Even without All Star defenseman Erik Johnson – who is out three to eight weeks after undergoing a knee scope – the Colorado Avalanche managed to secure three out of four available points in a back-to-back series against the league-leading Nashville Predators in the only two games the Avs played during the week ending on Feb. 1. The Predators took the first leg with an overtime victory in Nashville on Tuesday night, but had to squeeze in a game in St. Louis before visiting Colorado. The Avalanche took advantage of the fatigued Predators squad with a 3-0 win in Denver on Friday.
Every point is critical as the Avalanche make a push for the playoffs. Jarome Iginla, Nathan MacKinnon, and Semyon Varlamov are the Avalanche’s three stars of the week that was:
First Star ★ Jarome Iginla, Right Wing
With a team-leading two goals on the week, the suddenly scorching hot Jarome Iginla eclipsed the 1,200-point mark for his career. “It’s cool,” Iginla said. “I’ve been so fortunate, blessed, to play a long time with some great players and be on power plays, play in some great cities and stuff. It’s been fun.” The veteran of 18 NHL seasons released a cannon off a Matt Duchene drop pass from the top of the right faceoff circle to help the Avs force overtime in Nashville on Tuesday night. He followed that up by one-timing a Duchene backhand pass over the Predator’s Marek Mazanec to give the Avs a comfortable two-goal lead midway through the third period on Friday night. Iginla has scored in three straight games and has a point in six of the last eight contests. The 37-year-old winger leads the Avalanche in goals (16) and is second on the team in points (33) in 50 games.
Second Star ★ Nathan MacKinnon
MacKinnon tied for the team lead with two points while leading all Avalanche players with a plus-3 rating and five shots on goal in the two matchups with the Predators. The 19-year-old picked up a gritty assist on Maxime Talbot’s game-winning goal Friday night because he never gave up on a loose puck in front of the net. MacKinnon got two shots at the rebound, causing the puck to bounce to Talbot for an easy tap-in goal. The native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, has quietly accumulated nine goals and 29 points while playing in all 50 games in his sophomore season. He leads the team with 152 shots on goal on the campaign.
Third Star ★ Semyon Varlamov
Semyon Varlamov was not at his sharpest in Tuesday night’s overtime loss in Nashville, but the Russian netminder bounced back with a 23-save shutout of the Predators on Friday night. “We had two days between the games, and that helped a lot,” Varlamov said. “I had a meeting with my goalie coach [Francois Allaire] and we were talking about my game, and he reminded me of a couple of good things.” Combined, the 26-year-old goalie registered a 1.98 goals-against average with a .935 save percentage and no regulation losses in the two contests. Varlamov moved into a tie for fifth in the NHL with four shutouts on the season in just 30 starts. Since returning from his third stint on the injured reserve with a problematic groin injury on Dec. 23, Varlmaov has put together 8-3-2 record while starting almost every game.
Nathan is a staff writer for Mile High Sports. He can be reached on Twitter at @TheRealNatron.