Dater column: Avs Game 5 was pure 2020

EDMONTON, ALBERTA – I remember it well, and if you’ve been a serious Avs for more than two years now, you should remember it well too. The news in Nashville was: Andrew Hammond, who had only played one game in nearly two seasons, would be the starting goalie for Game 5 in at Bridgestone Arena, a series in which the Predators led three games to one.

Well, that does that, I thought, as did everyone else. With Semyon Varlamov and Jonathan Bernier both unfit to play that game, the Avs turned their eyes to Hammond and you just hoped the Avs would be able to keep it close and not be embarrassed.

Then, Hammond went out and had a 44-save masterpiece of a game, with Sven Andrighetto getting the game-winning goal late in a 2-1 win. This was what led to the famous “Guts all over the place!” radio call from Marc Moser.