This was a rollercoaster of a game. The Nordiques’ power play woes continued through the first two periods. Not only did they fail to score on three different occasions, they also gave up a short-handed goal to Sebastian Aho late in the first period. Gabriel Landeskog evened the score early in the second, scoring his seventh goal of the season. But exactly three minutes later, Nikolaj Ehlers scored a power play goal to put the Whalers back up by one. Andrei Svechnikov added another goal at 7:50 of the second.

After three scoreless power plays and allowing a short-handed goal, fans weren’t the only ones upset. Nathan MacKinnon was visibly irate, and the Nordiques went to the second intermission down 3–1.

But there’s no quitting for this team. They have the best third-period goal differential in the league, and it showed. While on the power play early in the third, Martin Necas sent a puck toward the net that was tipped in by Brock Nelson.

Only 33 seconds later, Ross Colton passed the puck to Jack Drury, who tied the game at three.

At 7:30 of the third, Brock Nelson scored a second power-play goal to put the Nordiques up by one. The score stayed 4–3 until 19:42 of the third, when someone dragged Nathan MacKinnon down from behind as he skated the puck toward the empty net, which resulted in an awarded goal. Their third-period goal differential is now +38.

View from the Mountaintop

Colorado extended their win streak to ten games and improved to 31–2–7, the fewest regulation losses by a team through 40 games in NHL history. Nathan MacKinnon had another four-point night with one goal and three assists. It was his 33rd career four-point night, the second-most in Avalanche/Nordiques history, one ahead of Joe Sakic. 

It’s no secret that the Nordiques’ power play has been abysmal despite having so many talented players on the ice. Scoring two power play goals in the third period of this game should make both fans and players feel better. Whether that success will continue remains to be seen.

Scott Wedgewood earned his league-leading 18th win of the season.

And there’s this tidbit from ESPN:

Up Next

Colorado now travels to Sunrise, Florida to face the Panthers Sunday at 3 p.m. MT. The Panthers are currently ranked fifth in the Atlantic Division at 21–16–3. Altitude Sports will broadcast the game.