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Morning Flurries: Cale Makar scores his first NHL goal

and the Penguins traded Erik Gudbranson

By HardevLad
Anaheim Ducks v Colorado Avalanche Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images

The Avs

The Colorado Avalanche carried a strong start and an even better performance from their goalie to a 6-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. [Mile High Hockey]

The second period was probably the most dominant period the Avs have had all season. At times it looked like they were on a power play when in fact the teams were at even strength. They controlled the puck for extended periods and just seemed to keep their rotations going time after time. It was as one sided a period as you will find this year.

In the game, Cale Makar scored his first career NHL goal! Nazem Kadri and Matt Calvert each had two goals and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored against his old team.

Don’t tell anyone, but the Avs lead the Western Conference and the League in win%.

From the game, here is NHL dot com’s recap. It includes quotes and information on line combinations used with Mikko Rantanen out. [NHL dot com]

The Avalanche has now scored five or more goals in a game for the fifth time this season, the first time since 1992-93 that Colorado has five or more games with five-plus goals through its first 10 contests of a campaign. The 1992-93 club had six games with five-plus goals through its first 10 outings.

From the prospects, rookie Matthew Stienburg did a Q and A with the Cornell site, talking about himself and his teammates. [Cornell Big Red]

The League

Around the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins have traded Erik Gudbranson for minor leaguer Andreas Martinsen and a seventh round pick. Gudbranson was traded to Pittsburgh for Tanner Pearson in February of this year and makes $4 million for this season and next.

Here is the trade from the Penguins perspective courtesy of Pensburgh:

However that strong play in 2018-19 didn’t carryover into this season and Gudbranson’s limited ability shone through on most nights. Due to the emergence of rookie John Marino, Gudbranson was often a healthy scratch in recent games, until an injury to Brian Dumoulin opened up a spot in the lineup.

And the look from the Ducks perspective via Anaheim Calling:

Gudbranson, a former third overall pick by the Florida Panthers in the 2010 Entry Draft currently has no points through seven games this season. He tallied 10 points (2G, 8A) through 76 games between the Vancouver Canucks and the Penguins last season while putting up, shall we say, not good shot metrics.

Vitali Kravtsov was a top pick for the New York Rangers in 2018, ninth overall. He spent last season in the KHL, racking up 21 points in 50 games for Traktor Chelyabinsk. This season, Kravtsov tried to make to switch to North America with the Hartford Wolf Pack, but it hasn’t worked out, so he is heading back home for another year.