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Tag: jack drury

  • Avalanche earn depth-charged 4-0 victory against Columbus, led by Trent Miner, Brent Burns

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    It was Next Generation day at Ball Arena, which involves kids taking over key roles during the in-game fan experience.

    It turned into a day where the Colorado Avalanche stars took a back seat to some of the “other guys” as well.

    Brent Burns scored twice, Trent Miner collected his first NHL victory and shutout with 29 saves and the bottom-six forwards were all over the scoresheet in a 4-0 win Saturday afternoon against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

    “We got contributions from a bunch of different guys tonight,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s how you win. If you want to win a lot, you’re going to win in different ways and different guys are going to be chipping in. That’s what our team has been doing a lot this year.”

    The Avs have now won the first two contests of this season-long seven-game homestand. Colorado is halfway through its home slate this season, and is 19-0-2 at Ball Arena. The Avs have also won 17 straight here, which is one one shy of the franchise record set during the 2021-22 campaign.

    Burns gave Colorado the lead at 13:58 of the opening period. Gavin Brindley took the puck off the wall after a nice pass from Valeri Nichushkin and to the net on a rush. During the ensuing scramble, the rebound of a sharp-angle Ross Colton shot kicked out to the inside edge of the right circle and Burns snapped one through all the traffic in front for his seventh goal of the season.

    His second goal of the game and eighth of the year came with Colorado’s fourth line on the ice. Brindley and Zakhar Bardakov collected assists as Burns’ perimeter shot went off the goaltender, off a Blue Jackets’ defenseman and trickled across the goal line.

    Burns is one of the great offensive defensemen on the 21st century, but his eight goals this year are already two more than his last season with the Carolina Hurricanes. He’s well-positioned to hit double digits for the 14th time in his career, and 15 for the ninth time isn’t out of the question.

    His two-goal game came two days after his defense partner, Josh Manson, scored twice.

    “I don’t think either shot was going at the net,” Burns said. “I wasn’t thinking about it. (Manson) even talked about it today, about how this game has a funny way of humbling you … we just talked about having a good game. It was lucky bounces, but it’s (also) forwards being in good spots.”

    Colorado’s recently formed third line produced the next two goals after Burns’ opener. Parker Kelly, up from the fourth line because of an injury to captain Gabe Landeskog, won a battle along the boards to the right of Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins. He got the puck to Jack Drury, who made a crafty little pass to Victor Olofsson for a backhanded shot and his eight goal of the season at 17:28 of the opening period.

    Olofsson, a shoot-first offensive player in his career, had gone 11 games without a goal, though Avs coach Jared Bednar has repeatedly praised his defense and all-around play in his first season with the club.

    Ilya Solovyov scored his first career NHL goal to give Colorado a 3-0 advantage midway through the second period. Olofsson led the offensive rush out of his own end, before leaving the puck for Kelly. His cross-ice pass found Solovyov, the trailing defenseman, and he buried a wrist shot from the left circle at 10:30 of the middle frame.

    It was the third straight game with a point for Solovyov. He had no goals and four assists in his first 25 career NHL games, but has a goal and two assists in his past three.

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    Corey Masisak

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  • Avalanche power play springs to life, leads to 5-3 comeback win against Carolina

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    RALEIGH, N.C. — If the Colorado Avalanche power play starts to get rolling, look out.

    Already the NHL’s dominant team at even strength and the No. 1-ranked penalty kill entering the day, Colorado’s power play led a dramatic third-period comeback Saturday night. The Avs scored twice in the final period with the man advantage, with a goal from ex-Carolina forward Jack Drury in between, leading to a 5-3 victory over the Hurricanes at Lenovo Center.

    It was the 10th straight win for the Avs, who are now 31-2-7 after 40 games. The Avs now have two separate 10-game winning streaks this season.

    “It was a great effort,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “It would have been easy to pack it in, but I thought our guys, as soon as the puck hit the ice in the third, they were determined.

    “It was great to see our power play capitalize. There was a little frustration early on because of the pressure they put on you. They found a way to stick with it and get better on that unit.”

    RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 03: Brock Nelson #11 of the Colorado Avalanche chases a puck during the third period of a hockey match against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on January 03, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)

    Newly-minted Olympian Brock Nelson scored twice. Nathan MacKinnon had an empty-net goal and four points, retaking the league lead from Connor McDavid with 74. Scott Wedgewood made 25 saves in his first start since Mackenzie Blackwood was put on injured reserve Friday.

    Carolina led 3-1 heading into the third period. That lead did not last long.

    Andrei Svechnikov took a tripping penalty 11 seconds into the third period, and the Avalanche power play started the comeback. Nelson tipped a wrist shot from MacKinnon past Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen at 1:09 of the third. It was Nelson’s 17th goal of the season.

    Drury then tied this contest at 3-3 just 33 seconds later. Ross Colton set him up for a shot from the left circle and his seventh goal of the year.

    “Huge goal,” Brent Burns, another former Carolina player returning for the first time since leaving, said. “He just does so many things right, so many hard things right. He’s such a great player, smart player. I try to sit next to him just to get some IQ into my head.”

    Nelson’s 18th of the season and second of the night with the man advantage put Colorado in front at 7:30. It was one of the prettiest goals of the Avs season. It was a tic-tac-toe passing play, with Cale Makar sending the puck to MacKinnon, whose cross-ice slap-pass set up Nelson for an easy one from the right circle.

    This is only the fourth time all season the Avs have scored multiple power-play goals in a game.

    “It’s nice,” Nelson said. “Another different way to win a game for us. It was nice to get a couple and be a big difference maker in a big comeback win on the road against a good team.”

    The power play that led to Nelson’s goal did not come without a cost. Devon Toews crashed into the end boards skates first and left the game. Nikolaj Ehlers was called for tripping on the play.

    Toews was down for an extended period, but did return to the game late in the period. After the game, Bednar said he believes Toews is OK.

    Carolina has been one of the most dangerous offensive teams while killing penalties for years, and the Hurricanes grabbed the lone goal of the first period while shorthanded. Sebastian Aho deflected a MacKinnon pass to Makar, and then got a piece of Makar as he tried to move the puck to Martin Necas.

    Eric Robinson intercepted that pass and sent it to Aho, who had already taken off behind Makar and went in alone for a breakaway goal at 18:09 of the first. That was Aho’s first shorthanded goal of the season, but it was the 37th shot attempt for Carolina with him on the ice on the PK, which is tops among all forwards in the NHL.

    It was also Aho’s 300th career goal. That’s also three shorthanded goals against in seven games.

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    Corey Masisak

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  • Like other Stanley Cup contenders, Golden Knights have had far worse injury luck than the Avalanche this season

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    LAS VEGAS — The Colorado Avalanche could look across the ice Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena and see … themselves, from the past couple of seasons.

    Colorado faces the Vegas Golden Knights in a matchup of two division leaders Saturday. It could be the preview of a looming Western Conference postseason showdown.

    What it won’t be is two sides going to battle with all of its top weaponry available. The Golden Knights are trying to survive right now, with franchise center Jack Eichel, No. 1 defenseman Shea Theodore and No. 1 goalie Adin Hill all out with injuries.

    Toss in Alex Pietrangelo, who is taking the entire year off because of injury a la Gabe Landeskog, and the parallels between the 2025-26 Golden Knights and the past three additions of the Avs, which all dealt with significant availability issues, are even more similar.

    Still, the Golden Knights have been able to grind out enough points to lead the Pacific Division. Vegas, Anaheim and Edmonton all reached the holiday break level on 44 points, but the Knights have played the fewest games.

    “Teams go through adversity at different times,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “These guys are through it a little bit right now. The parody in the league is as good as it’s ever been … I do think there are some teams that usually have a big role to play that are going to finish right where you kind of expect them to.”

    To Bednar’s point, several NHL clubs considered top Stanley Cup contenders in the preseason have scuffled through the first half of the campaign. Vegas and Edmonton both have had struggles, while Florida and Tampa Bay have dealt with significant injury concerns of their own in the East.

    Colorado and Dallas have been much healthier, and those two clubs have soared above the rest in the NHL standings. But as the league gears up for the second segment of this season as a lead up to the 2026 Olympic break, the Oilers and Panthers have surged back into a playoff position, while the Lightning and Golden Knights have continued to struggle.

    “I think leadership, coaching, culture but also just having really good players and depth is big,” Avs center Jack Drury said. “Those are all well-coached teams. I think that helps a lot.”

    Vegas has teetered a bit without Eichel, though. He’s missed the past four games, which includes losses to New Jersey, Calgary and Edmonton. Mitch Marner, the marquee offseason addition for any NHL team, has spent some time at center with both Eichel and William Karlsson out of the lineup.

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    Corey Masisak

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  • As Jared Bednar tries new line combos, Avalanche keeps winning

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    This edition of the Colorado Avalanche has been so consistently good that Jared Bednar, often a tinkerer when he’s looking for a spark, hasn’t needed to turn the line blender on very often.

    After starting 31 consecutive games with the same top line, the Avs’ top trio had a new look Saturday night in a 4-2 win against the Nashville Predators. Well, new to start a game, anyway.

    Bednar moved rookie Gavin Brindley to the top line in the middle of the previous game, a 6-2 thumping of the Florida Panthers. Brindley started a game there for the first time, bumping Martin Necas down to the third line.

    “Awesome,” Brindley said. “Playing with the best, if not one of the best players in the world. Pretty damn cool. I never thought that would come to fruition. Yeah, really cool.”

    NHL’s rash of overtime games needs a solution: Three-point games

    Bednar’s rationale was pretty simple: He liked how Brindley played with Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen the game before, and wanted to see it again. Part of the reason for the switch Thursday against the Panthers was Necas has been playing through an illness, and didn’t love how he was playing.

    It says something about how this season is going for the Avs that Necas still set up a goal and scored one, albeit one that was taken off the board because of an offsides challenge, against Florida.

    There are still 50 games left in this season, but the Avs have steamrolled their way to the top of the NHL standings. They have 53 points in 32 games, which is tied for the third-most in league history at this point.

    Bednar’s philosophy on building lines has a couple of core ideas. If he finds a line he really likes, he will stick with it for long stretches, and will likely to go back to at some point in the future. But, he also likes to tinker, and often says he wants every player to play with everyone over the course of a regular season.

    “It’s definitely a bonus,” MacKinnon said of the flexibility. “We might need different combos eventually. I think it’s good to switch things up sometimes. I thought all four lines played pretty good (Saturday night).”

    The past couple of Avalanche teams have given him good reason to shake up his lineup, either with slow starts to the season or in-season funks. The closet thing this group has had to an adverse stretch was a four-game losing streak that still involved collecting three points (0-1-3).

    So, after 30 overwhelmingly successful games, Bednar did a little tinkering. Brindley’s return to the lineup against Florida led to a few new looks. Ross Colton moved to the middle for the first time all season, centering the third line. Brindley slotted in next to him, playing with the third line for the first time.

    Jack Drury moved down to the fourth line, with Parker Kelly and Joel Kiviranta. A trio of Drury, Kelly and Logan O’Connor became of Bednar’s favorite lines last season, and they had an excellent playoff series against the Dallas Stars.

    Roster construction and O’Connor’s injuries has kept that line apart this year, but Bednar has said they will play together again at some point. And Kiviranta is a pretty similar player to O’Connor.

    Grading The Week: Avalanche need to avoid first-round dogfight vs. Dallas, Quinn Hughes in Stanley Cup Playoffs

    Drury took the demotion in stride against Florida, and then scored Colorado’s second goal against Nashville.

    “It’s easy. It’s part of being a pro,” Drury said before the Nashville game. “I’ve said this before, but there are so many good players (here), it doesn’t really matter who you are going out with. Any forward you go out with is going to be able to make plays and be smart. It’s easy.”

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    Corey Masisak

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  • Nathan MacKinnon has 2 goals and 2 assists in the Avalanche’s 9-1 romp over the Oilers

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    EDMONTON, Alberta — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists, Cale Makar, Parker Kelly and Jack Drury also scored twice and the Western Conference-leading Colorado Avalanche embarrassed the Edmonton Oilers 9-1 on Saturday night.

    Gavin Brindley also scored, Scott Wedgewood made 23 saves and Devon Toews had three assists. The Avalanche have earned at least a point in six straight games to improve to 9-1-5.

    Connor McDavid scored for Edmonton. The Oilers have dropped three straight to fall to 6-6-4.

    Stuart Skinner allowed four goals on 13 shots before being replaced by Calvin Pickard, who made 17 stops.

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    The Associated Press

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  • Avalanche Journal: Five thoughts on Colorado’s fast, drama-free start

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    Jared Bednar, an avid angler, likes to compare his hockey team over a long season to a boat.

    He sees it like this: The team builds its identity and what it wants to be over the first part of the season, and then there are aspects that just break during the grind of 82 games — kind of like a well-used fishing vessel. How quickly the club fixes the issues and regains its optimal performance is a big part of a successful campaign.

    The Colorado Avalanche left the dock with a major leak last season. Fixing the boat on the fly was an all-hands-on-deck situation, from the coaching staff to the front office.

    The start of the 2025-26 season has been a complete 180. The Avs were 4-0-1 heading into a Saturday night contest at Ball Arena with the Boston Bruins, and the one blemish might have been the best overall performance considering the foe.

    Colorado’s NHL team is relatively healthy, stable and off to a strong start. The Avs allowed eight goals in the season opener last year. They’ve allowed eight total in the first five contests.

    “Overall, a pretty good start, being able to win hockey games without really having played our best as a team,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said. “If you can figure out your game as a team while winning, and kind of go through some of those growing pains at the start of the season while racking up some points, I think that’s a positive thing.

    “And I think we are only scratching the surface.”

    Here are some observations from the first five-game segment of this Stanley Cup-or-bust season in Denver.

    1. Nathan MacKinnon is already in Hart Trophy finalist form

    Natural Stat Trick had MacKinnon on the ice for 17 scoring chances in Buffalo. He took 17 shifts in the game. The 2024 league MVP has been on the ice for 49 scoring chances at 5-on-5, which is tied for third among forwards. The two players ahead of him and the one who is even are all on the two-time defending champs, the Florida Panthers, who have also played an extra game.

    The Avs have outscored the opposition 7-0 at even strength with MacKinnon on the ice, 10-0 overall. Those are just some numbers in a small sample size.

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    Corey Masisak

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