Make your predictions for who gets on the board first
With the new Colorado Avalanche season fast approaching and opening night of October 13th just around the corner there are a lot of expectations for the team. But prior to the squad getting another crack at the playoffs the Avalanche must first play 82 regular season games and one thing is for certain, someone will score the first goal of the year before eventually arriving at their first victory on the 2021-22 season. Who will be that lucky goal scorer?
Before predicting the future we must first examine the past. Andre Burakovsky tallied the first of 197 goals to kick-off the scoring in the abbreviated 2020-21 season. Joonas Donskoi was the initial goal scorer of the 2019-20 campaign. Interestingly enough, both of these scores were converted from the second power play unit. Going back even further Carl Soderberg got on the board first for the Avalanche in 2018-19, so those with the most expected firepower are usually not the ones filling the net right out of the gate.
Who will it be this year? Will Mikko Rantanen get started early on a possible 40 —or even 50— goal campaign? Will one of the defensemen get on the board such as Cale Makar or perhaps Samuel Girard who assisted on both of the aforementioned introductory power play goals the last two seasons? If the second power play unit gets on the board right away again to start 2021-22 then maybe Andre Burakovsky makes it two years in a row. JT Compher in an expanded role getting an early start on the redemption tour is a possibility. Or another fun first goal scorer such as Bowen Byram who could get his own first NHL goal in the process, too.