Takeaways from Avs win over Sharks; Division title still possible

SAN JOSE, CALIF. – 75 and sunny here in Silicon Valley, wish you were here. Only one more game here for the Avs before the road show heads further south in California, and the Avs no doubt are going to miss having the Sharks on the schedule.

The Avs have now won three straight over the Sharks following Monday’s exciting 5-4 overtime win, and are 6-1-0 against them on the season. For me, the story in the game was Nazem Kadri breaking his long scoring drought, and it was a huge goal. I thought the Avs were in some real trouble toward the end of the third period, even though they had been playing well in the period. But I thought this might be one of those nights where they just kind of ran out of time, but Kadri had other ideas.

That was a great shot for the equalizer. How did that feel for Naz?

“Oh man, felt good. Felt good for sure. Guys on the team just kept encouraging me to shoot it. Finally, one went in. It definitely wasn’t our best game, but it was a character win. Sometimes, it seems like the puck is following you, and sometimes it seems like the puck is never around you.” Kadri said. “Four straight games against the same team, to win them all, is very tough. Guys in this league have a lot of pride.”

The other big takeaway from the game had to do with the standings. Minnesota’s comeback regulation win over Vegas means the Avs are now two points back of the Golden Knights for the division title, with a game in hand. It’s looking like that May 10 game in Vegas could be huge. Then again, the Avs have to keep winning just to keep the Wild from passing them for second.

Another takeaway: Andre Burakovsky has been really good of late, and that overtime winner was a snipe.

“I found a lot of room in the middle. I don’t know if they were changing, but I had a lot of ice,” Burakovsky said.

OTHER THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS

• Mikko Rantanen scored his 29th goal of the season, which ranks third in the NHL. He extended his point streak to three games (3g/4a) and has multiple points in each of the last five games he has appeared in, collecting 11 points (6g/5a) in that span.
• Jared Bednar after the game: “I loved our response in the third period. We missed the net a lot on our opportunities. It’s huge for our team to get that (tying) goal, and for Naz personally. I think he’s been working hard on his checking game and doing the right things, but he hasn’t had any puck luck. A lot of positives to his game. Hopefully, he can carry that over to the next game.”
• Nathan MacKinnon now has at least a point in 17 straight road games.
• Devan Dubnyk tested positive for Covid-19. He’ll miss two weeks. He’ll stay at the place he still had in San Jose and when he’s done serving his quarantine, he’ll either drive back or get a car service ride back to Denver. That’s gonna be a long drive. Why drive? Because taking a commercial flight – or even a private, chartered flight – exposes you to further Covid league regulations that would delay his return even longer.
• Avs will hold an optional practice here on Tuesday afternoon.
• We’ll see if Alex Newhook makes his NHL debut Wednesday night.
• I haven’t much liked Patrik Nemeth’s play since coming over from Detroit. Too many bad puck decisions, too slow making them at times too.
• The Avs are already -260 favorites to win outright tomorrow against the Sharks, at SuperBook Colorado. First bet match up to $300 too, Check ’em out here.