Flynn’s Daily: What Made Road Trip Successful for Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche are riding a momentum high after an impressive five-game road trip with eight points from four wins and just one loss. The team competed hard on the road and closed out the trip with a dominating win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

The Avs secured a commanding 6-2 victory over the Pens, showcasing their offensive dominance and solid defensive play. The top line was instrumental with standout performances from Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, who combined for 10 points.

“Whenever you can finish off a road trip like this, a long, hard one against good teams, and go four and one — pretty impressive from our guys,” head coach Jared Bednar said after the win. “And more importantly for me, it’s the way we’re playing now. The habits and kind of putting some things together here, and the guys are trying to build on it on a nightly basis. So hopefully we can keep that moving forward.”

Good & Bad: Mikko Rantanen Nets 3rd Hat Trick of Season in Avs Win over Pens

The Avalanche’s ability to transition quickly from defense to offense and play solid on both sides of the puck contributed to their achievements. Key shot-blocking with targeted stick work limited the Penguins’ quality scoring chances. They played a similar game in the shutout win against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night and in Detroit on Saturday night in the win over the Red Wings.

“The Jersey one for me, it was all 20 guys start to finish. Highly committed, lots of communication on the ice, the defending side of it was just outstanding,” Bednar said. “And now I want to see a version of that every night … I know we’re going to have our ups and downs, but I thought the guys did a nice job coming out and trying to repeat that performance on the defending side of it and starting to look more like the way we want it to look.”

Stable goaltending was a major factor in Colorado’s triumphs on the road. The first stop was shaky with Alexandar Georgiev’s start in Buffalo. But the team got to see what Scott Wedgewood could do and he did it well after Georgiev was pulled in the 5-4 comeback win.

Wedgewood got the loss in Carolina as the Hurricanes’ depth and defensive structure proved to be too much for Colorado. Georgiev earned the win in Motown — the last game he played before being traded to the San Jose Sharks for Mackenzie Blackwood. Wedgewood was outstanding in the last two games of the trip.

Read more about the goalie trade with the Sharks and how it impacts the team.

Around the NHL

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: To no surprise, the Penguins locker room was quite sour after the 6-2 loss to the Avalanche. Some players emphasized the Avs’s skill and relentlessness on the puck, while goaltender Tristan Jarry had a different response to the defeat.

Check out the full story: Penguins Locker Room: Letang Hits at Soft ‘Demeanor’; Jarry Pokes Team

Florida Hockey Now: The defending Stanley Cup Champions faced a tough opponent in Seattle with both teams only finding the back of the net once in regulation. The Kraken got outstanding goaltending from Joey Daccord but ultimately, Sergei Bobrovsky was the savior in a shootout. Aleksander Barkov scored both goals for the Cats.

Shootout in Seattle: Panthers Beat Kraken in Defensive Battle

Boston Hockey Now: The Bruins got hammered 8-1 by the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Center which led to a reality check for the team.

Full breakdown: Bruins Postgame Takeaways: Reality Check In Ugly Loss To Winnipeg