Recap: Avalanche squash Ducks 4-1

Who would have thought even a month ago that the first meeting of the year between the Colorado Avalanche and Anaheim Ducks would be considered a big matchup, and on national television no less? This game didn’t disappoint but the Avalanche exerted their dominance on home ice to take home the 4-1 win and remain at the top of the league standings with 25 points.

Spoiler Alert: Gabe Landeskog scored the game winning goal and it counted for his first score of the year!

The Game

It took all of 28 seconds for the home team to make a statement by scoring the game’s opening goal. The top line started with a strong shift in the offensive zone with Artturi Lehkonen finishing the play for an early 1-0 lead.

Colorado held the early momentum but after killing an Avalanche power play, Anaheim slowly started to turn the tide in their direction. It paid off for the Ducks when they were able to convert near the end of the period when Leo Carlsson continued his hot start with a goal at the net front on a 4-on-4. After a spirited first period the game was tied 1-1.

In the second frame Colorado took control back and were finally rewarded with an actual goal from Gabe Landeskog that counted! A play which started with a Sam Malinski shot and a Val Nichushkin rebound and Landeskog cleaning up the loose change. The period ended 2-1 in favor of Colorado.

To put the icing on the cake, Colorado finally crafted a power play goal from Martin Nečas in the third period and with a two-goal lead they weren’t going to look back.

The Ducks decided to vacate the net with over three minutes left in the contest so of course the Avalanche were happy to be beneficiaries of a free goal as Nathan MacKinnon set up Parker Kelly in the empty net for their fourth and final goal to arrive at the 4-1 victory.

Takeaways

It was fun while the game was competitive and the two teams ended up with 36 shots a piece but the Avalanche were never losing this game on home ice. They set the tone with an early goal right out of the gate and had the game in control most of the night.

Maybe the floodgates will open for Gabe Landeskog now that he got on the board officially. As the game winner maybe the hockey gods were saving his first regular season goal since 2022 for one that would make a difference and that was the case tonight.

Upcoming

A day of rest and then back at Ball Arena at 7 p.m. MT on Thursday, November 13th to face the Buffalo Sabres on what is also Fourth Wing theme night.