Colorado Avalanche vs. Detroit Red Wings: 3 things to watch
By Daniel Garza
For the second time this season, the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche will face off. Here are three things to watch.
#3 10 in a row?
The Red Wings losing streak would reach 10 games on Sunday if they lose to the Avalanche. With the Red Wings current franchise losing streak record at 14 games, it’s time to start getting a little nervous that number could be tied or bettered if games continue to go the way they have.
Having lost all three games of the road trip thus far it is going to be a tough ask for the Red Wings to come away with a win. Especially since the Avalanche are a motivated team that is right in the thick of the Western Conference wild-card race.
#2 Quiet from the future
It has been a rough last few games for the Red Wings young guns. In particular, Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, and Andreas Athanasiou have a combined two points in their last five appearances.
This isn’t a good sign for a few reasons. The first being the fact the Red Wings have struggled offensively and are missing vital points from arguably three of their most talented players.
Individually, Larkin is looking like he won’t be finishing as the Red Wings leading scorer this season. Although he currently has a three-point advantage on Henrik Zetterberg, his production has not been up to par with Zetterberg’s in the recent weeks. He could use some points against the Avalanche having only points on the road trip so far.
Mantha has no points in his last five games and has had just 10 shots on goal during this stretch. It looked as if he might have a legitimate chance of reaching 30 goals this season but now it seems less and less likely.
For this game, at least one of these players is going to need to step up and help generate scoring chances and goals against an Avalanche team that has had an eye for goal all season long.
#1 Point streaks all around
Three Avalanche players are bringing in some very impressive point streaks to this game. Nathan MacKinnon’s 11-game point streak has seen him record 21 points during this stretch. Fellow forward Mikko Rantanen is enjoying a five-game point streak with 11 points. Lastly, defenseman Tyson Barrie has a nine-game point streak with 12 points.
The Red Wings will have their hands full with these three players on Sunday and if they come in lazy defensively then it should be a long afternoon with lots of goals for the home side.