It’s safe to say the last 10 games for the Colorado Avalanche have been great ones.
Ever since the last edition of this series earlier this month, the Avalanche have gone 9-1-0. Their only loss in this stretch was back on March 2 against the Nashville Predators. Since then, they’ve won their last nine games.
In these last nine games, we’ve seen some new faces come into the team, while others departed Colorado. Some notable first-team departures include Bowen Byram and Ryan Johansen, off to the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers respectively.
In return, the Avalanche got Casey Mittelstadt and Sean Walker, two pieces who have slotted in brilliantly in their first seven games in Colorado. Mittelstadt has two goals and three assists, while Walker has three goals and an assist. Both have been key in wins, particularly a playoff-like win in Alberta against the Edmonton Oilers.
Other moves have been made to fill the bottom six, with moves for Brandon Duhaime and Yakov Trenin. Trenin recorded his first goal last game against the Pittsburgh Penguins but has been a solid workhorse not registering the points on offense, but taking care of things defensively. The same can be said about Duhaime, who has two assists to his name in an Avs jersey.
The number of moves makes sense for Colorado after more news came out about Logan O’Connor, who had been in and out of the lineup with a nagging lower-body injury. But, it was revealed he needed hip surgery and would be out for the rest of the year. His absence will certainly be felt through the rest of the season, and his status for the start of next year is up in the air with his 6-7 month recovery time. Miles Wood had a similar surgery, and surely LOC will be looking to his linemate for advice on his health and recovery.
Regardless of who has been in or out of the, the Avs have persevered. In this nine-game win streak, they’ve won in a variety of ways. There have been dominant performances such as against the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets. There have been close, dramatic playoff-like atmospheres against the aforementioned Oilers and St. Louis Blues. Finally, there have been insane comebacks after falling behind early, like the last game against the Penguins and against the Vancouver Canucks in the second half of a back-to-back.
It has been a wild, insane, and fun ride for the last couple of weeks as an Avalanche fan. With the team amid a five-game homestand and the majority of their games at Ball Arena for the rest of the season, Colorado will look to take advantage of it. They have the best home record in the entire league, and now look more complete than ever as they look to wrap up their final 11 games on a high note leading into the playoffs. With Nathan MacKinnon riding an 18-game point streak, now having the single-season record for points scored in franchise history, and still having scored in every game at home, he and this team look close to unstoppable.