Deen’s Daily: Mittelstadt Breaks His Slump; Nichushkin Injured; Habs Stay Hot in Vegas

Jonathan Drouin had two assists in his return, Casey Mittelstadt finally scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood again only let in two goals in a massive win for the Avalanche against Winnipeg. Nothing can ruin that, right? Except for an unfortunate injury to a top player. Also, the Montreal Canadiens will be in town Saturday to take on the Avs. They’re coming off a crazy three-game winning streak, all on the road, against top teams.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — January 1

Happy New Year!

Colorado Hockey Now

Casey Mittelstadt needed to step back into the top six because of a late second period injury to Valeri Nichushkin. He ended up scoring the game-winning goal to lift Colorado past the league-leading Winnipeg Jets.

Mittelstadt started the game on the new-look fourth line.

Around the NHL:

Winter Classic: It’s probably time to stop scheduling Chicago in marquee events like the Winter Classic. The Blackhawks were completely outclassed in the match at Wrigley Field by a team in St. Louis that isn’t even among the NHL’s best. The game loses a lot of its luster when the teams partaking aren’t top teams. The Blues won 6-2 thanks to two goals from Cam Fowler, who dressed in his 1,000th career game.

Montreal Hockey Now: How about those Montreal Canadiens? The Habs erased a two-goal deficit in Vegas to defeat the red-hot Golden Knights 3-2. Montreal has won six of its last seven, which includes a three-game winning streak in four nights against Vegas, Florida, and Tampa Bay. Every single one of those games was played on the road.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Pens struggled on the penalty kill in Detroit and ended up on the losing side.

Detroit Hockey Now: For Detroit, it’s a second consecutive win under new head coach Todd McLellan.

Boston Hockey Now: The Bruins successfully kept Alex Ovechkin from scoring a goal. But they were unsuccessful in defeating the Washington Capitals.

Florida Hockey Now: As you would probably guess, there probably aren’t any teams that enjoyed 2024 as much as the Florida Panthers.