The Colorado Avalanche finished the month of January essentially perfect with a record of 15-0-1. The long, treacherous covid break was burdensome for others, but a blessing for the Avs as they were able to go on to have an extravagant month. Colorado had plenty of difficult opponents through this stretch including many divisional rivalry games, and were able to overcome many deficits. Not only was this team hot during January, but they were prior to it. They held onto a 18-game home win streak stemming back to November 11th, 2021. Unfortunately a winning streak like this is unsustainable and all of it came to an end on Tuesday against the pesky Arizona Coyotes, but were able to extend their point streak to 17 games in a row. It also kept their home point streak to 19 games. Through this time they were able to climb their way to the top of the Central Division along with being top 2 in the entire NHL.
The Avalanche just finished up a 2 game homestand right before the All-Star break after a quick 1 game road trip to Chicago where they won in a back and forth affair. The first opponent of the homestand was against the Buffalo Sabres, who’ve had some problems for quite awhile. Colorado came out sharp, scoring a goal in the 1st period to make it 1-0. Captain Gabriel Landeskog collected his 19th goal of the year after a great pass from Mikko Rantanen who grabbed his 30th assist. Later into the 2nd period, the Sabres made a strong push and finally Dylan Cozen equalized the game to make it 1-1. Aside from that, it was all Avalanche as Nazem Kadri scored off an assist from Dylan Sikura, who tallied his first point of the year. The goal was challenged by the Sabres bench for a hand pass, but it was determined it was a good goal. This put the Avs on the power-play as it was a delay of game penalty for an unsuccessful challenge. Mikko Rantanen converted on the power-play to make it 3-1. This extended their power-play streak to 7 games. Colorado then took control and iced the game in the 3rd period after an empty net goal by Val Nichushkin. This clinched the Avalanche’s 18th win on home ice and also set a record for the best month of January ever by a team with a 15-0-1 record.
The next opponent was against a divisional opponent, the Arizona Coyotes, who’ve played 3 times in the year of 2022. After a slow start in the 1st, Nazem Kadri in the 2nd period forced a turnover and capitalized on an unassisted goal to make it 1-0. Later in the period the Yotes answered on a great backhand by Alex Galchenyuk who grabbed his first goal of the year to tie it at 1. Mikko Rantanen then takes a fantastic feed from Andre Burakovsky to take the lead late in the 2nd period. The Avs continued to play well in the 3rd trying to add onto the lead, but Yotes goalie Scott Wedgewood was not going to allow it. With less than a minute left, the Coyotes pull their goalie and end up tying the game as Lawson Crouse converted on a rebound. The contest would have to extend into extra time to decide the winner. After the overtime period came to an end, the game was still tied and it went into a shootout. The Avs weren’t able to get one past Wedgewood as Alex Galchenyuk would be the only goal scorer in the shootout to give the Coyotes the victory. A devastating loss for the team who fought so hard to keep the at home win streak alive, just to lose it to the 2nd worst team in the league. However, they keep their 17 game point streak alive.
The Avs go into the All-Star as one of the most dominant teams in the NHL. They were sending 3 players and a coach to the All-Star game, but since Nathan Mackinnon has a broken nose and a concussion, he will sit out until their next game. Cale Makar and Nazem Kadri are the other two representatives who are both having exceptional years. Nazem Kadri continues to stay in the top 3 in points per game at 1.46. Just behind him is Nathan Mackinnon at 4, with 1.39 points per game. Another player for them who was arguably snubbed was Mikko Rantanen, as he is 8th on the list with 1.32 points per game. The young talent Cale Makar continues to lead all defensemen in goals with 18 and is 3rd overall in points amongst these defenseman at 44. Many other players could’ve made this All-Star roster as plenty of them have played tremendous.
The All-Star break should be good for the Avs to recoup as it was extremely effective the last time they got one. When they resume play, they will compete against one of the power-houses in the eastern conference, the Tampa Bay Lightning. This should be an exciting one as the Avalanche will be hosting next Thursday.
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