By Jordan Long
The Colorado Avalanche have played 42 games, one more than the halfway point of the season. They sit at an impressive 27 wins, 12 losses, and 3 overtime losses for a total of 57 points, 2nd in the Central Division.
Colorado wouldn’t have the services of captain Gabe Landeskog who is out with a cartilage transplant in his right knee. He is going to miss the regular season. It is possible for him to return for the playoffs, but that is still a question mark. This was going to be a big blow to the team.
Besides Landeskog, Colorado’s biggest injury so far this season is forward Artturi Lehkonen. He hasn’t seen action since November 11 against Seattle. Lehkonen fell headfirst into the boards after a collision with Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and has been out with an upper body injury. Colorado expects him to be back at some point. He is traveling with the Avalanche on their 5 game road trip which begins Saturday in Toronto.
Looking at Colorado at the halfway point of the season, they are skating well. They score 3.64 goals per game, 3rd in the league. On the power play, Colorado scores on 25% of their opportunities with the man advantage, ranking 8th in the NHL.
The reason for their success is forwards are producing. Offensively they are led by Nathan McKinnon who is tied for the league lead in points with 67. He has scored 22 goals and added 45 assists. Mikko Rantanen has the second most points on the team with 21 goals and 32 assists for 53 points. Valeri Nichushkin sits at 22 goals and 20 assists for 42 points.
Colorado is also getting help from defensemen. Cale Makar is second in the league in defensemen scoring with 9 goals and 39 assists for 48 points. Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks is ahead of Makar by 3 points. Deven Towes is also another weapon for Colorado on defense, scoring 6 goals and 18 assists for 24 points.
Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev’s record is outstanding. He has 23 wins, 9 losses, and 2 overtime losses. The wins are the most in the NHL. His goals against average stands at 2.88 with a save percentage of .898. Those sound great. The problem is there are times when Colorado leaves him out to dry, meaning the opponents have great chances.
Overall, Colorado needs to work on their defense. They permit 3.07 goals per game, 15th in the NHL. On the power play kill, Colorado is doing a great job of not letting teams set up. They are in the passing lanes to break up a pass. They are also poke checking the puck which allows them to take possession of the puck to shoot it to the other end to kill time off it. The power play kill is at 82.9%.
This is a team that has high hopes of a long playoff run. Right now, Colorado is playing well. They want to keep that up. There is still plenty of time for them to be even more dangerous come playoff time. Colorado plays their last game before the All-Star break on January 26th hosting the L.A Kings. They will return to action on February 5th against the New York Rangers. There are plenty of games left for Colorado to improve in some areas before the break.
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