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

Jared Bednar an avid angler likes to compare his hockey unit over a long season to a boat He sees it like this The association 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 games kind of like a well-used fishing vessel How briskly the club fixes the issues and regains its optimal performance is a big part of a fruitful 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 - season has been a complete The Avs were - - 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 organization 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 gang Avs captain Gabe Landeskog declared If you can figure out your challenge as a gang while winning and kind of go through certain of those growing pains at the start of the season while racking up various points I think that s a positive thing And I think we are only scratching the surface Here are selected observations from the first five-game segment of this Stanley Cup-or-bust season in Denver Nathan MacKinnon is already in Hart Trophy finalist form Natural Stat Trick had MacKinnon on the ice for scoring chances in Buffalo He took shifts in the event The league MVP has been on the ice for scoring chances at -on- 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 competition The Avs have outscored the opposition - at even strength with MacKinnon on the ice - overall Those are just specific numbers in a small sample size Related Articles Grading The Week Ex-Broncos RBs Audric Estime Javonte Williams would love to have J K Dobbins problems right now Avalanche keeps rolling second line breaks through against Blue Jackets Close friends Gavin Brindley Adam Fantilli excited to share NHL ice for first time under unexpected circumstances Avalanche dodged a bullet when Brock Nelson s wrist was cut by Bo Byram s skate Nathan MacKinnon Martin Necas continue early-season tear help Avalanche defeat Sabres He and Martin Necas are flying at the start of this season They ve combined for seven goals and points and both could easily have a sparse more MacKinnon has already seen a steady diet of Zach Werenski Drew Doughty Mikhail Sergachev Rasmus Dahlin or Owen Power and Miro Heiskanen or Esa Lindell He s got a chance to have four straight -point seasons for the Avs MacKinnon can also finish this year with six of the top season point totals since the club moved to Denver if he gets to or more points Joe Sakic would be next with three Gabe Landeskog feels good and there are flashes of his vintage work The captain has one point in five games an empty-net assist He s played six minutes per event less than he did in - He s not concerned In terms of my contest it s kind of the same thing just scratching the surface Landeskog noted I m trying to find my championship again establish my match again There s been selected good shifts here and there but overall I ve got pretty high expectations for myself I just have to remind myself that it s a marathon here Landeskog doesn t look slow or a step behind the play He s not making costly mistakes He s been solid with a sprinkling of impactful plays The ability to win puck battles in dirty areas and make skillful plays in tight spaces is still there It hasn t been the Holy expletive how is he doing this version from the playoffs last year but even he wasn t expecting that at the start of this season He s not playing as much in part because Landeskog is on the second power-play unit and isn t killing penalties The Avs haven t needed him to but having him available for every challenge and just being a solid participant is obviously a huge boost compared to the past three years The penalty kill has benefited greatly from roster stability Colorado has a new coach in charge of the power play and might still be looking for its optimal configurations with the man advantage It s a work in progress with generally positive early returns The penalty kill looks like it s ready for Encounter of the playoffs right now It is for to start the season which is great in a small sample But it also just looks good The two goals against were a -on- and one three seconds after a faceoff on a puck that fooled Scott Wedgewood I really like the way it looks right now Bednar declared Special teams are a big focus this time of year building chemistry and dialing in those details that you need Of the six forwards killing penalties Parker Kelly and Jack Drury were new last year and figuring it out on the fly while Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen weren t available at the start of the year Adding Brent Burns has allowed Cale Makar to play a little less on the PK Scott Wedgewood is going to be tough to unseat Wedgewood would like a word about those - roster projections Yes the Avs are expecting to welcome Ilya Nabokov to North America at the end of his KHL season Yes it could be a natural fit for him to slide into the backup role next season behind MacKenzie Blackwood given that Wedgewood is in the last year of his contract But Wedgewood is balling out to start the season He s second in save percentage goals against average and total saves among goalies with at least three starts He s tied for third in goals saved above expected per MoneyPuck He just grinds Avs center Brock Nelson declared He s a competitor He s a gamer but he s also just good all the time He s frustrating to shoot on in practice I feel like he s got a great read on shooters the puck the play He s just a solid sound goalie Wedgewood s play will determine whether the Avs want to try to keep him beyond this season but he s obviously become a key figure and well-liked teammate in the locker room as well This group with specific good physical condition luck can finish first in the Central In part because of the injuries trades and availability issues over the past couple of seasons the Avalanche as a band hasn t focused that intently on the regular-season standings The best teams in the NHL typically don t partially because of the parity and because home-ice advantage in the playoffs is fleeting Do enough to get in get things right at the right time and make a run That revealed finishing first in the Central Division does have one specific perk You don t have to beat Dallas and Winnipeg to reach the second half of the tournament Minnesota St Louis and Utah are all good teams but it s going to take something weird for the top three in the Central to not be Colorado Dallas and Winnipeg in certain order And for the first time in a scant years the Avs look like they re equipped for a run at the division title Everything at the top of the league standings is dependent on wellbeing and usually a decent dose of good fortune when it comes to scoring goals or preventing them This Colorado roster - is one of the best in the league and looks locked in at the start of the season Finishing first in the division the conference or even the league could be in play Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis