Morning Flurries: A close win, mask malfunction, and rookie evaluations

The Colorado Avalanche joined an exclusive club on Wednesday night, when they scored twice in overtime.

OT goals don’t often get called back, but the Avalanche were given a nice taste of league karma when they had their first OT tally disallowed for being off-side.

Of course, they came back to win the game regardless, scoring again in short order for two goals by Nathan MacKinnon in the extra minutes, and it’s a victory for the Avs as they hosted the Winnipeg Jets. [Mile High Hockey]

In terms of karma, this remains an interesting play:

The league made it clear this year that they won’t be automatically blowing plays dead anymore for lost equipment, and that includes goaltenders. [The Comeback]

That being said, should the league re-think this strategy when it comes to goaltender safety? It helped the Avalanche in this case, but it’s an interesting theory to consider.

Moving beyond the game, the league has implied that the salary cap could take a huge leap this year. Is that good news for the Avalanche? [MHH]

Looking at the now, here’s an in-depth evaluation of the team’s rookies through the quarter mark on the season. [MHH]

Moving to the northwest, the Edmonton Oilers are just four wins out of last place in the NHL - and now, starting goaltender Cam Talbot could be hurt. But is there a sense of overreaction from fans, in a season there should be more time for growing pains? [The Athletic]

Finally, some interesting ownership news from the East Coast... it appears that there’s a new buyer in the mix for the Carolina Hurricanes, who had a tentative contract drawn up for a sale as early as this past spring. Here’s the rundown on what’s going on there, and what it means for Carolina. [Canes Country]