Avalanche Game 56 Recap: Home at Last

They say that you could never go home again. For the Colorado Avalanche, it sure seemed that way.

The Avalanche started the second half with six straight road games, and it was a disaster. Six games in the Eastern Time Zone, a maximum 12 points up for grabs, yet the Avs left with only three. 1-4-1 on that road trip, which resulted in the Avs actually being in third place in the Central Division. Finally, the Avs returned to the confines of Ball Arena for the first time since the near end of January, and in this go-around, it's a Division Rivalry battle with the Arizona Coyotes.

The goalie matchup was Alexandar Georgiev vs Karel Vejmelka, and the Avs struck early, often, and most importantly, first. Ross Colton picked up his 12th of the season, but three minutes later, the Yotes tied it up, and of course, it was Matt Dumba. Dumba spent a lot of years with the Minnesota Wild, and they know us a long longer than the Yotes do in this division. Zona went on the power play, and that resulted in Lawson Crouse giving Zona the lead. This was followed by not one, but two more PPs for the Yotes, but they were killed off.

Arizona led 2-1 after 20, and finally, the Avs' first power play came early in the period. That resulted in nothing, but the Avs continued pressing, and finally broke through. Jack Johnson led the most unlikely scoring line, as the assists came from the struggling Ryan Johansen and 39-year-old Zach Parise. Nevertheless, the game was tied, but Logan Cooley untied it at the period's midpoint. 21 seconds after that goal, Nathan MacKinnon tied it up, picking up his 90th point of the season. A challenge for goaltender interference failed, and resulted in an Avalanche power play, which was killed off. The Avs went back on the PP later on, this time a high-sticking double minor, but despite the shots racking up, none of them went in.

It was 3-3 after two periods, but the Coyotes took the lead back. Or so they thought. Jared Bednar decided to challenge for offsides, and this was a long challenge; they were really looking at this. The ruling: offsides, no goal. Game's still tied, but Jonathan Drouin gave the lead back to the Avs. Or so we thought. Another offsides challenge, but this one was quicker: offsides, no goal. Refs were really working in this game. Anyway, the Avs would finally get goal #4, as Devon Toews shot went in. The assists came from Drouin and MacKinnon, with the latter picking up his 91st point. With under three minutes left, the Yotes pulled Vejmelka for the extra attacker, and later on, Artturi Lehkonen was sent to the box for tripping. A 6-on-4 for the Yotes, but Georgiev stopped everything. Georgiev's efforts helped big time, and allowed the Avs to hold on for the 4-3 win.

We sure needed this win, and this home game. The Avalanche's win moved us past the Winnipeg Jets in the Central Division, and there's still enough time for us to take first place. This was an amazing game. Toews with the game winner, Johnson and Byram with two points each, and MacKinnon's home points streak continues. MacKinnon's now three points behind Kucherov in the Ross Trophy race, and he is nine points away from his second straight 100-point season. In addition, Georgiev again showed why he should really be mentioned when it comes to the Vezina Trophy this season. We don't win this game without him.

The Avalanche will remain at home on Tuesday, and we'll face off against the #1 team in the league this year, the Vancouver Canucks. We do have a win against the Canucks this year, just saying.

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