Wednesday Needs to Get Here

The Colorado Avalanche are coming off a big road win in Seattle, which came hours after the unjust penalties against Nathan MacKinnon were rescinded. Speaking of MacKinnon, he's within striking distance of the points lead--just a pair behind Connor McDavid. So that's the first leg of the two-game trip in the books. Next up: Winnipeg. These are not the same Jets, and this shocks me. This team won the Presidents' Trophy last season, but as my mom often says, they "went from sugar to shit" this season.

For the Avs, we had Mackenzie Blackwood in net against the Gold Medal winning goalie, Connor Hellebuyck. First period was quiet for the most part. One PP for each team, both were killed off. Avs were outshooting Winnipeg in that first frame, but it was no score after 20. Second period; Winnipeg struck first, and it was Kyle Connor with his 30th of the season. Mark Schiefele with the lone assist. Avs were really pressing, but Hellebuyck was not budging. Later on, Alex Iafallo made it 2-0, and the aforementioned Connor and Schiefele assisted.

Avs trailed 2-0 after 40 minutes, and it wasn't looking good. It looked like the Avalanche would be blanked for only the second time this season as the third period clock was winding down. Martin Necas put a stop to that with his 31st of the season very late in the third frame. The assists came from Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, and for Mack, that's point #109. Blackwood was pulled with the Avs looking to tie it up on the spot, but that would not happen, as Cole Perfetti found the empty net, and that ended up being all she wrote.

The Avs fell to the Jets, 3-1, but at least the Jets actually won fair and square. That's not the problem. The problem: no one is beating Dallas. Hours after our loss, the Stars won in overtime against the Red Wings. Our lead in the Central is down to three points because the Stars haven't lost in regulation in nearly three weeks. Only one loss overall in that stretch, but here's the thing: Dallas' one loss was against us. Our next meeting with Dallas is on Wednesday. It really needs to get here, and not only because Wednesday is my birthday, but also because we need to knock Dallas down a few pegs.

The Avalanche split the abbreviated two game road trip, and now we will return home for the next two games. First, a home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are still playing without Sidney Crosby, but will get Evgeni Malkin back following his five-game suspension. The aforementioned meeting with Dallas follows that on Wednesday. Both games are on national TV; the game against Pittsburgh is on ESPN, while the game against Dallas is on TNT. A pair of home games against a pair of playoff hopefuls (though in Dallas' case, it's a foregone conclusion that they'll be in), and we definitely need to win both. After the home games, the Avalanche will go on a four-game road trip, and hopefully by then, we will officially lock in a playoff spot, most likely becoming the first to do so this season.

Season's really heading down the wire, folks. 17 games left for the Avs, a lot of them within the conference! Let's end this campaign on a strong note!

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