The Colorado Avalanche laid a hammer down against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, coming away with an 8-2 win, including a six-goal second period. The number one star of the game was *checks notes* Josh Manson, who put up not just one goal, but two.
Not only that, but Manson also had two assists of his own, and dropped the gloves to take on Tyler Kleven, a fellow defenseman. Manson laid several punches on Kleven and then knocked him down to the ice, effectively finishing the fight.
Manson is not somebody you typically want to drop the gloves against. He’s one of the team’s biggest players, coming in at 6-foot-3, 218 pounds. According to HockeyFights.com, Manson has been in 43 fights during his career, including four this year.
His stat line of a goal, assist and fight is known across the league as a Gordie Howe hat trick. Given that he had two goals and two assists, he was just one fight away from a double-Gordie Howe hat trick in a single game, which has never been accomplished in NHL history. During postgame, Manson did say that accomplishing that feat isn’t why he’s in the game. While it would have been must-see television, getting the win is the most important thing from the night.
Icing on the cake was that Manson’s dad was in attendance for the game, so it was really the perfect time for him to have the game of his life.
The Avalanche are missing Gabriel Landeskog, who is the team’s captain, and who would have gladly stood up for his teammates like Manson did. The Senators were out of this game with the blink of an eye, which ended up causing them to lose themselves and get chippy with Colorado. There were some questionable no-calls, so I’m just glad that there didn’t seem to be any crucial injuries that came out of the game.
That was a greatway to begin a seven-game homestand. The Avs take on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday in an afternoon puck drop.