Digging Through the Numbers From the Avalanche’s Perfect Homestand

Before the Avalanche lost in a shootout on Tuesday on the tail end of a back-to-back, they accomplished something that had never before been done in franchise history. They swept through a homestand of at least six or more games.

In a matter of two weeks, Colorado defeated the New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Chicago Blackhawks.

Some would say it was a season-defining stretch of hockey.

In my eyes, it was a turnaround the Avalanche badly needed. It helped shape what has now become a Stanley Cup-contending team. The trade deadline elevated their chances, but as Cale Makar said following the last regulation loss in St. Louis, the players on the ice need to give the front office a reason to invest in their season.

They did their part.

The front office countered with unequivocally the most aggressive approach of all 32 teams.

On Feb. 24, I wrote a column questioning if the Avalanche’s season was worth saving. That was two days before the homestand began.

By the time the six games were wrapping up, I credited the Avs for suddenly having incredible center depth and possibly the best second line in the league. That’s how much has changed.

After digging into the homestand as a whole, I felt some of what I found was worth sharing.

I hope you like numbers as much as I do.

1. Every single game was won in regulation. It’s an impressive feat but also very important. The first tiebreaker in the standings is regulation wins. Following the homestand, the Avs are up to 34 regulation wins, which is five more than Minnesota. The Wild are three points behind Colorado with a game in hand. Unless the Avalanche completely collapse, it’s near impossible for Minnesota to make up those five regulation wins with just 16 games remaining. Meaning, the Wild need to pass the Avs completely to knock them out of the top three seeds in the Central.

This also might come into play if Colorado catches Dallas. It’s still within reach, albeit it’ll require a little bit of scoreboard watching, too. It’s not worth digging into entirely, at least not yet. But there’s a scenario where Colorado beats Calgary on Friday and watches Winnipeg defeat the Stars the same night. If so, an Avs regulation win over Dallas on Sunday could make things interesting.

2. The Avalanche improved to 22-10-2 at Ball Arena. It’s an exceptional record, given the 0-3 and 2-5 start at home in October. Only five teams have more wins at home than the Avs do this season. And since they started 2-5, nobody is better on home ice than Colorado, which has a 20-5-2 record in that stretch.

3. My colleague Colleen Flynn wrote on Feb. 24 that the Avs need production outside of their top line. And for good reason. At that time, Colorado was 9-9-2 in its last 20 games and was relying heavily on four forwards: Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin, Artturi Lehkonen, and one of Mikko Rantanen or Martin Necas. Their other top forward, Valeri Nichushkin, missed all 20 of those games due to an injury.

During that run, the four aforementioned top forwards combined for 69 points.

Every other forward that played in those 20 games combined for just 29 points. We’re talking eight regulars who were in and out of the lineup as well as seven other AHL call-ups, who appeared in 21 games combined. It was that bad.

4. The wealth of scoring was spread around the forward group during the homestand. Nathan MacKinnon had an insane 15 points in six games. Colorado scored 31 goals, so he was basically in on nearly half of them.

The Avs also got at least a point per game from Ross Colton, Nichushkin, Lehkonen, and Necas. And Drouin wasn’t far behind, producing five points in six games. Other than Colton, these are all parts of the top six.

Colton putting up six points in as many games is perhaps the best story of the bunch.

But the depth did an admirable job, too. Joel Kiviranta had four points in six games. Casey Mittelstadt had two goals in four games before being traded away. Jack Drury and Parker each had two points, too, while Logan O’Connor, Miles Wood, Charlie Coyle, and Brock Nelson each registered one. The latter two only dressed for two of those games.

The only forward without a point was Jimmy Vesey, who appeared in two games.

Depth. Depth. Depth.

5. They had 31 goals for and 10 goals against. That +21 goal differential was the best in the league by a long shot. Second place Florida was a +12.

It’s also the first time the Avs have had a +21 goal differential in a six-game stretch since November 2021. We all know what ended up happening by the end of that season.

6. They outshot the opposition 180-151 in six games, which equates to 30 shots for per game and 25 against. They held teams to 20 shots in three out of the six games.

7. As I previously mentioned, MacKinnon had 15 points. It was six goals and nine assists. He also had a league-high eight even-strength points, seven power-play points, and two game-winning goals.

Makar was third in points with 11 in six games.

8. Both goalies were in on the action. Mackenzie Blackwood went 4-0-0, giving up 10 goals. Since the Avs only surrendered 98 shots in those games, his save percentage was .898.

Wedgewood, on the other hand, made two starts and allowed just one goal. He faced 53 shots and stopped 52 of them.

9. We know the Avalanche used this winning streak to pass the Minnesota Wild and get to third in the Central Division. But what about Dallas and Winnipeg?

The Jets led the Avs by 17 points and had a game in hand when the homestand began. Colorado narrowed that gap down to 12. The Stars, however, went 5-1-0. That means the Avalanche only made up two points on Dallas.

That’s how great this division is.

10. Speaking of the Avs’ division, 10 teams have won at least 37 games so far this season. Four of them are in the Central.