Good & Bad: Necas Shines As Avalanche Take Down L.A. Kings

DENVER — The goals keep coming, the wins are stacking up, and the once inconsistent Avalanche are suddenly five wins away from 50 after defeating the Los Angeles Kings 4-0 at Ball Arena on Thursday.

Colorado is 12-1-1 in its last 14 games, scoring 59 goals and giving up just 26. It’s been an incredible stretch, dating back to Feb. 26 — the day Valeri Nichushkin returned from a lower-body injury that kept him out for nearly two months.

Nichushkin didn’t score in this one. But Martin Necas had two goals while Logan O’Connor and Jonathan Drouin each added one. Mackenzie Blakwood made 22 saves in goal, earning his third shutout since joining the Avs and fourth of the season.

“He’s really competitive and feels like he should stop everything,” head coach Jared Bednar said of Blackwood. “I love that mindset in a goalie, he’s never blaming anybody else. He feels like he should have a chance on even second and third opportunities around the net.”

Colorado was the better team in the first period but neither team was able to find the back of the net. And with four seconds left, Nathan MacKinnon was called for cross-checking, setting up a Kings power play to start the second. They couldn’t get anything going on that opportunity or two others. Colorado was 3-for-3 on the PK.

The scoring started shortly after that. First, Cale Makar did his thing, pushing the Kings further into their zone with a slick play before setting up O’Connor’s goal. Then, Necas got his first after taking a puck off the back wall and quickly sneaking it past goalie David Rittich. The puck was initially shot from the point by Samuel Girard.

Colorado eventually went on the power play and found the back of the net. Makar set up Necas for a blast of a one-timer that beat Rittich five-hole. That was the exact play that led to the Avs’ fourth goal, too. This time it was MacKinnon to Drouin. The Avalanche finished 2-for-3 with the man advantage.

The two assists from Makar pushed him to 84 points — just seven away from matching his career high. But those weren’t the highlight of his night. Defensively, Makar was a force and became a shot-blocking machine in the process. His greatness was visible in both finesse and blue-collar work in his own zone.

Makar finished with a team-leading four blocked shots.

“A lot of them caught me in minimally protected areas,” Makar said. “Just stings for a second but it is what it is, it’s gonna happen. You gotta be ready for it.

“Better me than on net.”

The winning streak at Ball Arena is at 11 games now. But the next one might be as big, if not a bigger challenge than this one.

L.A. entered this game with a 9-1-0 record in its last 10. They were one of the hottest teams in the league. But the St. Louis Blues, who Colorado hosts on Saturday, are riding an eight-game winning streak.

Good: Martin Necas, Well-Rounded Performer

This might be a little bit of a reputation award, but all of it was on display against the Kings.

Necas is surprisingly a way more well-rounded player than I thought he was. And the beauty in that is, even if he tops out as a consistent 75-85 point guy (which I think is the floor for him), he’s still useful in so many other ways.

Against L.A., he flexed his high hockey IQ on the first goal, put his shooting power on display on the second goal, and was a backchecking machine against a really good rush team. There were a couple of plays in the second period where a Necas back check separated a Kings player from the puck with ease.

I’m very much impressed with the player the Avs got here. He’s up to 10 goals, 15 assists, and 25 points in 24 games since the trade.

Pretty, pretty good.

Bad: Why Again did L.A. Start David Rittich?

I was really confused with this decision from the outset. Is Darcy Kuemper hurt? Am I missing something?

I get it. Kuemper played on March 23 and 25. And on the 29th, L.A. hosts Toronto before playing back-to-back with a game against the Sharks on the 30th. If Kuemper is only getting one of these three games, shouldn’t it be on the one on the road against one of the hottest teams in the league?

At least Rittich has done reasonably well on home ice. If you have to give Kuemper the night off for one of these games, perhaps the Leafs game should’ve been the one. Rittich also doesn’t have a great track record against Colorado — especially at Ball Arena.

Just a puzzling decision. It’s almost as if the Kings’ coaching staff threw in the towel before playing the game.