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The Colorado Avalanche visited Salt Lake City on the first day after the Olympic Break
What an Olympics, am I right?! The 2026 Winter Games in Milan saw the NHL players participate for the first time in a dozen years, and regarding the Colorado Avalanche, eight of our players were in Milan representing five countries. Six of the eight left Milan with medals. Artturi Lehkonen and Joel Kiviranta received Bronze Medals representing Finland. Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Devon Toews received Silver Medals representing Canada, and Brock Nelson received a Gold Medal representing the United States.
Only Gabriel Landeskog (Sweden) and Martin Necas (Czechia) didn't medal, but they were part of the Avalanche's Olympic onslaught, which saw the eight players combine for 18 goals! A truly amazing event that saw so many NHL players represent their countries, but now the games are over, and the real games begin. The NHL returned to action to kick off the final 51 days of the regular season, the home stretch, the Stanley Cup Playoff push, and this day included the Avalanche playing the first of our remaining 27 games.
We were on the road for this outing, playing against the very team we will be facing in next year's Winter Classic: the Utah Mammoth. Scott Wedgewood was in net against Karel Vejmelka, but Nathan MacKinnon was not in action, needing an extra day to rest. Opeing frame was close between the two teams, and it was the Avs who struck first, with Brent Burns getting the goal. Or so he thought. Challenged for goalie interference, and it was overturned. Get this. Apparently, Brock Nelson's stick jabbing Vejmelka's glove is enough. Yet when Wedgewood was tackled in one game, that wasn't GI.
Goal was taken off the board, and the period ended with the teams scoreless. Utah actually had the first power play, which began with 1:06 left in the opening frame, but it was killed off in the 2nd period. We would get that goal back, BTW, and it was Parker Kelly putting it in, with the assists coming from Brent Burns and Josh Manson. Avs continued to press for a second goal, while the Mammoth pressed for their first. It would be the Avs who struck again, and it was Victor Olofsson, with the helpers coming from Sam Malinski and Parker Kelly. Utah was on the PP again, this time it came through, and it was Dylan Guenther who put the Mammoth on the board. The assists: Mikhail Sergachev and Clayton Keller, the latter also being on the Gold Medal team for the US.
Speaking of Gold Medalists, Brock Nelson made it 3-1 with his 30th goal of the season. It was a fully Olympic scoring line, as fellow 2026 Olympians Gabriel Landeskog and Martin Necas had the assists. Exactly 60 seconds later, Dylan Guenther scored again, making it 3-2. Later on, the Avalanche were on the power play. Oh boy. Yet a funny thing happened. The Avalanche scored. On the power play. In this economy. Necas with the goal, Cale Makar and Valeri Nichushkin assisted. 4-2 Avs after 40, and it was followed by a third period that saw nothing go into the net.
The Avalanche won, 4-2, over the Utah Mammoth for our 38th win of the season. The number I want to bring up, however, is 49. A day before our season resumed, the news broke that the Avalanche traded Samuel Girard to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Brett Kulak, so that's another 2022 Champion off to another team. This one was a bit emotional for me. It was on November 5, 2017 that we received Girard from the Nashville Predators as part of the famous Matt Duchene trade, the trade that turned the Avs into the juggernaut we are. I still remember Game 82, April 7, 2018, it was Girard who scored our first goal of that game, going on to win 5-2 over the Blues to get the last playoff spot remaining. Girard missed out on the latter half of our Cup run, but he still hoisted the Cup nonetheless.
Eight seasons. That's a long time. Girard delivered so many good memories for us. He'll do the same for Pittsburgh. And I expect Brett Kulak to do the same for the Avalanche; I've heard a lot of good things about him. As for the Avs, we will finish out the month of February with a pair of home division games. First, we'll host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, and then we'll host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
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About the Creator
Clyde E. Dawkins
I'm a big sports fan, especially hockey, and I've been a fan of villainesses since I was eight! My favorite shows are The Simpsons and Family Guy, etc.
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