Traditionally, the second game of a back-to-back between two teams is often the nastiest. By then, rivalries have been renewed, players have taken numbers from the previous night, and there’s usually something left to settle from the first meeting.
If the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars manage to top Tuesday’s game in Dallas when they meet again Wednesday night at Ball Arena, it’ll take quite a bit.
They’ll have to top a star-studded fight between Nathan MacKinnon and Roope Hintz, several big hits, another fight earlier in the game, and a one-goal finish that went right down to the final buzzer.
It was an entertaining game between two Central Division rivals. In the end, the Avalanche got the last laugh, winning 3-2 behind two goals from Martin Necas and another from Artturi Lehkonen.
Also Read:Postgame: Avalanche Edge Stars as MacKinnon, Hintz Drop the Gloves10 Takeaways
1. I thought Necas was excellent and deserves recognition for his performance in Dallas. He was physically engaged and consistently made the right plays. He was rewarded with two goals because of it.
On his first tally, the play started and ended on his stick. He did a great job fending off Thomas Harley before dipsy-doodling around Colin Blackwell and playing a give-and-go with MacKinnon. His second goal was a matter of being in the right place at the right time to capitalize on a two-man advantage.
2. I’ll give you a little behind-the-scenes look at my job. When the Avalanche hold practice, I often go in with an idea of what I want to focus on. Stories often arise during practice that change my plans, but I usually have something in mind.
On Monday, my goal was to talk to Necas about his season thus far. The Avalanche’s top-line winger had just five points in five games, a touch behind his usual pace. He also hadn’t been much of a factor in three straight games.
When practice ended and we were granted locker room access, Necas was already gone. The Avs were flying to Dallas right after the skate, so quite a few guys had already left. I do wish I had a chance to hear how he felt about his game. But I guess it doesn’t matter now. I thought he needed a bounce-back performance, and he delivered exactly that.
3. It would’ve been nice to see Necas complete the hat trick, but I also didn’t like seeing MacKinnon pass up a shot at the open net to try to find Necas in a game separated by only one goal. It didn’t matter in the end, but I’d like to see MacKinnon shoot in that situation.
4. Speaking of bounce-backs, the most notable one came from Mackenzie Blackwood. He was unbelievable. Blackwood didn’t just make the saves he needed to make. He bailed his team out on multiple occasions.
One sequence on the power play stands out. Sam Malinski made a brutal drop pass that landed directly on the stick of a Dallas player, who suddenly had a one-on-one opportunity with Blackwood. The goalie stoned him with a glove save.
Moments later, Josh Manson lost the puck behind the net, and Blackwood came up with a right-pad save to keep Dallas off the board.
I really thought Bednar would give Blackwood a game to reset before playing him again at home Wednesday. I’m glad he didn’t. This is what it looks like when a coach challenges his goalie to get right back in there and the goalie responds by proving him right.
5. Speaking of Malinski, I fear he’s falling deeper into a rut. His start to the season hasn’t been great, and he’s already been a healthy scratch. In his first opportunity to get power-play time with Cale Makar out, Malinski made a brutal mistake that could’ve cost his team if not for Blackwood.
Malinski is better than this. He knows it, his coach knows it, and we’ve all seen it. As the No. 3 defenseman, the Avalanche expect much more from him. It’ll be interesting to see how he works his way out of this rough start.
6. One of the other keys to this game was how well the Avalanche played defensively. They were more responsible and limited the rush chances against, something that had been hurting them in previous games. The way they shut things down in the third period with the lead was reminiscent of their masterclass third-period effort in the 2022 Stanley Cup-clinching game.
7. I’m not a fan of players being forced to fight after a clean hit. Which technically means I shouldn’t be a fan of Fedor Svechkov dropping the gloves with Radek Faksa after a clean hit on Jaden Schwartz.
But I can’t say it was all bad. I enjoyed watching a young player in his first season with the team be so bought in that he’s willing to stick up for a teammate. We saw Zachary L’Heureux do this a few games ago, and he tried to do it again when Toronto was in town.
Svechkov isn’t a fighter like L’Heureux. In fact, this was the first fight of his NHL career. That kind of thing goes a long way in the locker room, especially for a new guy.
8. Artturi Lehkonen is up to four goals and five points in six games. Even more impressive is how efficient he’s been with his shot selection. Lehkonen has just eight shots on goal and has scored on 50% of them.
9. I’d be really interested in hearing from MacKinnon about the moments leading up to that fight. For those who remember, MacKinnon’s hit on Hintz last March left the Dallas forward with a season-ending injury. I’d imagine that played a part in Tuesday’s fight.
But to reiterate what I wrote in my postgame story, I don’t think MacKinnon dropping the gloves this often is the right move. The Avs can’t afford to have him get injured, even on an accidental play.
In 2022, MacKinnon fought Matt Dumba several weeks before the playoffs began and injured his hand. He missed games but avoided a potentially disastrous outcome that could’ve affected him in the postseason. If that fight had gone just a little differently, we could be talking about a 2022 postseason without MacKinnon.
That’s why I think he needs to limit these situations. It’s not always worth it, no matter how exhilarating it is to see him drop the gloves.
10. I don’t think you could have a better reason to miss a crucial hockey game than Cale Makar’s reason on Tuesday. Makar left the team to be with his wife, Tracy, who was due at any moment to give birth to their twins.
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