Avalanche Game 29 Recap: Welcome Home

The Colorado Avalanche's five-game homestand concluded with the second and last meeting of the season against the Buffalo Sabres. The first game was a close 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks, but it was followed by two-goal losses to the Winnipeg Jets and the Philadelphia Flyers. It looked like the homestand would be a failure when the Avs fell behind by two goals late against the Calgary Flames, but Colorado scored three in the final eight and a half minutes to win it. Right now, the Avs needed to win this one to salvage the homestand.

Following his amazing performance in relief against Calgary, Ivan Prosvetov started this game against Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who blanked the Avs two months prior. The Avs had a 3-0 shots advantage six minutes in, and later on, the Avs finally scored on Buffalo this season; Mikko Rantanen (who tied the game against Calgary) struck for the Avs, and after that, the shots continued piling up for Colorado. As for Buffalo? Nothing. Literally nothing.

Now before, I continue with the first period, I have to talk about this:

This was an emotional night for the Avalanche, and for one Sabres player especially: Erik Johnson. The player known simply as "The Condor" spent 12.5 with the Avs; the longest tenured player in Avalanche history. After nearly four seasons with the Blues, Johnson was traded to Colorado during the 2010-11 season, meaning that he was on the team before we even drafted Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon. EJ had quite a few memorable moments with us, with one of them being the OT goal he scored in a game against the Winnipeg Jets on April 4, 2019. The Avs clinched a playoff spot that night, but the berth came when the game reached OT (Colorado needed one point). EJ was part of the 2022 Cup run, and I vividly remember seeing him and MacKinnon hugging on the ice in celebration. EJ was the first to receive the Cup from Landeskog that very evening.

Johnson signed with the Sabres for one year, and on this night, during a TV timeout, the Avalanche faithful thanked the Condor for his many years with the Avs. It was such an emotional moment, and I'll bet you, there wasn't a dry eye at the arena.

As for the rest of the opening frame, a goal mouth scramble resulted in a goal for Valeri Nichushkin to make it 2-0 for Colorado, and it was followed by Miles Wood making it 3-0. Meanwhile, the Sabres still had no shots at all, and this fan found it concerning, as it was a sign that the struggles for a Sabres team that was basically picked by many to end their long playoff drought were continuing. Avs had a power play that was killed off, and Buffalo's first shot finally came with under two minutes left. Their second shot on goal actually went in; Zach Benson ends what would have been Prosvetov's most effortless shutout bid, and it's followed by a power play awarded to the Sabres with 18 seconds left.

Avs killed the rest of it to kick off the second period. There really weren't a lot of penalties in this game, which isn't a surprise; both teams are well behaved for the most part this season. Second period was uneventful and had no goals, resulting in the 3-1 score holding up. In the third period, Sam Malinski scored his first NHL goal to make it 4-1, with the tally coming very early in the period. The frame's only power play was awarded to the Avs, thanks to former Avs player Tyson Jost shooting the puck over the glass. It resulted in a goal; Nichushkin's second of the game, and his 100th of his career. Another milestone was reached with that goal, as Nathan MacKinnon's second assist of the game gave him 800 points total.

The Avalanche won, 5-1, to salvage the homestand, finishing at 3-2 in the five games. Nichushkin had a pair of goals, Mikko Rantanen had three points, and MacKinnon reached 800 career points. That's just amazing. It seems like yesterday that I watched MacKinnon's first NHL game. Now here it is, Year 11 for MacKinnon, and he is 200 points away from the 1000 mark; the number that Toronto's John Tavares reached a few days prior. MacKinnon's currently on a 13-game points streak that has moved him into the top five in points this season. I know it's early, we're still in the 2023 calendar year, but MacKinnon has to be a Hart favorite, if not the Hart favorite. Yes, I know Nikita Kucherov exists; after all, we did beat him to win that 2022 Cup. But Kucherov did get his Hart five seasons ago. It's high time MacKinnon finally got the Hart, something he should have had at least two times before.

This will not be the Avs' last five-game homestand. That will come in late March. As for the next game, the Avs will cross the northern border and head to Winnipeg to face the Jets on Saturday, and will return home a day later to face off against the San Jose Sharks.

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