“Go big or go home,” they say. On Wednesday night, the Minnesota Wild went big, scoring eight goals on 19 shots and defeating the Avs in a humbling 8-3 victory. Unfortunately, the Avs couldn’t go home. Instead, they went to the Westin Hotel in Anaheim, where they will face off against the Ducks on Friday night.
Skating into the night on Wednesday, the Avalanche hadn’t lost in regulation since March 8th (we’re in April now, folks) and were 13-0-2 in their last 15 games. We knew it couldn’t last, and if I had to put my money on who we would crumble to first on this streak, it would have been the Wild. Though an 8-3 loss far surpassed any predictions. When I saw Johansson (Grubauer’s) replacement after the 7th goal) skating off the ice with 22 seconds remaining, I thought, “good for him for making the first move to get the hell out of the building.” It turns out I had missed the delayed penalty, but the fact that I was still watching at that point deserves recognition.
We have to blame someone for this heinous loss, so I’ll put it on my brother, who, before the game, said the Avs needed to lose to ensure they won’t be overconfident entering the playoffs. If he was looking for humility, an 8-goal smackdown should do the trick. The last time the Avs allowed eight goals, Varlamov was in net, and it was 2013 vs. the Edmonton Oilers. That’s over 500 games.* So, you’re welcome, Minnesota, for giving you a nice confidence boost after dominating the last two matchups. This Avalanche team is mortal after all, or maybe they figured out how to get White Castle delivered to their hotel rooms and were still suffering the side effects.
It is easy to make an ugly Christmas sweater when you don’t have to change much.
That was the 8th and final contest with the boys clad in their Christmas-colored suits (in the regular season), and despite two sloppy performances, the Avs won the series 5-2-1 and out-scored them 31-25. The Wild is the only team that the Avalanche has lost two games to this season, losing one apiece to each divisional opponent.
This weekend will be closing out the seasonal series with the Ducks, but Av defenseman Jacob MacDonald will miss both of those games after receiving a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head on Wild forward, Ryan Hartman. Thankfully, Hartman wasn’t severely injured; in fact, he continued to play and scored goal number 4 for his club.
The Avs are currently sitting atop the division and have 17 games remaining in the regular season, with 12 of those played on the road. Since the Avs’ won’t be going home often, hopefully, they can go big and close out the season as the top seed. With luck, the remnants of White Castle of whatever malady overcame the Avs has been vanquished and we can look forward to a Patrick Roy-kind-of-game comeback.
*Due to the rarity of 8 goals against the Avs, this fact took some painstaking research. If I missed a game, my apologies.