Mile High Sticking
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Colorado Avalanche can prove a lot vs Vegas

By Graham Tiedtke

Feb 27, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) celebrates his goal with defenseman Bowen Byram (4) and left wing J.T. Compher (37) and defenseman Josh Manson (42) in the first period against the Vegas Golden Knights at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 27, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) celebrates his goal with defenseman Bowen Byram (4) and left wing J.T. Compher (37) and defenseman Josh Manson (42) in the first period against the Vegas Golden Knights at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Colorado Avalanche are in Las Vegas on Saturday night to take on the Golden Knights at 8 p.m. Mountain time. Like the Avalanche, the Golden Knights are having a tremendous season. They are entering tonight with a 10-0-1 record, with their only loss coming in overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 27th by a score of 4-3.

The Colorado Avalanche started Alexandar Georgiev for the first eight games of the season, going 6-2 in that time and last Wednesday started Ivan Prosvetov in a 4-1 winning effort. Prosvetov looked great. I won’t crown him anything right now as it was just one game, but that was a very good outing.

I think that my biggest question right now is whether or not head coach Jared Bednar has found the right lineup. The expectations were high from fans regarding newcomer Jonathan Drouin, who started off on the top line alongside Nathan MacKinnon, who was his teammate 10 years ago in Newfoundland. Right now, that expectation has not come with the proper results, and we have even seen Drouin scratched/inactive in recent days.

Colorado dropped the ball in two games this year, allowing four goals in each of those games. While it is still early in the season, it was concerning to see that in back-to-back games. It’s also kind of a learning experience, though. The Colorado Avalanche have many new players, so it just takes some time to figure out what combination pairings work best.

If Colorado wins this game on Saturday night against the Golden Knights, it can go down as a statement win. Vegas is on a roll. Jonathan Marchessault is inching closer to 10 goals on the season, with six—which leads the team, and William Karlsson is second on the team with four goals.

I’d like to see the Avalanche take away several of the Golden Knights’ top players. As we saw against the Blackhawks, taking away multiple key guys and leaving the shooting up to one or two players works pretty well. Now, I’m referring to Connor Bedard here which is different than guys who have been in the league for a number of years.

Alexandar Georgiev will be in goal for the Avalanche. Georgiev has had a great season so far, despite the two four-goals-allowed games. Of the goaltenders who have played the most games thus far in the season, Georgiev ranks second in goals against average. Saturday night will be a big test. There’s not much to worry about, but it would be amazing to see the Avalanche’s star goalie have a great game.

If the Colorado Avalanche have finally figured out their best lineup, it should be a pretty good game.

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