Deen’s Daily: Avalanche Sweep Stanley Cup Champs; Habs Want in on Playoffs; Markstrom Leads NJ Again

The Avalanche and Panthers played an entertaining goalie battle on Monday. Who came out on top? Also, the New Jersey Devils got a strong night from their goalie. And the Penguins need scoring help.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — January 7.

Colorado Hockey Now

What a fun game it was at Ball Arena. Colorado closed out its four-game homestand with yet another win, defeating the Panthers 3-1. It was a battle between goalies that saw Mackenzie Blackwood get the upper hand on his idol, Sergei Bobrovsky. Devon Toews led the way with two goals.

Defensively, the Avs have been excellent in recent games. Offensively, they needed to get things going again vs Florida. They did, but the Panthers goalie held strong.

Catch my weekly Notebook, covering several topics — the most pressing this week being Gabriel Landeskog’s latest status update. Is the captain actually nearing a return?

Around the NHL

Florida Hockey Now: Catch the Panthers angle of Monday night’s battle here, courtesy of George Richards.

Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings are on a four-game winning streak. Could the Ottawa Senators end their run?

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils won, and it was largely thanks to Jacob Markstrom.

Montreal Hockey Now: The Habs were victorious for the eighth time in their last 10 games. They’ve been on fire lately, and rookie defenseman Lane Hutson continues to impress. Suddenly, Montreal is in a wildcard position at the halfway mark.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Pittsburgh needs scoring depth. Whatever happened to the big trade for Rutger McGroarty this past summer? Is he the answer?