The Colorado Avalanche have been hot lately. Other than an overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks, they have been excellent. With wins over the New Jersey Devils, Vegas Golden Knights, and Tampa Bay Lightning, they are one of the best teams in the league.
Heading into a showdown with the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, expectations have never been higher. The Avalanche wasted no time, putting the pedal to the metal, crushing the Oilers 9-1. Let’s get into the most relevant takeaways.
The Avalanche are Scary
Nine goals is a lot. Like, a lot-a lot. Now stop and realize that the Avalanche went an abysmal 0-for-7 on the power play against the Oilers, a team that is supposed to be a Stanley Cup contender.
Cale Makar was his usual dominant self, scoring the first two goals of the game. He’s having the kind of season that has to at least be considered when it comes to Hart Trophy voting (and a massive new contract). Nathan MacKinnon casually added to the Oilers’ pain with a pair of goals himself.
Even more impressive is Colorado’s depth. Jack Drury had a pair of goals, as did Parker Kelly. Gavin Brindley even got in on the fun. The Avalanche can dominate opponents with any of their lines, making them virtually impossible to handle on any given night.
A Non-Avalanche Take: Goaltending is Going to Cost the Oilers McDavid
There’s another major takeaway from this game that has nothing to do with the Avalanche. There is a 900-lb gorilla in the room and his name is Connor McDavid. McDavid signed a two-year contract extension in the offseason that looked like the first case of a player giving a team a bridge deal rather than the other way around.
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The Avalanche are a fantastic team and on the shortlist of true Stanley Cup contenders. That said, this game drastically underscored the major issue facing the Oilers in the offseason: goaltending.
Calvin Pickard allowed five goals on 21 shots. Stuart Skinner was no better, allowing four goals on nine shots. Goaltending was blamed in the back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals losses to the Florida Panthers and remains the glaring issue. There doesn’t seem to be a quick fix, and Oilers fans and management need to be worried.
Something is Going on with Mackenzie Blackwood
It might be no big deal and just a case of Scott Wedgewood playing well enough that head coach Jared Bednar just wants to ride the hot hand. That said, the fact that we are almost 10 days into November and Mackenzie Blackwood has only made one start is concerning.
He might be working through some of the rust that comes with being out of the lineup for an extended period. Again, it may just be that Wedgewood is playing well enough that they can ease Blackwood back into the lineup.
It would be nice to see Blackwood regain the reins in the near future, given that many felt he could be a dark horse candidate for the Vezina Trophy. It’s a nice problem to have when your backup goalie is playing so well that you don’t even have to bother rushing your starter back.
The Best Performance of the Season
Everything you could want as a fan came in this game (other than the abysmal power play). The Avalanche dominated from bell to bell, piling on the Oilers and never letting up. They look downright scary right now and they are beating contenders left and right.
With guys like Makar and MacKinnon in the lineup, complacency doesn’t feel like something they have to worry about. Even scarier is the fact that Brock Nelson (five points) and Gabriel Landeskog (four points) don’t even rank in the top DOZEN scorers on the team. When they get on track, the Avalanche are going to be an official nightmare.
