Avs Forward Rewarded with First Goal in 19 Games

It had been 19 games since Casey Mittelstadt scored his last goal until Tuesday night. He deflected a shot from defenseman Josh Manson past Winnipeg Jets’ goaltender Eric Comrie, which ended up being the game-winning goal at 12:38 in the third period.

“It’s been a while, like you said, so it was good obviously. I feel like that’s how you usually get your first one after a while. So it was a heck of a play by ‘Mans’ (Manson) and I’m just happy that it was at a good moment for the team and a big win for us,” Mittelstadt said after the 5-2 win over the Jets.

The 26-year-old was demoted to the fourth line with the return of Jonathan Drouin on New Year’s Eve. Since his last goal against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 18, he was held scoreless for the next eight games. He only tallied five points in December until the last night of 2024.

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Valeri Nichushkin suffered a lower-body injury in the latter part of the second period which shifted Mittelstadt back up to center the second line, where he scored.

“It’s been well documented, obviously it hasn’t been a great stretch. But just keep your head down, keep working hard. I think hard work pays off, and that’s the result in the end. So felt good, for sure,” he said.

Head coach Jared Bednar said he has had regular conversations and meetings with Mittelstadt and it was up to him to do the work and ultimately get out of his slump. That goal was an encouraging breakthrough for both the player and coach.

“You could tell, little extra giddy-up in his step today right away. Just hanging onto the puck, counter-flowing, skating, trying to make plays. And then he was much quicker on the defensive side of it too. That’s the best game he’s played in a while,” Bednar said. “And he goes to the net hard, good spot. He was impactful from the get-go. And then he finally gets rewarded, which is great to see. You can see, sort of the tension released from him and then he got even quicker after that.”

The Eden Prairie, Minnesota native has been hard on himself through this dry stretch. Bednar and his coaching staff have tried to help with guidance and support, but Mittelstadt had to get out of his own head to break the drought. He had to shift his physical and mental approach to his game.

“I’ve probably been mixing it up more than usual over the last few games. You try to find something that gets you in the right spot. And it’s been a while since I’ve had a stretch like that,” he said. “I mean nothing in particular. The hard work, and getting yourself ready — you’re trying different things and trying to find a spark, but get yourself ready to play. And you know, we’re pretty lucky to play this game.”

His goal hopefully lit the spark he needed and he can keep the fire burning. Where Mittelstadt will play against his former team, the Buffalo Sabres, on Thursday night depends on Nichushkin’s status. But as a highly-skilled player, he can produce no matter where he plays.