The Colorado Avalanche played four games in the first week of February, but only managed to win one of them and earn just two out of eight available points. After making a miraculous comeback and beating the Dallas Stars in a shootout, the Avalanche were shutout in two straight game by the Detroit Red Wings and the Minnesota Wild before wrapping up their road trip with a 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
It was a disappointing showing in a pivotal week for the Avalanche. For that reason, it simply was not realistic to write the three stars of the week through its usually positive lens. Instead, here are the Avs’ studs and duds from the week ending on Feb. 8:
Studs
Tyson Barrie, Defense
Despite playing in only two of the four games, Tyson Barrie led the team with two goals on the week. His value was magnified by the fact that the Avalanche were shutout in back-to-back games in the middle of the week while the 23-year-old defenseman sat out with a hip flexor injury. Upon his return, it took Barrie just 10 minutes to get on the scoreboard and break the Avs’ 136-minute goalless drought. Before going down with the injury, Barrie had also scored the Avs last goal before the drought – a game-tying goal to complete a comeback and force overtime against the Stars, allowing the Avalanche to earn their only two points of the week. Barrie’s 31 points lead all Avalanche defenseman while his 25 assists lead the entire team.
Semyon Varlamov, Goalie
Excluding one ugly period, Semyon Varlamov was clearly Colorado’s best player while registering a .923 save percentage with a 2.31 goals-against average for the week. The Russian netminder deserved more than one win for his effort, but he lost back-to-back games in which he allowed only one goal, as his team was shutout in both contests. Varlamov had one uncharacteristically bad period over the course of the week – allowing four goals in the second stanza to the Jets, but he was making his career-high 10th consecutive start and 18th start in the last 19 games in the second night of a back-to-back set. If you erase that period, the 26-year-old goaltender would have closed out the week with an outstanding .954 save percentage and a 1.25 goals-against average. Varlamov has been nothing short of spectacular since returning from the injured reserve with a groin injury on Dec. 21, but the Avalanche need to provide him with more support if they don’t want to let his talent and effort go to waste.
Duds
Nate Guenin, Defense
The injury to Eric Johnson opened the door for additional responsibility and opportunities for Nate Guenin. Unfortunately, the 32-year-old defenseman didn’t step up in his expanded role – with the additional ice time exposing flaws instead. Guenin was on the ice for seven of the nine (77.8 percent) non-empty net goals the Avalanche allowed on the week. He was on the ice for both of the Stars goals, the game-winner and only non-empty net goal against the Red Wings, and four of the five goals that the Jets scored. Two of the goals-against with Guenin on the ice came while on the penalty kill, but that doesn’t let the defenseman off the hook. On Justin Abdelkader’s game-winning power play goal in Detroit, Guenin was stationed at the side of the Varlamov’s net, slowly backing toward to the corner instead of making a play on the puck, while Abdelkader stood all alone on top of the crease and banged home his own rebound. Guenin’s expanded role has proved to reveal deficiencies in his game, making Johnson’s injury a double-whammy for the Avs.
Nathan MacKinnon, Forward
Although he skates on a top-6 line and played nearly 20 minutes per game, Nathan MacKinnon failed to register a single point in any of the four contests on the week. His frustration boiled over as he dropped the gloves for the first time in his short NHL career in the first minute of the matchup with the Red Wings, but that isn’t what the Avalanche need from what is supposed to a blossoming young offensive superstar. Instead, Colorado needs to get offensive production from last year’s number one overall draft pick and Calder Trophy winner if they are going to be a successful team, but he isn’t providing that offense with any kind of consistency. The 19-year-old did lead the team with 15 shots for the week, but he wasn’t able to convert on his opportunities. MacKinnon registered 19 goals in his first 54 NHL games last season, but he has just nine goals and 29 points through 54 games in his sophomore campaign.
Nathan is a staff writer for Mile High Sports. He can be reached on Twitter at @TheRealNatron.
