10 Takeaways: One More Win Will Secure Presidents’ Trophy For Avalanche
· Yahoo Sports
The Avalanche secured the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference on Tuesday. One more win will officially clinch the Presidents’ Trophy and guaranteed home-ice advantage for the entirety of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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I remember when the team had its season-opening media day back in September. One of the main goals everyone spoke about was getting the No. 1 seed. They wanted home-ice advantage. They didn’t want to have to play another Game 7 in Dallas — or anywhere — other than Ball Arena.
Colorado opened each of the last two postseasons on the road in the marquee 2 vs. 3 matchup in the Central Division. In both instances, they started on the road. In 2024, they upset the Winnipeg Jets in five games before falling to the Stars in seven a year later. But this won’t be like that.
The Avs are slated to open the postseason against the second wildcard team, which, given how things are shaping up, probably won’t even have 90 points when the regular season ends. The Stars will again play in the marquee matchup, this time against the Minnesota Wild.
That series became the first one to officially be locked in. Now it’s just a matter of determining who will have home-ice advantage.
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10 Takeaways
1. I am a big fan of what Jared Bednar did with his line combinations in St. Louis. During Sunday’s game at Ball Arena, I told my colleagues in the press box that I had wondered if Bednar would try Gabe Landeskog with Nazem Kadri and Nic Roy on the third line. I thought it made more sense than Artturi Lehkonen. Simply because, while Ross Colton hasn’t had the best season, his best games were played on a line with Brock Nelson and Valeri Nichushkin.
The line combinations Bednar used were the exact ones I thought made the most sense way back on deadline day. It’s nice to see it come to fruition, even if it was short-lived because of Kadri’s injury (more on that later).
So…. when everyone is healthy:
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Lehkonen – MacKinnon – Necas
Colton – Nelson – Nichushkin
Landeskog – Kadri – Roy
Kelly – Drury – O'Connor
Extras: Kiviranta, Bardakov, Brindley
Am I on the right track? Maybe? (And yes Kivi is 4RW if LOC doesn't return)
2. Spreading the wealth like that gives you an insane amount of depth among your top three lines. The Avalanche basically went three years without having a proper second line. If the lines remained this way, they’d ultimately have two of them. Landeskog and Kadri (along with Nichushkin) were the trio that was on the ice for the final moments of Colorado’s Stanley Cup championship in Tampa Bay. That was a strong second line.
Having two of them on the third line? That’s an insane amount of depth.
3. What helps make this possible is the recent play of Nichushkin. Bednar said after the game that he’s felt like No. 13 has come on recently. I agree with that. Nichushkin is a playoff power house and he’s heating up at the right time. And with a full season in Colorado under his belt, I’d imagine Nelson is also primed to take a huge step in a couple of weeks as well.
4. As for Kadri, Bednar said after the game that he’ll know more about No. 91s status over the next day or two. Kadri blocked a shot with his hand in the second period and did not return.
I could be wrong, but it didn’t sound serious given how Bednar talked about it. He made a comment about Kadri’s pain tolerance and “whether he can or can’t play through it.”
5. You know what the best part about that stacked top nine is? Only three of them have more goals than fourth-line winger Parker Kelly’s 20 goals.
6. Necas is up to 37 goals and 95 points. I don’t usually like to get too caught up in personal milestones, but I’d love to see him particularly hit both 40 goals and 100 points this season. He’s only got five more games to get there — if he plays all of them.
His goal in St. Louis extended his road point streak to 12 games (11 goals, 13 assists).
7. Okay, maybe there are a few other personal accolades I’d like to see. One specifically is Sam Malinski reaching 41 points in 82 games (0.5 points per game pace). Malinski recorded an assist on the first Nichushkin tally to reach 38 in 77.
8. Josh Manson dressed in his 77th game of the season, which is the most he’s had in any one year with the Avs. It’s also the third-highest of his career and the most since 2017-18. I was a little worried about his health coming into the season, especially with the extension he got last summer. It’s nice to see him playing this well without missing any action.
9. Disaster was averted when Scott Wedgewood fell into the goal post and looked to be in a lot of pain. He was flailing his legs and holding his lower back. Given his history with back injuries, it looked terrible at first sight.
He ended up shaking it off and staying in the game. Later, he said the wind had gotten knocked out of him upon impact.
Wedgewood improved to 29-6-6, and continues to lead the league in goals against average (2.10) and save percentage (.918). He’s also one away from his own personal milestone that’s well within reach.
10. Make that six straight wins on the road and 12-1-0 in the last 13 games away from Ball Arena. This streak began with a 5-0 shutout in Detroit on Jan. 31. That was two nights after Colorado got lit up for seven goals in Montreal.
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