3 Takeaways From the Avalanche’s 7-3 Win Over the Flames

The Colorado Avalanche, coming off a tough 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets just a day prior, no doubt had something to prove coming into Thursday’s tilt with the lowly Calgary Flames. The Avalanche have a few things to figure out but remain one of the league’s clear contenders.

Things went about as expected on Thursday against the Flames. They opened things up in the second period with a three-goal barrage and finished the night with a 7-3 whooping. Here are the takeaways from the dominant Avalanche win.

Jaden Schwartz Has Been a Revelation

The superstars do superstar things, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone. What has come as a surprise is the play of Jaden Schwartz. He scored twice against Calgary and is now tied with Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, and Artturi Lehkonen for the team lead in goals (three) and second on the team in points (six).

He’s currently tied for his best shooting percentage ever – 33.3% – and he did that in seven games during his first season in the league. His line with T.J. Hughes and Fedor Svechkov has been fantastic with Schwartz leading the way.

He isn’t doing anything fancy at this point. The thing that’s noticeable about Schwartz is he tends to find an open spot in the high slot and then just fires away. Good things happen when you put the puck on net, and we’re seeing that right now with Schwartz.

The Avalanche Have Elite Puck Movement

There are a lot of observations one could make when watching the Avalanche. One of the things that makes them particularly dangerous is the way they move the puck, especially in the offensive zone.

That was on full display against an inferior Flames team on Thursday. The Avalanche fired crisp, quick passes – bang, bang, bang – in the Calgary zone, and the defense couldn’t do anything to ever really catch up.

Combined with elite speed through the neutral zone, and it becomes very easy to see how they overwhelm opponents. The Flames found themselves in a defensive shell more often than not, and it allowed the Avalanche to cause chaos in front and fire from above the hashes. With the kind of elite shooters the Avalanche have, it doesn’t take much more than that.

The Toews-Makar Pairing Continues to Be One of the League’s Best

The Avalanche have one of the best defenses in the NHL, and a major part of that is because of the duo of Makar and Devon Toews. We all know about the offensive exploits of Makar but tend to forget that Toews is one of the best two-way defenders in the league.

Both were excellent on Thursday. Makar led the way with two goals and an assist while Toews chipped in a pair of goals on his own, including a beautiful setup by Makar to start the scoring at the tail end of the first period.

The best teams have pillars they can lean on defensively. These two, if needed, are capable of playing 30 minutes of elite hockey per night. It is one of the many things that make the Avalanche just a dangerous team, and it was on full display against Calgary.

The Showdown Is Looming

The Avalanche will host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday evening, but everyone is looking ahead to Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. The Avalanche will go toe-to-toe with their rivals, the Dallas Stars, in what should be a tone-setter for the Central Division.

If the Avalanche can come out of that favorably, they have a lighter slate waiting. With games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils (twice), Nashville Predators, Flames, and Chicago Blackhawks, the Avalanche could go on a nice run going into November. And if they build up a streak like last season, good luck to the rest of the Central Division.