebec, where the Avs franchise originated.
  • Bellemare shaved his beard. So, he can join the Air Force Academy cadet program instead of Landeskog.
  • Nathan MacKinnon hasn’t scored in two games. Time to call him a bust and dangle him out as trade bait. *sarcastic font
  • Speaking of, Nieto’s goal was the one that analyst Mark Rycroft decided to highlight. Here’s the goal:

As he pointed out, it wasn’t a play until Jost batted the puck out of the air straight to Bellemare.

  • All four lines contributed, sort of. The top line didn’t earn anything at even strength. Cale Makar scored on the power play, and MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen earned their assists on that play. The other three lines scored even strength goals.
  • As I was watching the power play, I thought to myself, “The power play sucks.” And then Makar scored. That said, it really was looking disconnected until that moment.
  • Really random thought from early in the game: Nikita Zadorov and Ian Cole as a defensive pairing must suck for opponents because they’re big, aggressive a-holes. As an Avs fan, it’s great!
  • Philipp Grubauer recorded  25 saves for a .962 save percentage. That is the goalie I’m hoping we see from now on.
  • The lone hiccup came when the Avs, as is their wont, failed to play the last minute of the first period. Also, as is their wont, they turned the puck over at the blueline. Brady Tkachuk corralled it and was off on the breakaway.
  • Brady is still the less-annoying Tkachuk.
  • The Colorado Avalanche are the third team in the NHL to achieve 16 road wins with tonight’s victory. Defenseman Erik Johnson said of that:
“Sometimes the road, you just loosen up. There’s no pressure, playing in front of your fans, and there’s not as strict line matchups, because the home team gets the last change. So you’re just kind of playing.”

They certainly looked loose tonight.

Next. Should the Avs Trade for Alex Martinez?. dark

The Colorado Avalanche players, after a quick rush out of Ottawa to beat a pending snowstorm, will have an off day tomorrow. They’ll be in Columbus where they’ll face the Blue Jackets on Saturday in the first game of their latest back-to-back series.

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