Avalanche leapfrog Wild in standings after top line dazzles in 5-1 win

The Avalanche have taken full advantage of the longest homestead in team history, taking 13 of a possible 16 points by going 6-2-1 in eight of the nine straight games they’ll play in Denver after obliterating a shell-shocked Wild to the tune of 55 shots and five goals on Thursday. With their easy, 5-1 victory, the Avalanche climbed over the Wild and into second place in the West division.

The team’s vaunted top line of Nathan MacKinnon (one goal, two assists), Mikko Rantanen (two goals, two assists) and Gabriel Landeskog (one goal, one assist) dominated all game long, scoring four of the Avalanche’s five goals; many set up by tape-to-tape passes to one another on their way to collecting 10 combined points on the night.

“Tonight was a pretty good night,” said Rantanen. “We were snapping the puck, and that’s what we have to do: move the puck a lot and get it to the net. My linemates obviously help a lot. I’m playing with two great players, so that’s the first thing you need to remember.”

Landeskog wasn’t going to argue.

“I think that might have been one of our better periods of the season; we came out and we had no passengers. Everybody was going and all four lines were kind of rolling over the bench,” he explained. “Part of the game plan is always to create scoring chances and get pucks and bodies to the net. But I mean, it’s not every night you get 50-plus shots, but that just kind of starts with that first period. We had (25) shots in that first period, and we just kind of fed off of that as a team — and that’s the only way to score goals. At times our group has been a little snake-bitten, and there’s no better way to get out of it than to throw stuff there and see what happens.”

Philipp Grubauer and the Avalanche defense made sure that any notions the Wild might have had at a comeback evaporated after getting young blueline stars Cale Makar and Bowen Byram back from injury, limiting the Wild to a mere 20 shots. Grubauer stopped 19 of those to take over the league lead in goals-against average at 1.82.

“We just wanted to leapfrog them. They can leapfrog us Saturday, so we need to bring that desperation again and keep passing teams,” MacKinnon said after the win. “Our division is very tight; we are trying to separate ourselves, we are getting healthy finally — and hopefully the second half of the year can see lots of wins.”

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NEXT UP: Avalanche (18-8–2, 38 pts) vs. Wild (18-9–1, 37 pts) | Saturday, Mar. 20 at 1:00 p.m.

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TEAM NOTES

• The Avalanche got three players back from injury on Thursday: defensemen Cale Makar and Bowen Byram, and forward J.T. Compher. Makar (19:13 of ice time) and Byram (15:58 of ice time) immediately returned to the lineup, but Compher was a healthy scratch. Over the last two weeks, the Avs’ forward lines have not only solidified, but shined during Compher’s absence, and at the moment, it’s difficult to see who — if anyone — he should replace.

• Colorado turned Thursday’s game into a shooting gallery. Their 25 first-period shots were the most in a single period in 25 seasons (26, November 3, 1995 at Winnipeg), and their 55 total shots was the highest total in 24 seasons (57, March 3, 1996 vs. San Jose); the Avalanche’s first two years of existence. Their plus-35 shot differential tonight was a new franchise record.

• The Avs’ defense has been spectacular for most of the season, and Thursday’s game marked the 18th straight in which they’ve allowed fewer than 30 shots for a franchise-record 18 straight games. In their last six games, the Avalanche have out-shot their opponents by a nearly unbelievable average of 23.8 per game.

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PLAYER NOTES

• Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists on Thursday as his line overwhelmed the Wild. The goal — his fourth in four games — was MacKinnon’s 199th of his career, moving him into eighth place on the franchise’s all-time list. Linemate Gabriel Landeskog is just ahead of him with 206.

• Speaking of Gabriel Landeskog, if he plays in Saturday’s rematch for the Wild — and he should — he’ll play in his 660th game as a member of Avalanche. Only Joe Sakic (1,378), Milan Hedjuk (1,020) and Adam Foote (967) will be ahead of him, meaning it’ll take Landeskog until at least the 2024-2025 season to move up the list again.

• Philipp Grubauer’s career-high in wins is 18… for now. After stopping 19 of 20 shots in Thursday’s victory, Grubauer has 17 wins already — in only 24 appearances. Grubauer is second in the league in wins, and leads the NHL with a sterling 1.82 goals-against average.

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THE FINAL WORD

“Knowing Nate, seeing Nate do crazier things with the puck, obviously he was able to go around one guy and toe-drag the next guy, and all of a sudden, he was coming down toward the net. I am not surprised to see anything that that guy does anymore with the puck.” — Team captain Gabriel Landeskog, on linemate (and assistant captain) Nathan MacKinnon’s first-period goal.

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INJURY WATCH

• 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 is week-to-week
• Pavel Francouz (lower-body injury) has yet to play this season and remains on injured reserve.

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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 Matt Calvert, C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, RW Logan O’Connor

DEFENSEMEN:
Top Pair: LD Devon Toews, RD Cale Makar
Second Pair: LD Jacob MacDonald, RD Samuel Girard
Third Pair: LD Ryan Graves, RD Bowen Byram

GOALTENDERS:
Starter: Philipp Grubauer

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