When the Colorado Avalanche pulled ahead by two goals in the third period against the New Jersey Devils, I felt very confident in the team’s immediate future. The Devils kept it close until the third period, but it felt like they were in control a lot of the time. Something in particular happened in the game that made me feel better.
The Devils’ goalie, Jake Allen, removed himself from the game after allowing the fifth and final goal, therefore Colorado winning by a score of 5-1. Though it appeared that Allen pulled himself out in frustration of how the game was going, word came out that he was dealing with cramps and that was the reason for his departure.
Allen probably felt extremely frustrated about some of the play in front of him. However, it’s hard to blame his teammates in some of those goals allowed. Even he shouldn’t necessarily feel too bad considering the types of shots that were directed at him. They were some nasty shots.
With 17:03 remaining in the third period, Nathan MacKinnon was able to slip one past Allen, without Allen being able to blink before it went into the net. To me, the angle of that shot was pretty awesome.
The Devils game can pump up the Colorado Avalanche for upcoming games
The Avalanche won pretty easy against the Devils and that should be a huge boost of confidence going forward.
Coincidentally, the Avalanche have a game against the San Jose Sharks coming up on Thursday, March 6. Why does that matter, you ask? It’s possible that former Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev gets the start in that game. It would just be pretty funny to see a similar outcome and reaction by Georgiev, who had previously broken his stick during an Avalanche game.
Of course, the Avalanche cannot allow the Devils game to get to their heads. They still have to play a full 60 minute game every single night. The last thing you want is for a team to become overconfident and then lay an egg. It’s been proven to happen by the Avalanche in the past. We know the feeling all too well. They can get a bit lazy and perhaps tired.
The Colorado Avalanche just need to believe in themselves and remember that Valeri Nichushkin is back. Nichushkin was out since December 31 because of an injury but the team played well with him in the lineup on Wednesday. Here’s to more games like that from here on out.
To me, it really feels like the Avalanche are going to head back into their consistent winning ways. They have 22 games remaining and still have to climb higher in the standings, but their confidence level should be pretty high right now. If I were opposing teams, I would not want to be facing Colorado right now. They are hungry for more success and hopefully it takes a lot for teams to be able to defeat them from here on out.