Good & Bad: Nichushkin’s Hat Trick Lifts Dangerous New-Look Avalanche Over Toronto

DENVER — On a night where the goaltending was uncharacteristically shaking, the new additions sparked the Avalanche’s offense, and a Valeri Nichushkin hat-trick catapulted them to victory.

Colorado trailed the Toronto Maple Leafs by two goals on Saturday but climbed back to win 7-4 at Ball Arena. Ryan Lindgren, Brock Nelson, and Charlie Coyle each had a primary assist, recording their respective first points since being acquired.

Jonathan Drouin, Nathan MacKinnon, and Joel Kiviranta had the goals before the Avs added two empty-netters to seal the win. The offense was coming from everywhere. The depth was doing its part.

But it was still arguably the team’s best winger, Nichushkin, who excelled most.

It proved again that the top of the Avs lineup has never been an issue. They just sometimes need help. That was what the front office identified as a need at the trade deadline.

Especially in the center position.

“We’re built different,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “We are big, strong, and long in the middle of the ice. We’re still a fast team, but we added some size, and that’s hard to play against.”

The Leafs led 4-2 after scoring a power-play goal midway through the second period. It came after Colorado was unsuccessful on two opportunities, largely because Anthony Stolarz was playing well in goal.

Then, the new-look third line got the comeback going.

Sam Malinski made a good read to find Ross Colton, which opened up a break for the Avs. Colton fed it to Kiviranta, and the Finnish winger was able to deflect it past Stolarz to make it 4-3.

It took almost a full period before the next goal. From behind the goal, Coyle, who centered the third line, kept his eye on the slot and fed it to Drouin for a goal.

“I just want to go out and try to do what I can to help this team win,” Coyle said.

They kept their foot on the gas and drew a penalty. On the ensuing power play, Nathan MacKinnon stepped up.

Even when the top line is having a tough night offensively at five-on-five, they still used a red-hot power play to put them ahead.

“The power plays on a heater for sure,” MacKinnon said.

Nichushkin eventually added an empty-netter to complete his first career regular-season hat trick before MacKinnon added another to become the first player this season to 100 points.

Good: Nichushkin and Nelson Chemistry

We know very well that Bednar likes to shuffle his top six pretty often. That’s why MacKinon has chemistry with Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen, Drouin, and Nichushkin — any two of them on the top line at any given time would make sense.

Nelson will eventually have that same chemistry. After one game, the early returns on him and Nichushkin are looking good. It’s not just that Nichushkin scored twice pretty early in the game with Nelson on the ice. It’s the way they both connected on several plays throughout the night. There were some misplays here and there, but it was no different than Necas’ first game with MacKinnon. You could still see something special.

Nichushkin’s second tally was set up by Nelson and the two embraced with a giant hug that felt like a new friendship was forming.

“He’s just such a big body, good skill, good range, and moves extremely well. I just try to support him,” Nelson said of his linemate. “He can kind of create offense for himself, which we saw both times tonight. So I just try to get him the puck and support him.”

Bad: Shaky Defense, Shakier Goaltending

This wasn’t as bad in hindsight because things settled in after a rough start to the game. Which in itself is a good thing.

The Avs started the game with a lot of flash, but any time the Leafs countered with a rush attack, they’d catch Colorado flat on its heels. And if it wasn’t that, it was a misplay by Drouin in the defensive zone that directly led to another goal.

These things happen in every game. They’re just more apparent when the goalie struggles. It was an tough start to the night for Blackwood but he managed to hold the fort down after the fourth Leafs goal while Colorado did its thing at the other end.

The Avs outshot the Leafs 34-21. Blackwood made 17 saves.