Tonight, the Colorado Avalanche welcomed the Minnesota Wild for a Central Division matchup at Ball Arena in Denver, CO, and it was the team in red and green that skated to victory. Much to the chagrin of onlooking Avalanche fans, Minnesota would tally two goals in the second period and three more in the third to put the Avalanche away. Martin Necas’ two-goal performance and Mackenzie Blackwood stopping 31-34 of the shots he faced would not be enough.
The Game
The Avalanche may have finished the first period with a 13-10 edge in shots on goal, but they were unable to capitalize on any of their opportunities.
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The Wild would get the scoring started in the second when Joel Eriksson Ek poked a rebound generated by a shot from Matt Boldy at the 7:48 mark. Power play goals would be sort of the story for the Wild tonight.
Martin Necas would respond with Nathan MacKinnon driving toward the net, forcing the Wild defense to sink far enough to clear space for Necas’ shot off the drop-pass. Marty put that one in the top corner and was the bright spot of the night. We were tied at 1-1 with 6:30 left in the second period.
This is when things took a turn into very frustrating territory. Minnesota’s Yakov Trenin broke in and took a shot from the left wing, and Cale Makar’s swiping poke check contacted Trenin’s stick just as it broke into two pieces.
The refs would raise an arm and blow the whistle, assessing Makar a two-minute minor for slashing. Cale told Guerilla Sports, “Didn’t think I got his stick, I thought it just broke. But I’m not the ref, so it doesn’t really matter.” following the game.
Colorado Avalanche assistant coach Nolan Pratt was visibly upset on the bench and making sure the refs heard about it following the call, and Cale did just about the same as he skated to the box. They were rightfully upset with the replay showing Cale’s stick hardly making contact with Trenin’s, and the stick breaking much further up the shaft of Trenin’s stick than where Cale’s contacted it.
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No matter the outrage, the Wild would head to the power play and cash in almost immediately when Joel Eriksson-Ek tallied his second of the night on the advantage. Eriksson-Ek attempted a pass into the low slot for Karill Kaprizov that never reached him. Instead, when MacKenzie Blackwood made his move from the left post to the right, the top of his right pad caught the puck and sent it slowly through the five-hole and beyond the red line. 2-1 Wild heading into the third.
The Avalanche seemed to control the start of the third and looked poised to mount a comeback when they drew a penalty with roughly seven minutes left in the game. They put MacKinnon back in the spot Marty inhabited last night and created some point looks for Makar, but nothing really dangerous.
Shortly after the unsuccessful power play, the Wild would expand on their lead on a goal from Matt Zucarelo, who appeared to purposely shoot the puck off of Sam Malinski’s toe and beyond Blackwood.
The Avalanche would give up an empty-netter when Nathan MacKinnon attempted a cross-ice pass at the blueline with the extra-attacker, which Matt Boldy intercepted and sent down the ice into the yawning net. It was clearly a frustrating night for MacKinnon, who still finished with two points on the evening.
MacKinnon’s second point came on Necas’ second goal. Filip Gustavsson was the Wild netminder this evening, and he got visibly sick in his own crease with less than a minute left. A cold Wahlstedt would fill in and immediately forfeit a back-door goal. MacKinnon’s seam pass on this play was just about the only one that worked all night.
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The Wild would once again cash in on an empty net, and we’d finish with a 5-2 final.
Takeaways
I know a lot will be made of the call on Makar—and rightfully so, given how blatantly awful it was. I’d say the officiating as a whole wasn’t great for either side tonight, but Colorado definitely got the short end of the stick.
Here’s the thing, though: Fans have every right to fall into that frustration, but the Avalanche cannot.
I’m not sure if anyone remembers, but the Avalanche felt particularly hard done by the refs after being eliminated by the Golden Knights in 2021. The response in 2022 wasn’t frustration; it was poise and purpose. I remember thinking at times, “Wow, the old MacKinnon would be losing it right now,” as he skated away from what probably should have been a drawn penalty. That’s what I’d like to see more of from the group as a whole. Life and hockey aren’t fair.
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The more you fight that truth, the more it burns you.
The power play will come under fire again after coming up short in a key moment of the third. I think it’s fair to say Avalanche fans would settle for—at a minimum—some timely power-play goals.
Upcoming
The Avalanche will continue their torrid stretch of games with another home contest, this time against the Chicago Blackhawks, who visit Denver on Saturday.
