10 Observations: Blackwood Wowed by the Team Defense Against Winnipeg

DENVER — The Avalanche were victorious for the fifth straight game, defeating the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 on New Year’s Eve.

Colorado got goals from Artturi Lehkonen, Devon Toews, Casey Mittelstadt and empty-netters from Mikko Rantanen and Ross Colton.

Solid start to the four-game homestand. Let’s get into how they made it happen.

10 Observations

1. Nichushkin took an elbow to the head from Logan Stanley after dumping the puck into the zone just as he crossed the blue line. It was a harmless, low-event play but one that had Nichushkin jawing at the officials on his way to the bench because no penalty was called.

I thought this was where he suffered an injury. But just as the third period began, we were informed by Avalanche PR that it’s a lower-body injury. Bednar confirmed this postgame as well. I assume we’ll get some kind of an update following Wednesday’s practice.

2.  Casey Mittelstadt’s fourth-line experiment didn’t go all that well. But boy was he a factor when Nichushkin was hurt and he was called upon to return to the second line. Mittelstadt had the game-winning goal, scoring for the first time in 19 games.

Jere Innala, to me at least, isn’t much of a threat. And Juuso Parssinen is still getting the hang of things in Colorado in his first game. Regardless of who plays on the fourth line on Thursday, it’s going to continue to be a work in progress.

3. Lehkonen takes a beating battling in front of the crease pretty much every night. But today felt next level. He was rewarded with a redirect goal just as he was outmuscled by Stanley and was back in the slot fighting guys bigger than him all night. Job well done.

4. Props to Josh Manson for getting that puck on goal for Lehkonen to redirect. He did the same on the eventual game-winner from Mittelstadt. Love that confidence from big No. 42.

5. Great seeing Toews finally get a goal, albeit he was sure to let me know postgame that his focus is on winning hockey games. “I don’t care about scoring goals,” he said.

It’s just his second of the season and first since Nov. 11. It’s well-documented by now that Toews has been playing with some sort of ailment pretty much all season but I think he’s finally getting the hang of it. He’s been excellent all around in recent games. Just needs to get his offensive production back to where it should be. This goal will hopefully be a step in the right direction.

6. The fact that the Avs keep playing Keaton Middleton makes me believe they’re going all-in on a trade for another rugged defenseman before the trade deadline. They have a need for it and they know it. Middleton has done an admiral job in limited minutes.

7. While Blackwood was taking off his skates, he was shouting to the team out of pure elation for the way they played in the third period. “I only saw three shots. You guys were unreal!” He said. He followed it up with a lot more, but that was all I could remember because it was all off the record.

Happy go-lucky per usual for Colorado’s new netminder. I asked him postgame about playing behind Cale Makar and Toews and he said, “you saw the third period, right? It’s like that most of the time.”

8. Jonathan Drouin looked a bit rusty out there to start the game but I’m confident it’ll only take him a game or two to figure things out again. This is his second time coming back after missing 16 games this year. Not easy. He still finished with two assists and got better as the game progessed. Nice to have No. 27 back in the lineup.

9. Blackwood was great in the first period. The Avs had the better opportunities and possessed the puck more. But the Jets, on the second night of a back-to-back, still tested him early and often in the opening 20 minutes. I feel like I’m still picking up on things he does each game. But one thing that’s been noticeable since he got here: He’s excellent at tracking pucks and staying with the play.

10. Juuso Parssinen in his debut: Two hits and one blocked shot in 7:46. Like I said, it’s a work in progress.