Martin Necas Talks Struggling Avalanche Power Play (+)

Martin Necas is making his return to Carolina as a member of the Avalanche. Almost a year ago, the Hurricanes traded Necas, along with Jack Drury and two draft picks, to the Avs for Mikko Rantanen.

Necas has since signed an eight-year, $11.5 million AAV contract extension with the Avalanche that kicks in next year. He’s having himself quite the season, posting 19 goals and 51 points in just 39 games. He’s also a whopping +40, as the Avs have dominated at five-on-five, and Necas, along with Nathan MacKinnon, has played a considerable role in that.

The Avalanche are 30-2-7 and are riding a nine-game winning streak. They’re dominating the league in so many ways. They have the most goals for, the fewest goals against, the most wins, the fewest losses, and have two goalies with one regulation loss each.

One part of Colorado’s game that hasn’t been all that great this year is the power play. The Avs are 29th in the league on the man-advantage, ahead of only the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, and Calgary Flames.

Necas has just nine power-play points in almost half a regular season. The Avs, under new assistant coach Dave Hakstol, haven’t found a way to make it work consistently. Hakstol was hired to run the power play last summer, replacing the fired Ray Bennett following a seven-game series loss to the Dallas Stars last year.

I caught up with Necas about the team’s power play, and more, before the Avs took off for Carolina.

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READ MORE: Avalanche Game 40 at Carolina Hurricanes: Necas Returns to Raleigh, Lines, Notes & How To Watch