By: Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer
The NHL is finally back! And with it the Colorado Avalanche. Once again the Stanley Cup favorites, the Avalanche, took on divisional opponent the Chicago Blackhawks for their season opener. There were some notable absences for the Avalanche in this game: the coach Jared Bednar and star center Nathan MacKinnon both tested positive for COVID and were put on the COVID protocol list causing them to miss this game. So to set the mood for the season, for the first time since 2020, the season opener had fans in attendance and we are all prepared for the return of the 82 game schedule. After writing a critical article on and attending the preeminent preseason game of the Avalanche, I was excited to sit down and take a look at how the team set the tone for the season. The season opener is a great way to impress and establish your identity right out of the gate.
The Avalanche played a dominant game starting with an absolutely amazing first period. Jack Johnson, Gabriel Landeskog, and Bowen Byram all scored. Jack Johnson had an absolute beauty of a breakaway goal which really showed why the Avs decided to sign him despite skepticism from some (including me). Landeskog had a good deflection, a product of a good front of the net presence. Bowen Byram scored his first ever NHL goal. The Avalanche looked so dominant in the first, it looked almost merciless at some points; they outshot the Hawks 18-8 in that period. The score at the end of the first was already 3-1. The Avalanche would widen the lead in the second. Despite some decent chances by the Hawks in the second and third, they never really looked threatening. The Hawks struggled to solve Darcy Kuemper and the Avalanche’s defense, as well as gain sustained offensive zone time. The final score was 4-2 and the final shot count was 36-34 in favor of the Avalanche.
The Avalanche won decisively and watching them play this game with their final roster really eased some of the concerns I had coming out of the preseason game. For one, their defense with the almost complete core of Girard, Makar, Erik Johnson “EJ”, and Byram, looked so much better. There was disruption of the other team’s opportunities and passes, as well as effective zone clearing keeping the Hawks mostly in the defensive zone and not allowing them to get sizable offensive pressure. Seeing that D core almost all together (Devon Toews is still out with injury) was really soothing and reassuring. The Avalanche’s top pairings are solid and will not only be defensively responsible but will also generate offense. Jack Johnson even looked good tonight. I was a bit harsh on him in the past, however I think he did a good job; he really proved why the Avalanche signed him to his one year deal. Despite his good showing though, his position on the penalty kill still baffles me when there are definitely no shortage of better options.
The Avalanche remedied any of their passing issues from the preseason as well. Their passes were sharp, crisp, and connected, instead of that preseason showing where passes were dropped or didn’t connect. They were able to maintain puck possession and look absolutely lethal while doing it.
The goal tending was also great. Darcy Kuemper was there to stop any kind of defensive mistake from becoming a goal. It was what they sorely needed in their preseason game against the Knights, but they got it here when it actually mattered. Kuemper made all the Blackhawk’s high danger chances look non-threatening and he did it all while the crowd at Ball arena cheered him on. His stops, especially on both Dach breakaways were great for maintaining momentum in the Avalanche’s favor as well as keeping the Avalanche ahead on the scoreboard. I was excited to see Kuemper brought in by Sakic this off season and I have a lot of faith in his abilities as a goalie. Even despite spending the early part of the game untested, he was still able to turn it on when pressure would be on him. Of the two goals scored on Kuemper, one was on the powerplay, when Kuemper’s line of vision was impaired due to Dach screening him and the other was a perfect shot from a wide-open player. He did a great job keeping the Avalanche secure in their lead. If Kuemper continues to play this way, losing Grubauer will become inconsequential.
The physicality also looked great for the Avalanche. The Avalanche in the past have been injury prone and are not known as a “gritty” team. In my opinion, the only flaw in the Avalanche’s near perfect roster was reliable grit for the playoffs. They lost two years in a row to two teams that have a lot of tough (borderline dirty) players who will hit you hard and keep you down game after game. But tonight the Avalanche were throwing hits and “playing the body”. Those hits slowed down some of the Blackhawks best offensive players which prevented those players from getting opportunities. It was a positive sign of building playoff habits in the regular season.
The Avs also had better looks at the net front. In the preseason game against Vegas, the Avs’s net front presence was very clearly lacking. It didn’t seem that way in this game. Landeskog in the lineup certainly helped as he is known to be the Avs net front player. Having him back gave the Avalanche someone in front of the net to deflect the puck in and they seemed to be going more to the net than they were in the past game. I speculated then, that avoiding the net could’ve been a way to mitigate risk since it was only the preseason, but now that the games count the Avs are doing what you need to do to score: go to the net.
Now, to find things to work on for the Avalanche would be nitpicky at this point but I am going to try my best to point out the few weaker areas of the game.
One was how they handled the net front in their own zone. There were far too many times that players there to screen the goalie went uninterrupted. The penalty kill or whoever is on the ice should be doing their best to remove the other team net front so that their players can’t block the goalie’s vision. On the first Chicago goal, Dach wasn’t being challenged in the way that he should’ve been, and his presence allowed Kubalik to score. You have to push those players out of the way so your goalie can see and also so that there aren't any rebound or deflection options.
There were also a lot of breakaways. Obviously turnovers are going to happen frequently in every game, but there seemed to be an inordinate amount in this game. Dach had two. It isn’t a huge concern right now but if it continues to be a pattern it will be. The tendency to make risky plays that lead to bad turnovers will have to be examined.
The biggest story coming out of the night though, was Gabriel Landeskog’s hit on Kirby Dach late in the third. Dach had possession of the puck and ended up down on one knee, headed toward the boards. Landeskog hit him while he was still on his knees and will be suspended for two games for his hit on Kirby Dach.
The Avalanche came out on the night of October 13th ready to play and ready to absolutely dominate. They cemented that they are the cup favorites this year and the absolute class of the central division. Kuemper proved any skeptics wrong; the whole team, even without MacKinnon, looked like world destroyers. They set the tone that central is their division to lose and that they don’t want to stop at the division, this is their year to win the cup. This is just the first game of the season but it was a good showing for the Avalanche and it is going to be so exciting to see how they grow throughout the season.