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‘Tis the season for home-and-home matchups.
Colorado Avalanche fans will be immediately reminded of Thursday’s calamitous results as they take on the Edmonton Oilers, and perhaps—if they’re lucky—not give up five goals in the third period to blow what should be a comfortable lead. I know, that could be asking for a lot.
Why? Well, somewhat miraculously, they were able to hold NHL points leader, Connor McDavid, in check all evening, right up until the end when he recording an empty-net assist. With the Oilers now playing at home and getting “last change,” this isn’t likely to happen again. The last-place Avalanche will likely have to play even better to attain a two-goal lead into the third period; and unless they were able to sneak the team witch doctor past Canadian customs, it’s hard to give them much of a chance.
After giving up 17 goals in their last four third periods, the only question remaining is how many can they give up tonight? Three? Four? Maybe a dozen? Tune in to Altitude, or however to subject yourself to this madness, tonight at 8:00 PM MST!
Lineup
Sven Andrighetto--Nathan MacKinnon—Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog—Matt Duchene—Matt Nieto
Mikhail Grigorenko—J.T. Compher—Rene Bourque
John Mitchell—Carl Soderberg—Blake Comeau
Mark Barberio—Erik Johnson
Fedor Tyutin—Tyson Barrie
Francois Beauchemin—Anton Lindholm
Calvin Pickard
Jeremy Smith
Tidbits
Tyson Jost and the North Dakota Fighting Hawks fell to the Boston University Terriers yesterday 4-3 in second overtime. (They would have won if not for an offside review during the first OT.) This could mean something for the Avalanche; it also might not. Jost, due to his unusual amateur career path, will be immediately available to play professional hockey, should he choose to sign an entry-level contract with the Avalanche.
Will he? The possibility is there. He always intended to play just “one or two years,” and has already proven himself to be a superb talent. Colorado could dangle a decent bonus and some NHL playing time down this meaningless stretch to entice him away from his college program.
His teammate, Canucks’ draft pick Brock Boeser, has already signed his ELC since Friday’s defeat and will make his debut against the Wild today at 12:00 PM MST. Pretty quick turnaround!
Jost could soon be in a similar position himself.