Zebras Run Amok

The Colorado Avalanche have been on a roll in the last week; having won four in a row and running away in the Central Division. Our latest win was in Winnipeg against the Jets, and on a Saturday that saw all but two teams playing, the Avs faced off against the same Jets, this time in the confines of Ball Arena. Prior to our game, a funny thing happened: the Dallas Stars actually won a game. Dallas defeated a Pittsburgh Penguins team that played without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and they still had to come from behind. That tells me that they still have problems.

Mackenzie Blackwood was in net against Connor Hellebuyck, and similar to Thursday's contest, the Jets struck first again. Gabriel Vilardi (who should still be a King) put it in at 3:51, with Josh Morrissey and Adam Lowry assisting. Avs would go on the period's only power play later on, and it would be Brock Nelson who ties it up! Nazem Kadri and Cale Makar with the assists, and for Makar, that's 500 career points. Seems like yesterday that I saw Makar's very first NHL goal--in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2019.

Game was tied at 1 after 20 minutes, and in the second period, the Jets struck early. Cole Koepke at 2:14, and the Jets were ahead again. Avs tried so much to strike back. It didn't help that the Jets were well behaved in this frame, but thankfully, so were we. I was really hoping we'd get something to even things up. Somehow, late in the period, we did! Parker Kelly tied it up at 18:05, with Josh Manson and Valeri Nichushkin assisting. That was the boost we needed, and after 40 minutes, it was tied at 2.

The third period's where the infractions came in. 67 seconds in, Artturi Lehkonen was called for tripping Mark Schiefele, who was called for embellishment. Four on four. Seven minutes later, Parker Kelly and Cole Perfetti both went in the box for roughing. Four on four again. Usually, matching minors like this are rare, but two sets in the same period? Wild. Literally one second after the four on four ended, Josh Manson went in the box. We killed that Jets PP, but at 14:49, Cole Perfetti scored and gave Winnipeg the lead. We challenged for Goalie Interference. It was clear as day. Blackwood was on the receiving end of so much unwarranted contact. This would clearly get overturned.

But I forgot one thing. It's perfectly fine to interfere with Avs goalies. Goal counts. We have to kill a penalty. Refs' hatred of anything Avalanche continues. PP is killed off, but the damage is done. Our momentum was tapped out, and it was cemented with a Jets empty netter.

Avs dropped the home game to the Jets, 4-2. One of these days, Avs games will be officiated without bias. One of these days, when our goalie is interfered with, it'll be acknowledged and called. But that's just a pipe dream. At least Cale Makar got to 500 career points, so there's that. Our division lead is down to seven points now, but we still should lock up the Central in about a week, we are still 11 points away from doing just that. As for next team up, the Avs will host the Calgary Flames on Monday, finishing our month of March.

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