Good & Bad: Avalanche Depth Takes Charge in Crucial Win Over Minnesota

DENVER — The second period hasn’t always been friendly to the Avalanche this season. But in a crucial game against the Minnesota Wild, the Avs dominated nearly the entire middle frame to come away with two big points in regulation.

Colorado scored three times in the second to defeat Minnesota 5-2 on Friday. It’s the fourth straight win at Ball Arena for Jared Bednar’s club and second straight overall.

Mackenzie Blackwood has started every one and given up just three goals. He made 18 saves to earn his 16th win since joining the Avs.

“We’re getting led from the top. Nate and Cale have been unbelievable,” center Jack Drury said. “They’ve been leading us, and I think everyone else has been contributing nicely, too. It’s been great, but we can’t let our foot off the gas. We gotta come ready next week and get right back after it.”

What’s made these past two games specifically great for the Avs has been the outburst of production from the depth forwards. For nearly two months, they had four forwards in the lineup each night that were consistently producing points.

But since the return of Valeri Nichushkin, that’s changed. Nichushkin had their first goal, capitalizing on the power play from the slot off a nice saucer pass feed from Nathan MacKinnon. Martin Necas had the secondary assist.

But during the second-period onslaught, the Avs got goals from Jonathan Drouin, Drury, and Ross Colton. Oliver Kylington also had two assists, while Joel Kiviranta, Cale Makar, and Colton each added one.

Colton eventually added a late empty-netter.

The points were coming from everywhere.

“We’re getting more guys back, a little bit more balanced minutes going through our lineup,” Bednar said. “We’re healthy, we got six penalty killers that we’re using. They’re doing a nice job because they’re fresh. So the depth is helping us.”

Minnesota played on Thursday in Utah and got walloped 6-1. In the second of a back-to-back, John Hynes’ club scored first and eventually got a 2-1 lead before the Avs took over in the second.

Marat Khusnutdinov was called for hooking late in the first. The power play carried over in the second. The Avs didn’t score, but they carried the momentum coming out of that opportunity.

First, Drouin scored at 8:57 off a beautiful feed from Kylington. Just 51 seconds later, Drury tapped his sixth of the season home to give Colorado its first lead.

And before the period was over, Colton ended a 17-game goalless drought, scoring for the first time since the Avs were in Minnesota on Jan. 9.

About a minute after the goal, Colton, Drury, and Kiviranta controlled play for well over a minute in the Wild end. They started what was a solid three minutes of an Avalanche clinic. With the long change for the defensive team in the second, Colorado was able to cycle guys off the ice and keep control of the play for several minutes.

Gustavsson made five saves during that sequence.

“It started with a really good change by Kelly for me,” Drury said. “If you get a change and the other team’s tired, it makes it pretty easy on you. So the credit goes to Kells on that one.”

Good: Kylington Was Dishing

It was nice to see Kylington have that type of offensive game, albeit Bednar admitted postgame that he’s a high-event player. Which isn’t always a great thing.

The 27-year-old was elevated to the top four in the last game, playing alongside Samuel Girard. He has looked better than any other option Bednar has had at his disposal since the Josh Manson injury. That says a lot about the defense depth in general.

Kylington struggled early, missing an assignment on the opening goal for Minnesota. But he eventually found his stride at both ends of the ice. Offensively, his feed to Drouin was the highlight of his night. The pass to Colton was the cherry on top.

It’s no question the Avs need help on the blueline and are likely making this their priority ahead of the trade deadline. But for at least one night, Kylington had a pretty good showing.

Bad: Gustavsson Can’t Handle the Avs

Has anyone actually looked up Filip Gustavsson’s stats against the Avalanche? The Wild netminder has been consistently an above-average starter in the NHL. But against Colorado, he struggles.

It’s bad.

This is Filip Gustavsson's record against the Avalanche before tonight. He's about to drop to 1-7-1. pic.twitter.com/9fcMD4JYV5

— Aarif Deen (@runwriteAarif) March 1, 2025