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Top line, goalies, spark quick start; Dano takes part in first practice |
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Rick Sadowski
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There’s plenty to like about the Colorado Avalanche eight games into the 2018-19 NHL season.
They own a 5-1-2 record, good for second place in the Central Division, and have gone 2-0-1 in the first three games of a four-game road trip that concludes Monday in Philadelphia.
No one has managed to hold the Gabriel Landeskog-Nathan MacKinnon-Mikko Rantanen line in check; the unit has combined for 38 points (17 goals, 21 assists).
Landeskog has five goals in the past two games, and MacKinnon and Rantanen will take eight-game point streaks into Monday’s game against the Flyers.
Goalies Semyon Varlamov and Philipp Grubauer have been terrific. Varlamov has a 3-0-2 record while posting a 1.77 goals-against average and .948 save percentage.
Grubauer has won two in a row on this trip and is 2-1-0 on the season with a 2.68 goals-against average and .925 save percentage. He made a career-high 42 saves Saturday in the Avalanche’s 3-1 win in Carolina.
The Avalanche are averaging 3.63 goals per game, tying them with the Flyers for seventh in the league. They’re allowing 2.25 per game, third in the league.
The power play has a 25.8 percent success rate (11th overall) and the penalty killers are at 89.7 percent, third best.
Not all has been so terrific, though.
The Avalanche can’t continue to depend on the top line to do all the heavy lifting on offense. It has amassed six more goals, 10 more assists and 16 more points than the rest of the forwards combined.
The second, third and fourth lines have to start contributing the way they did in the first few games. Tyson Jost (one goal, one assist) has to pick up his game. It doesn't help that J.T. Compher (concussion) isn't available.
While none of the seven defensemen have scored a goal, the group has totaled 18 assists. Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson have five each, Ian Cole and Samuel Girard three apiece, and Patrik Nemeth and Nikita Zadorov one each.
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Forward Marko Dano, claimed off waivers from Winnipeg last Monday, joined his new team in Raleigh after getting his immigration paperwork completed. He took part in an optional practice Sunday in Philadelphia.
Dano, 23, could make his Avalanche debut against the Flyers.
"New start and new teammates,” he told the Avalanche website. “It's going to be a challenge, but I am excited for this chance. I didn't get many games in Winnipeg, but it was a good experience there. Now I am ready to take my chance and play a little bit more. It's going to depend on how I am going to work for that, but you got to deserve the ice time. Hopefully my work ethic and all the skill I can bring will help the team."
Columbus’ first-round pick (No. 27) in the 2013 NHL draft, the 5-feet-11, 212-pound Dano is looking to get his career on track. He has 45 points (19 goals, 26 assists) in 130 career NHL games with Columbus, Chicago and Winnipeg.
He had two goals and an assist in 23 games with the Jets last season when he was a healthy scratch for 59 regular-season games and all 17 playoff games. He didn’t play in any of Winnipeg’s first five games this year.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar and assistant Nolan Pratt are familiar with Dano. He played for them with the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League for parts of the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons when he combined for 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists) in 49 games.
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The Colorado Eagles are off to a fast start in their inaugural AHL season with a 4-1-1 record, tying them for second in the Western Conference with the Chicago Wolves.
Forward A.J. Greer, the Avalanche’s second-round pick (No. 39) in the 2015 NHL draft, has a team-leading seven points (two goals, five assists) in six games. Ten players have scored at least one goal.
2018 first-round pick Martin Kaut (No. 10) scored his first goal Saturday in the Eagles’ 5-3 win against the Ontario Reign. He had one assist in five games entering that contest.
Goalie Pavel Francouz had 22 saves against the Reign (Los Angeles' top affiliate) and has won all four of his starts. He has a 1.75 goals-against average and .941 save percentage.
Spencer Martin hasn’t fared as well, posting an 0-1-1 record with a 3.98 GAA and .833 save percentage.
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University of Massachusetts/Amherst sophomore defenseman Cale Makar, the Avalanche’s first-round pick (No. 4) in 2017, leads the Minutemen in scoring and is fourth in the NCAA with eight points (three goals, five assists) in four games.
Makar helped UMass split a weekend series with then-No. 1 ranked Ohio State over the weekend.
Notre Dame junior forward Cam Morrison, the Avalanche's second-round pick (No. 40) in 2016, has four points (two goals, two assists) in four games for the Fighting Irish, who are 3-0-1. They were ranked No. 2 heading into the weekend.
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