Colorado is currently being covered in snow in one of the state’s more intense winter storms in years. But at Ball Arena on Sunday, the Avalanche finally found a way to score in bunches as they poured it on the Los Angeles Kings in the midst of a blizzard.
The Avs scored the first three goals on their way to a 4-1 victory over the Kings in a game that likely would have been rescheduled if fans were allowed to attend.
Colorado’s middle-six forwards provided the offensive spark, helping the team extend its winning streak to three games while holding the opposition to under 30 shots for a club-record 16th straight game.
“The last couple games we’ve been really solid in our D-zone,” said second-line winger Andre Burakovsky, who was credited with the game-winning goal. “We haven’t been giving up a lot of shots. It feels good.”
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer faced just 28 shots but was spectacular in goal for the Avalanche. He made 27 saves, two of which were on the breakaway against Andreas Athanasiou.
Burakovsky gave the Avalanche a 2-0 after tapping the puck into the net in the crease off a backhand pass from center Nazem Kadri. The goal came 23 minutes after Kadri opened the scoring on a marvelous play where he toe-dragged a defender and potted home his seventh of the season.
Third-liner Joonas Donskoi also scored for Colorado and superstar Nathan MacKinnon added an empty-netter for the second consecutive game.
“I knew that defender was going to be poaching a little bit,” Kadri said of his goal. “I just tried to stay patient, drag it around him, and put it in the corner.”
Colorado was outshooting L.A. 34-17 after 40 minutes and held a 3-0 lead. The Avs finished the game with 41 shots, and currently have a plus-237 shot differential — best in the NHL by a wide margin (Montreal Canadiens, plus-108 are second).
“We had been playing some good hockey but it was inconsistent,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “The commitment to defend has been there all year but we’re getting better at it. We’re keeping shots, for the most part, to the perimeter.”
Colorado took five minor penalties and killed off a full 10 minutes on the penalty kill while allowing just six shots in the process.
