DENVER — It’s crazy what solid goaltending can do for a team.
Mackenzie Blackwood stepped in and stepped up in his Avalanche debut, stopping all but two of the 39 shots he faced to lift the Avs to a 5-2 victory on Saturday. Colorado improved to 8-8-0 at Ball Arena.
“That was a great game to be a part of,” Blackwood said. “I’m so thankful to come over and win the first one.”
Blackwood’s strong debut came just six days after backup Scott Wedgewood blanked the New Jersey Devils. Colorado went from a team that couldn’t get a save to one with two stable goalies who have helped completely change the way the team looks in low-scoring games.
“He was outstanding, Just complete control of the game with him,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “Held onto every first shot they got. Dangerous or not dangerous, he held onto it and slowed the game down for us.”
Ross Colton, Nathan MacKinnon, and Artturi Lehkonen scored for the Avs before MacKinnon and Lehkonen both added late empty netters to seal the win. All of Colorado’s goals came after the midway point of the game.
Colton’s tally came at the end of a strong shift from the new-look second line with Casey Mittelstadt and Valeri Nichushkin. The trio has built solid chemistry since Colton returned from injury and it paid dividends again.
Mittelstadt received a pass from Devon Toews and, from behind the Nashville goal, successfully fended off defenseman Adam Wilsby before finding a seam through both defensemen to Colton in front of the goal. His 10th of the season put the Avs ahead 1-0.
“You’re fighting off a guy on a cycle for quite some time,” Bednar said. “The ability to then make that pass, like with the split second when he escapes the guy, to be able to lay it in there.”
Colorado continued to find its legs and create opportunities. Despite getting outshot in each of the first two periods, the Avalanche looked better with the puck in the second compared to the first. MacKinnon eventually got a pass from Mikko Rantanen, who took it away from Nashville on the forecheck and fired a slick wrister over the shoulder of goalie Juuse Saros and into the back of the net. The puck hit the inner bar and came out so quickly that the crowd had somewhat of a delayed reaction celebrating the goal.
Lehkonen also placed the puck perfectly above the shoulder of Saros’ glove hand on his tally in the third.
Nashville’s goals from Steven Stamkos and Luke Evangelista came in the final 6:57. Blackwood stopped 37 shots before the Preds got anything past him.
Good: Mackenzie Blackwood
He’s 6’4, 225 pounds. And he plays like it.
One of my favorite things about watching Darcy Kuemper in his one season in Denver was seeing just how big he looked in goal. Honestly, credit to goalies like Pavel Francouz and Alexandar Georgiev for having solid seasons with a smaller stature.
Blackwood plays the way a big goalie should play. He basically ate up the puck every time he faced a shot. His positioning was great, he had a calm demeanor, and he made it look easy. The Predators couldn’t get deflected pucks past him and breakaways weren’t beating him, either. When Blackwood goes down in the butterfly, you still don’t have much space to shoot at.
Just a strong, all-around great game for the Avs’ new starting goalie. It’s refreshing. You could tell he wants this new opportunity to work as much, if not more than the team does.
“He’s a big man but it’s not just his size,” Bednar said. “He’s got great ability and moves really well in the net. And tonight, he managed the game perfectly.”
Bad: What’s going on in Nashville?
I remember the hype when the Predators signed Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei. I thought it was overblown and I didn’t think they were going to be among the top Stanley Cup contenders. For starters, the team didn’t add Skjei. He replaced a departing Ryan McDonagh. I don’t think we talked enough about that over the offseason. Nashville also has one good center in Ryan O’Reilly and he’s not playing all that well this year.
Despite all of that, I am still blown away by just how bad this team looks. They seemingly have zero chemistry. Stamkos was invisible aside from his goal, as was Filip Forsberg. Nothing is working. They have eight wins in 31 games — one in their last 10.
