Flynn’s Daily: Avs Drop 2 in a Row; Ovechkin Scores Hat Trick; Devils Blank Preds

The Colorado Avalanche return home from back-to-back losses looking to regroup for their longest homestand of the season. The team is off Monday but will return to practice on Tuesday.

Alexander Ovechkin edged closer to taking the historical reigns of most career goals and the New Jersey Devils shut out the Nashville Predators.

More on the Avs woes and what else is going on around the league in this Feb. 24 edition of Flynn’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

Colorado fell to the Predators and St. Louis Blues in a back-to-back on the road coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break. Despite having four participants who did not rest in the 10 days off, the Avs struggled to find the back of the net.

Consistency continues to be an issue and that was apparent in the 3-1 loss to the Blues. Depth is another problem as the top line has been the major source of production for the Avs. How will that change with Valeri Nichushkin’s return is yet to be seen. But his absence has certainly been apparent.

The Avs’ defensemen made the scoresheet with goals in both games. Sam Malinski scored the only goal in the 2-1 loss to the Predators and Cale Makar made history with an assist on the lone goal from Devon Toews in the Avs 3-1 loss to the Blues.

Read what went wrong in the Gateway to the West: Good & Bad: Avs Lack Punch in Loss to Blues

Around the NHL

The Gr8 Chase: The 39-year-old Russian netted three goals in the Washington Capitals’ 7-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers to put him within 13 of breaking The Great One’s record.

The breakdown of his goals vs Wayne Gretzky’s: Ovechkin scores goals 880, 881, 882, now 13 from breaking NHL record

New Jersey Hockey Now: Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom is still out from injury but their 24-year-old third-stringer Nico Daws got the job done with a 5-0 shutout against the Predators.

Who scored for the Devils and how they earned the win: Devils Find Scoring Touch; Daws Records Shutout in Win vs. Nashville

Detroit Hockey Now: The Red Wings pulled through in overtime to beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 but they may have suffered a setback in the process.

Wings forward Michael Rasmussen took a blow to the head from Ducks forward Trevor Zegras in the second period Sunday night. He left the game and no update was available after the OT win.

“(Rasmussen) seems to be in fairly good spirits at least when I wandered by him,” Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “He’s not happy about it but he’s in fairly good spirits, happy for the team.”

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins could not solve New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin despite his embarrassing 8-2 loss the night before.

Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Shea contributed two points but Sidney Crosby was held to an assist with five shots on goal.

What the Pens lacked in loss to Rangers: Shesterkin, Rangers Manage to Fend Off Penguins