The Colorado Avalanche face the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday in a division tilt. The two teams are on complete opposite sides of the Central Division, with Colorado leading the way with 98 points and chicago dead last with 64.
The Avs are coming off of a three-game losing streak in which they were outscored 12-4. They’ve gone a couple of streaks of bad play, but for the most part, have been able to remain the best team in the league. However, the biggest flaw they have has been their power play.
They’ve been at or neat the bottom of the league in power play percentage all season. Though it’s come alive over the past couple of weeks (if that), they are still just 29th in the league at 16.1%. In comparison, the Blackhawks are 15th at 18.9%. It’s not a massive difference in terms of percentage, but breaking it down, Colorado has 39 power play goals, while Chicago has 36.
The problem is that you can’t just say that you’ll go a whole game without committing a penalty. That just doesn’t happen—at least not often.
The Avalanche are without their captain Gabriel Landeskog, though he is getting close. They are expected to roll out the same lineup as they did on Wednesday, except at goaltender, where Mackenzie Blackwood will start in net.
Overall, this game will come down to whoever makes less mistakes. Nathan MacKinnon should get on the scoreboard—I’m thinking/predicting a two-goal game for him. I would also love to see some of their depth pieces contribute on the scoresheet. Parker Kelly and Gavin Brindley come to my mind when thinking about that. He could cement his spot in the quest for the Hart trophy.
Colorado has come out victorious in the last four meetings between the two teams. They are by far the superior team, but they can’t let that get to their heads. Shutting down Connor Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi, who both lead the team in goals with 28 apiece, needs to be a huge focus for them. If they’re able to do that, they’ll be able to win easily.