Landeskog reaches 500 career points, as Johannson wins in net again
Apr 12, 2021, 7:05 AM
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog reached a major career milestone on Sunday with his 500th career point, and backup goaltender Jonas Johannson won his second consecutive start as Colorado cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Ducks in Anaheim.
Landeskog, who had the game-winning goal and a pair of assists to reach the mark, became only the fifth player in Avalanche history to reach 500 (Joe Sakic, Milan Hedjuk, Peter Forsberg and Nathan MacKinnon), and joined the Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov as the second member of the 2011 draft class to do the same.
Head coach Jared Bednar took a moment after the game to praise the Avs’ longtime captain. “He has a lot of strengths to his game. I think consistency has improved in the time that I’ve been here,” Bednar said. “I think what I notice about him is that he’s an unselfish, team-first guy. He’s going to be committed to your team game, and he’s going to help sell your team game. If you’re going to talk and lead the way that Gabe has to — and does — then you have to be willing on a nightly basis to back it up, and that’s what his play does. He’s consistent, he’s always in tune with what we’re talking about in pregame, the game plan, managing the puck, playing hard in all areas.”
While Landeskog’s milestone was a foregone conclusion, goaltender Jonas Johansson’s performance over the weekend was anything but. After a 28-shot shutout win over the Ducks on Friday, Johannson — with newly acquired goaltender Devan Dubnyk suited up for the game — backed that performance up with another solid, 25-save effort in Sunday’s two-game sweep.
Dubnyk is in his 10th NHL season, while Johannson’s played only 18 NHL games, but the pair allowed starter Philipp Grubauer to be a healthy scratch for the first time this season, something the overworked Vezina candidate desperately needed. Johannson’s recent performances — he’s now 3-0-1 with a 1.87 goals-against average — makes it hard to simply forget about him, even with Dubnyk’s donning of an Avalanche sweater.
Johannson sounded more like a wily veteran after the game with his comments. “What’s up to me is what I do on the ice, so I’ll play if they tell me to play. I’ll just do my part as best as I can, whatever that is.”
***
NEXT UP: Avalanche (28-9–4, 60 pts) vs. Coyotes (19-18-5, 43 pts) | Monday, Apr. 12 at 7:00 p.m.
***
TEAM NOTES
• After earning their 60th point of the season in their 41st game, this year’s Avalanche became the fastest team in Colorado franchise history to reach that mark. The 1994-95 Quebec Nordiques, whom the Avalanche are honoring this season with their third jersey, also reached 60 points in 41 games.
• With the win on Sunday, the Avalanche sat a new record for wins against the Ducks in a single season, going 6-1-1 this season.
• The Avalanche won’t have the services of trade acquisition Patrick Nemeth until Wednesday’s game against the Blues, head coach Jared Bednar said, explaining that Nemeth won’t join the team in Denver until Monday or Tuesday. Nemeth, who was acquired from the Red Wings on Friday, played for the Avalanche from 2017-19.
***
PLAYER NOTES
• Nathan MacKinnon extended his scoring streak to nine game with a goal and an assist on Sunday. He has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) over that span, and had led the league in scoring with 28 points since March 12.
• Devan Dubnyk ordered a car service to drive him from San Jose to Anaheim after being traded to the Avalanche on Saturday. Doing so meant that Dubnyk could dress for the team on Sunday instead of quarantining as required following a commercial flight. “When I was sitting in the car, it kind of hit me a little bit that how great of an opportunity this is to have a chance to win a Stanley Cup,” Dubnyk said.
• Devon Toews’ addition in the offseason has paid dividends all season long. With a plus-2 rating on Sunday, Toews upped his plus-minus total to plus-24, the second-best in the NHL behind only the Canadiens’ Joel Edmundson (+28).
• Jacob MacDonald served the second game of his two-game suspension on Sunday. MacDonald, who forfeited $12,500 in pay, was suspended for an illegal check to the head of Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman last Wednesday.
***
THE FINAL WORD
“I just think he’s starting to dial up his 200-foot game, and he’s making plays. Tonight, he went to the net hard — he gets rewarded at the end of the game. — Head coach Jared Bednar, on Nathan MacKinnon, who scored the Avs’ final goal Sunday.
***
INJURY WATCH
• Bowen Byram (COVID-19 protocol) will be out until at least late-April.
• Matt Calvert (upper-body injury) missed the Mar. 31 game and is day-to-day.
• Conor Timmins (upper-body injury) missed the Mar. 8 game and has not played since.
• Dennis Gilbert (facial injury, COVID-19 protocol) was placed on injured reserve on Feb. 20. He is expected to be out until at least late March.
• Erik Johnson (upper-body injury) left the Jan. 30 game and has no projected return date. On March 25, coach Jared Bednar suggested that it was possible that Johnson could miss the remainder of the season.
• Pavel Francouz (lower-body injury) has yet to play this season and remains on injured reserve. On March 25, coach Jared Bednar suggested that it was possible that Francouz could miss the remainder of the season. Given that the Avalanche have traded for two backup goaltenders, it appears unlikely that Francouz will play at any point.
***
LAST NIGHT’S LINES
FORWARDS:
Top Line: LW Gabriel Landeskog, C Nathan MacKinnon, RW Mikko Rantanen
Second Line: LW Brandon Saad, C Nazem Kadri, RW Andre Burakovsky
Third Line: LW Valeri Nichushkin, C Tyson Jost, RW Joonas Donskoi
Fourth Line: LW Liam O’Brien, C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, RW J.T. Compher
DEFENSEMEN:
Top Pair: LD Devon Toews, RD Samuel Girard
Second Pair: LD Ryan Graves, RD Cale Makar
Third Pair: LD Kyle Burroughs, RD Keaton Middleton
GOALTENDERS:
Starter: Jonas Johansson
***
Shawn Drotar is the host of “The Fan Late Night with Shawn Drotar;” weeknights from 10:00 p.m. to midnight — only on 104.3 The Fan. Follow him on Twitter at @sdrotar.
