Deen’s Daily: EJ Nears 1,000 Games; Girard Is the OT Hero; Penguins Embarassed at Home

Eventually, we won’t have to talk about the Avalanche missing nearly half of their forward group. But one of the positive outcomes of having to dig deep into the depth is giving the young kids a chance. Do the Avalanche finally have a promising prospect pool? I covered that in my weekly Monday Notebook.

Game Recap: Girard scored in OT to lift the Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. Colorado seems to have turned things around over the past four games. What’s changed?

Sam Malinski: Colorado’s third-pair blueliner scored his first goal of the season on Sunday. Colleen Flynn caught up with Malinski following Monday’s morning skate to chat about his season to date.

Nathan MacKinnon: Colorado’s top center earned NHL weekly honors, recording nine points in three games to be named the second star of the week. MacKinnon’s nine points came in two games because the third was a 1-0 shutout loss to the Winnipeg Jets, who were led by the first star of the week, goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

Kaapo Kahkonen: The Avs placed goalie Kaapo Kahkonen on waivers on Monday. He was on the roster for precisely one month but only ended up playing a single game — a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Whether or not the team gave him a fair shake is debatable, but the visa issues he had, which kept him out of Denver for more than a week after being claimed, didn’t help his case. He likely missed an extra start or two because of it.

Around The NHL

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: I’m not sure there’s anything positive that can be taken from the Penguins’ loss on Monday. The Dallas Stars came to their building, scored six goals in the first period, and left with a 7-1 triumph. It was a lifeless game for the Pens, who continue to struggle in 2024-25. Catch the game story here.

Philly Hockey Now: After sitting for two games as a healthy scratch, Matvei Michkov was back in the Flyers lineup on Monday. Philly blew their early 3-0 lead but came back to win in the shootout.

Something to keep an eye on: Erik Johnson is at 998 career regular-season games. The Flyers play the Avs in three games from now. If EJ is healthy scratched for either of the next two, he’ll be on track to reach 1,000 games against the Avalanche next Monday.

Chicago Hockey Now: Andreas Athanasiou is on waivers. The 30-year-old is on the second year of a contract paying him $4.25 million annually. He’s desperately in need of a change.