While the Vegas Golden Knights are getting most of the league’s attention as the surprise team (Rightyfully so), the Colorado Avalanche are putting up some numbers that zero people would have predicted coming into the year.
They seem like a totally different team even though they didn’t change their roster all that much.
They added Alex Kerfoot, Nail Yakupov, Colin Wilson and Samuel Girard to their regular lineup and the only significant member of their roster that was moved was Matt Duchene. If you were to look at what’s driven most of the Avs success this season, you’ll probably be looking at fact number 5, but there has been a lot.
We’ll start off with the one that seemed possible when he entered the league, but hope had been fading and that’s the arrival of superstar Nathan MacKinnon:
Nathan MacKinnon is an MVP Candidate
Even to start the year, this seemed unlikely. MacKinnon started the year with only five points in 10 games while Nikita Kucherov and several others got off to a blazing start. Now, MacKinnon is second in the league in points and being considered an MVP candidate by many.
More wins than last year 44 games into the season
The Avalanche actually tied their win total halfway through the season and now have 25 wins as opposed to the 22 they racked up last year. If you’re not sure how crazy that is, the next face should put it in perspective.
If they lost every single game for the rest of the year in regulation, they couldn’t match last year’s total
They had 56 regulation losses last season. That is just ludicrous. They have 16 losses this season and only 38 games remaining.
They are in a playoff position
It’s the second wild-card spot, but who saw this coming.
Their shooting percentage has gone from last to first
If you need another reason to know that shooting percentage is largely driven by luck, here it is. The Avs shot a league worst 7.2% in 2016-17. Now, they lead the league at 11.1%.
The Avs are currently on a league-leading (tied) 8-game winning streak
If you told anyone that halfway through the season, the Avs would be tied for the league’s longest winning streak in 2017-18 they would have laughed in your face. Combine that with the fact that the team they’re tied with the Golden Knights and we truly are living in the weirdest timeline.
Plus compare this winning streak to last year’s total wins and…
Goal differential is 130 goals better than last season
This is just an absurd change in goal differential. After a -112 goal differential last season, it’s shocking they were even able to get into the positive, but they are actually +18 this season.
They are 19 goals for away from matching last season’s total
They averaging 3.27 goals per game this season, which means that they’re on pace to match their goal total from last season by approximately their 50th game this season.
After all the historically awful stats stories about the Avs last season, it’s a nice change to see them bouncing back. We’re sure the mood around that locker room has completely changed.
