NEW YORK — Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog used the term “it didn’t go our way” after Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the visiting Calgary Flames. But individually, it continues to go Landeskog’s way in the hottest offensive stretch of his 11-year NHL career.
Landeskog scored his team-leading 30th goal of the season just 42 seconds into the game, making him the first Avalanche left wing to reach 30 goals in multiple seasons. He had a career-high 34 goals in 73 games of 2017-18, and is on pace to reach 46 this season.
Landeskog, who ranks eighth in NHL goal-scoring, has tallied 15 times in his last 16 games.
Team-wise, the Avs aren’t as hot. They are 0-1-1 in their last two games — the worst stretch since they lost in overtime and in regulation to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 3 and 6. But Landeskog says there is no reason to panic heading into a three-game eastern road trip that begins Monday at the New York Islanders.
League-leading Colorado (40-11-5) played a strong game against the Pacific Division-leading Flames (33-14-7), who would be the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed if the season ended Sunday. The Avs generated 27 shots in the second and third periods and rallied from a 3-2 deficit to at least produce a point.
“I thought we just took over and played really well,” Landeskog said postgame. “Second half of the second period, and even throughout really the majority of the third period, I thought we kept them to three-quarter ice and kept turning on them quick, getting in on the forecheck and creating plenty of good looks. I thought we battled hard and played well.”
The Avs did not practice and only traveled to New York on Sunday to prepare for their first-ever game at the Islanders’ new UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. Colorado will have a morning skate ahead of its second game in seven days against the Isles. The Avs beat New York 5-3 on Tuesday at Ball Arena.
Footnotes. Norris Trophy frontrunner Cale Makar on Saturday extended his assist streak to a club-record 11 games, the fifth-longest by a defenseman in NHL annals and longest since Phil Housley’s 14-game stretch in 1992-93. Second-line center Nazem Kadri had two assists against Calgary for his 22nd multi-point game of the season, trailing only Connor McDavid (28) and Auston Matthews (24) for the most in the NHL. Kadri stretched his team-scoring lead to 70 points, tied with Mathews for fifth in the league. … The Avs’ only glaring weakness continues to be in the faceoff circle, where they lost 43 of 69 draws (38% success rate) against the Flames. Colorado stands second-to-last in the league on the season at 46.4%, trailing only the Buffalo Sabres (46.1%).
