So far in 2017, the Avalanche sit at 51 points, just two points behind Minnesota for the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Avalanche win streak has now hit seven games, and it is a big reason as to why they are almost in playoff position.
Just three weeks ago Colorado was scraping the bottom of the conference with only 37 points, but a surge in play now has experts asking, What has gotten into the Colorado Avalanche?
There is no question that Nathan Mackinnon is one of the hottest young stars in the NHL. At just 22 years of age Mackinnon has already made an appearance in 343 games. He has been highly efficient in those games with 260 points in his career.
On the current seven-game winning streak Mackinnon has looked like an elite talent. In the last seven games for the Avalanche, he has 14 points, but he is doing all this while having an excellent plus/minus rating of plus eight.
Mackinnon has been hovering around 17 to 20 minutes of time on ice per game, and he is making the most of it. He has looked like a top player this whole season, but if he keeps up the play like he has these last seven games this Colorado team could be making a postseason appearance this year.
The defense on this winning streak for Colorado has been playing out of its mind. On this winning spell, the Avalanche have allowed more than two goals just one time. Over this streak, they are giving up only 1.42 goals per game which is good for first in the NHL over that time frame.
A big part of the defensive surge is the play of goaltender Jonathan Bernier. Bernier has started in six of the seven games on this win streak; playing incredible in every single one.
In this six-game stretch for Bernier, he is giving up just 1.17 goals per game and has a save percentage of .962.
Bernier started the season as the backup, but even if he cools off a little bit, with numbers like these, you can expect him to remain the starter in Colorado for a majority of their games.
The Avalanche are also benefiting from a favorable schedule. During the Avalanche win streak, six of the games have come at home. Colorado also has not had to play back to back on the winning spell yet.
In what is a grind it out time for most teams here at the midway point of the season it is easy to see that the Avalanche are also thriving off of extra rest and less travel. Which are things that are often overlooked, but they always help.
Using the favorable scheduling to their full advantage the Avalanche are playing like an elite team. They come out with energy and pace and with the weapons they have it makes it very easy to create chances.
They have been playing with a playoff tempo and speed on a nightly basis and it is why the Colorado Avalanche win streak is at seven games right now. No team can match the energy they play with, again, a lot of this is due to the nice breaks and no travel they have been getting, but they are still executing at a very efficient level.
Coach Bednar deserves a lot of credit for taking full advantage of the opportunity. Now in the coming months the Avalanche are in a position to play meaningful hockey. This will help with the development of players that haven’t had that chance yet.
Time will tell whether this recent winning spell for the Avalanche is a fluke. It could be that the team is just playing well with extra rest and comfortability, but it also could be that they have found a legit number one goaltender and Mackinnon is hitting his full potential in stride. Nobody quite knows what has gotten into the Avalanche, but there are many good guesses.
The Avalanche’s next game two games are at home, but after that they will have their first test on a back to back when they take on Toronto and Montreal on the road. Surely this will be the test as to whether or not the Avalanche are a legit threat in the west.
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