Following a dominant performance in Saturday's 7-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres, the Stars revisited that tweet with some updated information.
John Klingberg has 3 assists today, is +4, has a 10 point lead in NHL defenseman scoring, and is 3rd in assists for all skaters. #GoStarshttps://t.co/4cAVFbYUJI
Coming off an historically awful 2016-17, the Avs have reeled off nine wins in a row, currently sit in a Western Conference wild-card playoff spot, and are withing striking distance of third place in the ultra-competitive Central Division.
Following that ninth consecutive victory Saturday over the New York Rangers, defenseman Erik Johnson spoke about the commitment made by the team's core players to avoid a repeat performance of last year.
"The way things went last year, I think the easy thing to say would have been: 'It's not working here, let's go somewhere else, let's jump ship,'" Johnson said Saturday, per Rick Sadowski of NHL.com. "The character guys and core guys in this room said we want to figure things out here in Colorado, make it work."
Earlier this season, Colorado shook up the roster by coming through on a trade request filed last year by Matt Duchene, one made because he was tired of losing.
"I wanted to play playoff hockey," Duchene explained at the time of the trade, per Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. "I’ve got eight playoff games to my name right now and that’s not where I want to be at this point of my career."
Heading into Saturday's game against Toronto, Duchene's Ottawa Senators sat second to last in the Eastern Conference, all but out of the playoff picture.
Morgan Rielly will be held out after suffering an upper-body injury during the second period of Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, according to TSN's Mark Masters. Rielly finished the game against the Flyers, but as head coach Mike Babcock alluded to postgame, he was used sparingly.
Rielly is in the midst of a career year. He's tallied 31 points in 47 games, just two points shy of Auston Matthews, who leads the Maple Leafs in scoring.
With another win on Saturday afternoon, the Colorado Avalanche extended their winning streak to nine games, the longest managed by any team this season.
The Avalanche topped the New York Rangers 3-1 and in doing so also tied their second-longest winning run in franchise history.
Leading the way on Saturday, once again, was Nathan MacKinnon, who extended his goalscoring streak - netting the eventual game-winner - to five games and his current point streak to nine matchups.
During the team's run, MacKinnon has tallied 19 points and now sits just two points behind Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov for the league lead.
As for the Avalanche, they currently hold down the final wild-card spot in the West but are just four points back of the St. Louis Blues, who occupy the third spot in the Central Division with three games in hand.
With the New York Islanders bitten by the injury bug, a promising young forward remains in the minors with something left to prove in the eyes of the organization.
That would be Joshua Ho-Sang, who sits in Bridgeport despite some holes in the NHL lineup, the biggest of which was created by an injury to Josh Bailey.
But Ho-Sang was recently a healthy scratch in the AHL, and Islanders' head coach Doug Weight believes it would be sending the wrong message to immediately promote the highly-skilled forward to the team's top line.
"It’s a crying shame (Ho-Sang's) not playing with John Tavares when Bails goes down," Weight said, per Arthur Staple of Newsday. “We had six guys out. It was a perfect opportunity. And Josh should be upset with himself.
"Whether our view of the world is wrong is something we can argue later. But the fact is, we need to be able to look at how some guys are laying it on the line (in Bridgeport) and he’s a healthy scratch. So, to go from that to the first lineup here, where is he learning from that? That’s a big, big part of this."
Ho-Sang has appeared in 19 games for Bridgeport this season, scoring four goals and nine assists. In four games since being benched, he's recorded one assist.
That's because 22-year-old netminder Ken Appleby was lights out after being thrust into action in relief of starter Keith Kinkaid. Appleby stopped all 24 shots he faced after entering the game midway through the first period when Kinkaid was injured and did not return.
Appleby was recalled on an emergency basis from the Devils' AHL affiliate in Binghamton on Friday due to a sickness to starter Cory Schneider.
In 14 games for the Binghamton Devils this season, Appleby has registered a 5-8-1 record, a 3.21 goals-against average, and an .888 save percentage.
The two hottest teams in the NHL will look to extend impressive runs Saturday.
Few expected the Colorado Avalanche to be this good after last season's atrocious finish, but they've been one of the best stories in the league so far and have squeezed into the second Western Conference wild-card spot with eight straight victories.
The Calgary Flames have been on a torrid stretch of their own, too, with seven straight wins propelling them to third in the Pacific Division.
Here's a quick look at how both teams have done it:
Avalanche
Date
Opponent
Score
12/29/17
TOR
4-3(OT)
12/31/17
NYI
6-1
1/2/18
WPG
3-2(OT)
1/4/18
CBJ
2-0
1/6/18
MIN
7-2
1/13/18
@DAL
4-1
1/15/18
ANA
3-1
1/18/18
SJ
5-3
Flames
Date
Opponent
Score
12/31/17
CHI
4-3(OT)
1/4/18
LA
4-3
1/6/18
ANA
3-2
1/9/18
@MIN
3-2(OT)
1/11/18
@TB
5-1
1/12/18
@FLA
4-2
1/14/18
@CAR
4-1
The Avalanche run has been longer, but Colorado has had to play only once on the road during its eight-game streak, while four of the Flames' seven wins have been accomplished away from home.
Here's how the two clubs stack up statistically over this stretch:
Category
COL
CGY
Goals/G
4.25
3.86
Goals Allowed/G
1.62
2.00
Goal Differential
+2.63
+1.86
Power Play
32.1% (9-for-28)
25% (5-for-20)
Penalty Kill
93.1% (27-for-29)
91.6 (22-for-24)
Both teams have been great at limiting opposing power-play goals and have had plenty of success with their own man advantages.
The Avalanche have the edge in everything here, but not by much. Both teams deserve credit for their play on special teams and overall.
Jonathan Bernier's stellar play in goal has been a major reason for Colorado's sub-two GAA during their streak, and Nathan MacKinnon has amassed seven goals and 10 assists over the eight-game span.
Johnny Gaudreau has 13 points for the Flames during the seven-game stretch, and Sean Monahan scored four goals in six games before missing Calgary's most recent victory with the flu.
The Avalanche will try to extend their streak to nine Saturday in a matinee against the New York Rangers, while the Flames host the Winnipeg Jets in another afternoon affair.
Not Patrik Laine. Not Tyler Seguin. Not even Vladimir Tarasenko. None of those All-Star-caliber players were first in the Western Conference to hit the 25-goal mark this season.
That honor goes to the criminally underrated Vegas Golden Knights pivot William Karlsson, as the relatively unknown 25-year-old has quietly grown into one of the NHL's hottest goal-scorers.
Karlsson is currently on a steal of a deal at one year for only $1 million, becoming a restricted free agent on July 1.
Given general manager George McPhee's propensity to hand out extensions recently and Karlsson's tendency to tickle twine, now is the perfect time to project what the talented forward could make come summer.
The numbers
One thing should be made clear off the jump: Karlsson's body of work isn't exactly expansive in terms of point production. But, that doesn't change the fact that he has lit the lamp more than any other Western Conference forward this season. That, on its own, should see his $1-million price tag increase exponentially.
Take a look at his numbers through 45 games this season:
Goals
Assists
Points
GWG
CF%
S%
25
14
39
5
55.2
26
Of course, Karlsson's gaudy shooting percentage is bound to come down at some point. But the smooth-skating Swede still owns impressive possession numbers and plays a responsible two-way game with poise in all three zones.
The 2011 second-round draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks didn't exactly enter the show and take the league by storm, as Karlsson only managed 18 goals and two assists over 183 regular-season games for the Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets. But he's elevated his play this season to a level that has begun to turn heads.
Karlsson isn't going to become a top-10 paid player off of only one exceptional season, but he has already done more than enough to secure himself a pretty payday once the season ends.
And it's only January.
The comparables
Given Karlsson's relative lack of track record, determining his exact annual-average value and term is a bit tricky. But given his age, solid season (on pace for 46 goals), and ability to play responsible hockey at both ends of the ice, don't be surprised if his contract falls into the four-to-five year range at roughly $5 million per season.
Here are some long-term deals signed since the start of September that can be used as measuring sticks:
Player (Team)
Age
Length
Value
AAV
Jonathan Marchessault (Knights)
27
6 years
$30M
$5M
Bryan Little (Jets)
30
6 years
$31.75M
$5.2M
Kyle Turris (Predators)
28
6 years
$36M
$6M
Alexander Wennberg (Blue Jackets)
22
6 years
$29.4M
$4.9M
Karlsson falls in the middle of the above players' age range, but their annual-average values and term could line up very closely with what he should receive.
Naturally, the aforementioned four players have more distinguished NHL credentials. But considering Karlsson's individual success along with that of the team as a group, expect McPhee to ink his underappreciated sniper to a significant contract, sooner than later.
Future in Vegas
The last thing to consider when it comes to projecting how long and how much Vegas is willing to offer Karlsson, is how well he fits into the Golden Knights' future plans.
As of now, Karlsson is meshing with his linemates like spaghetti and meatballs, as Vegas' top line of Marchessault, Karlsson, and James Neal has arguably been one the best in the business of late. Those three players account for just over 40 percent of the Knights' goal output, and has been one of the club's most lethal offensive combinations.
With a goal from James Neal, the @GoldenKnights now have two 20-goal men as he joins teammate William Karlsson on this list of rapid pace expansion team scorers pic.twitter.com/xsjIt6f1Z7
Entering Saturday, the Knights sit fourth in league scoring with 150 total goals while also holding down second overall in the league standings - just one-point shy of the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning.
A lot of that has to do with the chemistry of Gerard Gallant's top-six group.
McPhee has already shown his commitment to winning with the long-term signing of Marchessault. With that and his stellar season in mind, Karlsson's big payday could be just around the corner.
