Nazem Kadri is back, and not just from suspension

Nazem Kadri, like the rest of Avalanche, seems like he’s starting to get his groove back. He is playing the best hockey I’ve seen him play all season. He leads the team with 14 points and takes a six-game point streak into Vancouver tonight.

Early on in the season, the team played two stints against the St. Louis Blues. No need to rehash the past but it was obvious the Blues were still salty about last year’s playoffs. He seemed to be the target of every hit and scrum after the whistle. When Jordan Binnington tried to smack him with a stick, somehow Kadri got a penalty as well!

That has only fed the meme factory on Twitter, how it’s always his fault for everything and he needs to be suspended again.

The team had back-to-back losses against the Columbus Blue Jackets and then a four-day break before playing the Vancouver Canucks. Something happened in those fours days, not exactly sure what, but he’s playing much more confident and back to his old self. I think that is what this team needed. They needed the energy, hard checking and scoring from Kadri, not to mention his prowess in the faceoff dot.

Coach Jared Bednar was singing his praises Saturday at morning skate before the Avs took on the San Jose Sharks, saying, “That (against Vancouver) was one the best 200-foot games I’ve seen Naz play in a long time. He checked hard, he was physical and really responsible with the puck.”

Nazem Kadri didn’t let coach down. He followed those comments up with a three-point performance and looked just like his old self. When Kadri is on and playing well, the team seems to really feed off of it.

With Nathan Mackinnon still out, Kadri and secondary scoring is going to be critical. The last two home games were fun with 13 total goals scored. Let’s see what he and Kadri can do on this road trip starting tonight!