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RECAP: Avalanche take down Kings 5-1, secure Presidents’ Trophy

  
RECAP: Avalanche take down Kings 5-1, secure Presidents' Trophy
Photo courtesy of NBC Sports

The Avalanche came into Thursday night’s game with the intention of securing the No. 1 spot and the Presidents Trophy. Fortunately, Colorado was able to pull out all the stops against the Los Angeles Kings for the last time in the regular 2020-21 season and accomplish both of these goals. It is the third time that the Avalanche have secured the Presidents Trophy, the last time being in 2001, the same year they won the Stanley Cup. The Avs became the fifth franchise in NHL history that has been awarded the Presidents Trophy 3 or more times. 

The Avalanche made history on Thursday night with two other major accomplishments. The first one being, their 12th division title in franchise history, and the second one being their 10th division title since their move to Denver.

First Period

Thursday’s game started off with many shots on goal, 13 to be exact, from the Avalanche and 4 from the Kings. Nine different players from Colorado had their chance to score, but none made it past LA’s goaltender, Troy Grosenick. The Avalanche looked good throughout the period and had solid passes, but was not able to execute. With 45 seconds left to go in the first period, LA scored, making it a 1-nothing game.

Second Period

The second period is where things got exciting. In the first half, the Avs passing became a little sloppy. Before it could get too bad, Tyson Jost scored his first goal of the night at 9:46 after receiving a perfect pass from Mikko Rantanen, setting the stage for the rest of the night. A new goal became clear, maintaining the momentum. Just minutes later at 11:38, Jost scored his second goal, with the help of defenseman Conor Timmins and forward Mikko Rantanen, forcing a 2-1 lead.

Immense pressure was being applied to the Kings as Mikko Rantanen stepped up his game. With Nathan MacKinnon out of the lineup, Rantanen showed up in his place. With 5 minutes and 34 seconds left in the second period, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was able to sneak a wrist shot past Grosenick. At 16:50, Joonas Donskoi scored his 17th goal of the season, giving the Avalanche a 4-1 lead. 

With three minutes left to go, the ice started heating up when King’s forward Brendan Lemieux hit Samuel Girard and Ryan Graves dropped his gloves immediately after. Graves then served a 2 minute penalty for instigating, a 10 minute penalty for misconduct, and another 5 minutes for fighting. 

Andre Burakovsky scored the last goal of the night at 18:58, giving the Avalanche a four goal lead. Devon Toews and Cale Makar had the assist, which allowed the guarantee that Makar will finish the 2020-21 season off averaging a point per game. Makar is the only defenseman in the league to do so.

Third Period

Defenseman Ryan Graves remained in the penalty box for the first 11 minutes of the third period. Other than a couple penalties, the period remained scoreless. However, Colorado was able to achieve everything necessary to ensure that they were the team that came out on top with the Presidents Trophy. 

A couple players that stood out included Conor Timmins, who was determined and played a confident offense. As well as Tyson Jost, who scored early in the game with the first two goals. Second star, Andre Burakovsky, who had a goal and an assist and extended his 8 game scoring streak. Finally, Mikko Rantanen who had two assists on the night and leads the Avalanche with 66 points this season.

What’s next?

The playoffs are going to heat up and in order to get where the Avs want to be, according to coach Jared Bednar, is having the advantage of playing on home ice. “To have our guys accomplish that, shows a lot of character,” Bednar mentions. The Colorado Avalanche play the St. Louis Blues on Monday the 17th, at home at 8 p.m.

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