DENVER —  Alexandar Geogiev returned to Ball Arena for his homecoming that on Thursday night and it did not go so well for him. In one of the best games for the Colorado Avalanche so far this season, defenseman Cale Makar and center Nathan MacKinnon led the way. The powerful Avalanche overwhelmed the last-place San Jose Sharks, who could not keep up. It was a fast and exciting matchup the night before the trade deadline!

First period

The Avalanche came out of the gate, firing on all cylinders right away. It did not take long for them to get on the board. Less than four minutes into the period, Martin Nečas would head to the box, but Joel Kiviranta put on heavy pressure. He took off after the puck that was poked away by Cale Makar and snapped a shorthanded goal past Alexandar Georgiev. Not even two minutes later, Ty Dellandrea gave Colorado their chance on the power play. Makar hammered a one-timer shot from Jonathan Drouin to put the Avalanche up 2–0. Fabian Zetterlund converted on the Sharks second chance on the power play. Colorado would answer back with a beautiful power play goal from Drouin to end the period at 3–1.

 

Second Period

Colorado picked up right where they left off to start the second period. Just 40 seconds into the frame, Nečas one-timed a shot from a face-off win by Nathan MacKinnon. Georgiev never stood a chance on the shot for the Colorado 4–1 lead. About 11 minutes into the second, the Avalanche were laying the pressure on thick. Macklin Celebrini had just come out of the penalty box, but Colorado stayed in the zone for over one minute. Makar wristed a shot from the high slot and MacKinnon picked up the garbage to make it 5–1. It was the first even strength goal of the night for the Avalanche. With only seconds left, Keaton Middleton had his first goal reversed when Ross Colton interfered with Georgiev. The score would remain 5–1.

Third Period

The third slowed down a little as the Sharks were trying to get out of the game with no more damage. That would not be the case, though. MacKinnon would add his 25th goal of the season just over five minutes into the third and his fifth point of the night. Celebrini continued his fantastic season by adding his 20th goal of the season, enough to tie him for the rookie scoring lead with Matvei Michkov. With 11 minutes left in the period, Makar added another goal and his sixth point of the night to put Colorado up 7–2. William Eklund fought back with just over two minutes to go in the game, but it was too little too late for Sharks as they would fall 7–3.

Observations from the Mountaintop

The Avalanche are finally playing with a healthy lineup. Josh Manson returned from injury after a month and had an immediate impact. He not only added size and grit to the blue line but also an assist as well. Makar’s two goals and four assists is the first time anyone has achieved that since Paul Coffey in 1986. MacKinnon now sits just three points shy of 1,000 career points.

The team as whole played in unison and it was the fastest I had seen them play all season. Colorado finished the night converting three out of four chances on the power play and added a shorthanded goal to start the night. The Avalanche now go into Saturday’s contest with some great momentum and should have little trouble.

Next Game

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews will come to town on Saturday for Hockey Night in Canada. Puck drop will be at 5 p.m. MT on Channel 9 and Altitude Sports.