After losing 7-3 against the Nashville Predators on Friday and it has been over a week since their last win, the Colorado Avalanche got back to their winning ways today in a matinee matchup against the Washington Capitals, in which they won 5-2.

First Period

Colorado would get on the board first quickly off a goal from Parker Kelly, who tipped home a wrist shot from Cale Makar, who worked his magic and was able to shed a Washington player at the blue line, and let the puck fly towards the net.

The Capitals would tie it up at 1-1 after that, as Jakob Chychrun was able to beat Scott Wedgewood clean with a wrist shot from the top of the zone on the power play.

Second Period

Nathan MacKinnon would score on the power play for Colorado next, to give Colorado the lead back, and make it 2-1 in their favor. MacKinnon just took the puck into the zone against three Washington players on this play, and managed to shoot it through the defender and beat Charlie Lindgren. It was a classic rush play that led to the goal.

Victor Olofsson then would give the Avs a comfortable 3-1 lead following the MacKinnon goal, as he was able to clean up the rebound from a Josh Manson wrist shot.

Ethan Frank would respond for the Capitals shortly after the Olofsson goal, making it 3-2 heading into the third period.

Third Period

Initially, during this period, it appeared that Cale Makar had extended Colorado’s lead to 4-2, but that goal was ultimately overturned for goaltender interference, and the score remained 3-2. After that, Colorado kept pushing and was rewarded with a fourth goal that actually counted, as MacKinnon was able to find Artturi Lehkonen on a 2-on-1 rush, and Lehkonen buried it.

For good measure, MacKinnon would score with 3:30 left to play in regulation, as he stole the puck from a Capitals player from behind their own net and put it past Lindgren for his second goal of the night, for your final score of 5-2 in favor of Colorado.

Takeaways

After the Nashville game, it’s really nice to see this team bounce back in the way that they did against Washington here today. Colorado did well to control this game for the most part, and this game never really felt in question. Even after the Makar goal was overturned for goaltender interference, which was, in my opinion, a ticky-tacky call at best, the Avs just seemed to say, “we’re not doing this”, and kept their foot on the gas, adding two more goals in the process for good measure before time expired in regulation. Even when they’re missing key players, when this team remembers to actually do the little things night in and night out, they’re incredibly scary, which is exactly what makes me incredibly excited to watch this team come playoff time.

Speaking of missing key players, the lineup is getting thinner and thinner with two recalls needed prior to this game. Ivan Ivan returned after a weekend in Loveland and Alex Barré-Boulet made his Avalanche debut in a last second call up because Val Nichushkin sustained minor injuries in a car accident. The latter even managed a secondary assist on the first goal despite playing less than four minutes in the game.

Upcoming

Colorado takes on the Anaheim Ducks next on Wednesday, January 21. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. MT.