In the words of German singer Lou Bega,
One, two, three, four, five
Everybody is in the car, so come on, let’s ride
Lou Bega and his 1999 hit, “Mambo No. 5”
That’s my way of saying that the Avs are 5-0 to start the season, a perfect start to the year, but honestly, I am more surprised that Lou Bega is German. They started the season on a three-game West Coast road trip, winning all three matches, and opened the season at home in a shutout victory over rookie Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks. Most recently, the Avs beat the Carolina Hurricanes in a high-flying 6-4 win. The Avalanche, Bruins, and the Golden Knights are the only remaining undefeated teams in the league. The Avs are still a long way off from the NHL record of a 15-game streak by the Edmonton Oilers in 84-85 and six games shy of the franchise record of 11 games to open the 2000-01 season. But we all know how that year ended: as Stanley Cup Champions.
Let’s not get too carried away. Yet. The Avalanche have looked good so far, outscoring their opponents 21-8, with the fewest allowed goals in the league. They’ve scored four or more goals in four out of their five contests, with goals from the new blood of Ryan Johansen, Miles Wood, and Fredrik Olofsson. Unsurprisingly, Mikko Rantanen leads the team with four goals and four assists, trailed by MacKinnon’s 3G/3A. Goaltending by Georgiev has been sharp between the pipes, and Logan O’Connor has scored three short-handed goals in three consecutive games, tying the club record with Joe Sakic. Even when the Avs looked like they were skating in the mud against the Seattle Kraken (boy, do they have our number), they still managed to squeak away with a 4-1 win.
They now will travel to the east and take on the 2-1-1 New York Islanders on Tuesday. It’s still early, but the Avs are showing a lot of promise and little to comment on other than, let’s keep it going. So I’ll leave you with this in the tune of our pal, Lou Bega.
A little bit of Lehkonen in my life
A little bit of Mikko by my side
A little bit of Cale's all I need
A little bit of Choo Choo's what I see
A little bit of LOC in the sun
A little bit of Mac all night long
A little bit of Georgie, there he is
A little bit of them makes us the Avs!