The Shot That Matters

The month of March enters the final 10 days, and the Colorado Avalanche have already racked up 100 points in the standings for the fifth straight season, which is a franchise record. In addition, the Avs locked up a playoff spot on Friday with our win over the Blackhawks. Our job is definitely not done. We still have to create some distance from the Dallas Stars, as we entered this day only three points ahead of Dallas in not only the Central, but in the entire league.

However, there's good news! Gabriel Landeskog returned to action, and not only that, but we are expected to have Artturi Lehkonen, Ross Colton, and Logan O'Connor back in due time. The reinforcements are coming in, slowly but surely, but one day at a time! First off, the Avs paid a visit to DC to face off against a Washington Capitals team who is a far cry from that team who finished as the top team in the entire Eastern Conference. I still say they spent last year too focused on getting Ovi that goals record.

Mackenzie Blackwood was in net against Logan Thompson, and the Avs had an early power play, but it was knocked off. We managed to knock off a Caps power play, but we were unable to prevent Washington from striking first. Justin Sourdif scored at 11:53, and the Caps' 1-0 lead held for the rest of the period. The second period was quiet for the most part; what few power plays took place were killed off easily, and not much else happened. The 1-0 score held up in Washington's favor after 40 minutes.

The third period saw Logan Thompson misplay the puck, and it ended up in Martin Necas' possession. Necas passed the puck to Gabriel Landeskog, who put it in a nearly empty net. Our Captain, in his first game back, tied things up at one just 65 seconds into the third frame. Almost five minutes later, Nicolas Roy put in his third goal since the trade, and just like that, the Avs were up 2-1! A minute after the goal, the Avs had a penalty to kill, and we did just that. However, we would have to kill another one late in the period, and I was already thinking it. Alex Ovechkin would be at his sweet spot on the PP just waiting. Sure enough, he was, and sure enough, the game was tied, with Ovi striking at his usual position.

And there it is. Goal #1000 for Ovechkin. The goal was his 923rd of his career, and if you add his 77 career playoff goals, it's an even thousand. Only Wayne Gretzky (1,016 combined goals) has more. So the game is tied, and despite the Avs having control of the puck in the final minute of regulation, the game went to overtime. The Avs had control in the OT, and it included Necas firing the puck, and Brock Nelson gaining possession and tapping it in for the game winner!

The Colorado Avalanche won it, 3-2, in OT, getting two more points away from the Dallas Stars. And thanks to the Stars losing in regulation at home to the Vegas Golden Knights, our lead has increased to five points in the Central. This was a crazy one. No points from Nathan MacKinnon. No points from Cale Makar. Martin Necas did his thing with a pair of helpers, but this was a team effort overall. This was an excellent victory to move us farther away from Dallas, who we will face once more this regular season on April 4.

But that almost two weeks from now. One game at a time, and next up for the Avs is a visit to Pittsburgh to face off against the Penguins. We owe them such an ass whipping.

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