Avalanche notes: Avs down Canucks, MacKinnon stays hot, Wedgewood injury

The Colorado Avalanche had another seemingly “easy” victory on Tuesday night. The club hosted the Vancouver Canucks at Ball Arena, pulling out a 3-1 victory. The game was tight, but the Avs managed enough separation to get the win.

Vancouver opened the scoring in the first, but then scored three unanswered markers to get the win. Colorado has now started a new winning streak, which now sits at two. The Dallas Stars’ overtime loss to the New York Rangers opened up the lead even more in the Central Division for Colorado. The Avalanche are now five points ahead of the second-place Stars.

The win was certainly a big one, but could prove costly. So, let’s jump into this edition of the Avalanche notes.

Avalanche down Canucks

As discussed above, the Avalanche sent the Canucks packing. Vancouver deserves a lot of credit for staying in the game all night long. They were a bounce or two away from making the game really close.

The Avs outshot the Canucks 31-21, with Nathan MacKinnon scoring twice, and Gabe Landeskog picking up two assists. The Cap got a nifty assist on Mackinnon’s second goal.

Check it out here, as shown on the Avalanche’s official X channel:

Brock Nelson got his ninth of the season as well. He seems to be heating up. Nelson had that four-point night against the Montreal Canadiens and has now followed that up with another goal. The Avs’ second line is clicking, and Nelson, Landeskog, and Ross Colton have become a highly dangerous group.

Tuesday night’s win now pushes the Avalanche’s point streak to 17 games. The team shows no signs of cooling off. So, let’s see how much further Colorado can go in December.

MacKinnon stays hot

MacKinnon, the NHL’s first star for November, added another two goals to his total this season. He’s now up to 22 and has 46 points in 26 games. He’s a mind-shocking +32 at this point in the season.

The Dogg has nine points in his last four games after being silenced by the Chicago Blackhawks on November 23. Don’t look now, but MacKinnon could be running away with the Art Ross Trophy this season. At this rate, he could be a lock for the Hart Trophy as well.

Wedgewood leaves game with apparent injury

So, there always has to be a fly in the ointment. Scott Wedgewood left Tuesday night’s game against the Canucks with an apparent upper-body injury. Given how vague injury information can be in the NHL, the Avalanche were actually pretty forthcoming about it.

Following the game, coach Jared Bednar provided a slight update on Wedgewood’s situation. As my colleague Graham Tiedtke noted, the move to pull Wedgewood in the second period was an abundance of precaution.

According to Bednar, Wedgwood was feeling some tightness in his back. As such, it’s better to be safe than sorry. PuckPedia currently shows Wedgewood as day-to-day. Perhaps it might just be a matter of Wedgewood needing some extra time to rest.

The Avalanche will start a four-game road trip. Beginning with a visit to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Thursday night. MacKenzie Blackwood will likely get the call for that one. Then, the Avalanche face the New York Rangers on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Again, Blackwood should get the call for that game.

Where things might get a bit challenging is Sunday night in Philadelphia. The Avs will play back-to-back games on the weekend. Hopefully, Wedgewood would be ready for the second leg of that set. If not, the Avalanche may need to call up Trent Miner to get the spot start.