Well, guys, after this one, the Colorado Avalanche are officially at the halfway point of the season. After an electric third-period comeback win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night, the Avs had a quick turnaround in the Sunshine State against the two-time reigning Stanley Cup Champs, the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers started the game out strong, but the Avs finished the first period with the momentum heading into the first intermission. Sam Bennett, one of the most notable snubs from Team Canada‘s Olympic roster, gets things going at Amerant Bank Arena. Sam Malinski loses the battle along the boards, and Bennet breaks away. Scott Wedgewood makes the initial toe save, but Bennet gives the puck an extra whack to put it past the goal line.
A joint effort from Artturi Lehkonen and Josh Manson is the reason the Avs go into the first intermission tied. Manson rips a puck from the blue line, and a sharp deflection from Lehkonen puts it past Daniil Tarasov.
A late goal from Aaron Ekblad, his third of the year, puts the Panthers up heading into the second intermission. Sam Reinhart puts a standing screen in front of Wedgewood, who moves to look around him, and Ekblad capitalizes, sending it into the open end of the net. Florida leads 2-1 after 40 minutes.
After Landeskog went down due to injury, the Avs seemed considerably taken aback, with some of the wind taken out of their sails. The third period saw no goals despite an extra-man effort after the Avs pulled Wedgewood. Nathan MacKinnon pulls a few fancy moves out of his bag of tricks, but Tarasov stays strong and holds onto the lead for the Panthers as they finish things out 2-1 against the best team in the league.
Gabe Landeskog injured
The standout of the second period, surprisingly, was not Florida’s goal. Gabe Landeskog left the game early in the frame due to injury. He caught an edge in front of the net and went into the post hard, hitting his ribs and taking the goal post off the peg.
It was almost a little scary when the play was slowed down. His leg tweaked weirdly right before he went down, and it almost made me think it might’ve been his left leg and not his ribs, despite where he made contact with the post.
A slight sigh of relief. Avs PR confirmed early in the third period, though, that it was an upper-body injury and he would not return to the game.
Three. Regulation. Losses.
The Avs recorded a 10-game win streak with a win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night, their second double-digit win streak of the season.
This has been a historic run so far this season, hitting the 41-game mark with a record of 31-3-7.
For reference, the Dallas Stars, who sit in second place in the league, are 25-9-8. That’s six more regulation losses than the best team in the league. With that record, the Stars sit 11 points behind the Avs.
Avs