Colorado
Canadiens defeat sluggish Avalanche in shootout, snap Colorado’s six-game win streak
The Colorado Avalanche dug deep, fueled by some officiating-driven anger, and authored a wild, remarkable comeback two nights ago in an electric evening at Ball Arena.
This was not that.
The Montreal Canadiens ended Colorado’s six-game winning streak with a 2-1 shootout victory Saturday at Ball Arena. Cole Caufield and Kirby Dach scored for the Canadiens in the shootout.
There are some 2-1 thrillers, with great saves, end-to-end action and high drama.
This was not that.
“We were just OK,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We were good defensively, responsible, checked hard against a team that’s tops in the league right now in creating offense. But we didn’t do a good enough job creating offense ourselves.”
Maybe there was a letdown after the crazy 6-5 comeback win Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres, but this contest felt like it was played at a slower pace at times. The Avs jumped out to an early lead and played well enough for the first 40 minutes, but also looked far from a crisp, surging outfit that has collected so many positive results in the past month.
At one point, the Avalanche had just seven shots on net across more than 35 minutes of play. The Avs created more scoring opportunities than Montreal, but also missed the net on several of their best looks.
Colorado had scored at least four goals in each of the six games during the winning streak.
“We had a lot of zone time. We just didn’t create a lot of chances,” Bednar said. “Not enough of a shot mentality. That attack mentality just wasn’t there. Seemed like we were really selective on the shots we wanted to take.”
Montreal was playing the second half of a back-to-back and started rookie Jakub Dobes in net. Dobes, 23, was making his second career NHL start and stopped 22 of 23 Colorado shots. He had a 34-save shutout against the defending champion Florida Panthers in his first start.
The Avs are now 24-15-1 this season as they reach the midpoint Monday night against those Panthers. They will certainly need to be better with a significant step up in competition.
Mackenzie Blackwood didn’t have a lot of work, but he made three excellent saves when it was still a 1-0 game to give the Avs a chance. He and Scott Wedgewood have been outstanding since arriving in late November and early December. This is a game Colorado probably would have been chasing, given its lack of offense, but the new goalies have given this club a new pathway to win games.
Caulfield scored for Montreal with 6:35 remaining in the third period after an Avs turnover led to a 2-on-1. The Canadiens, who struggled to generate much offense for a lot of this contest, were pushing for an equalizer and the better of the play for the first time in the game leading up to Caufield’s goal.
The Avalanche scored the lone goal of the opening period on its second power play of the contest. Mikko Rantanen cut to the net from the right flank and Nathan MacKinnon found him. Rantanen directed the puck into the net with his foot at 9:01 of the period.
It was Rantanen’s 23rd goal of the season. The guy they call “Moose” scored a goal in his fourth straight game, and now has a 13-game point streak. That ties the longest in the NHL this season and is one shy of the longest in his career.
“He’s been phenomenal,” Bednar said. “He’s one of those one-shot goal scorers. When you need a big goal, you’ve got a guy that can score from all kinds of areas on that side of the ice.”
FOOTNOTES: Avs coach Jared Bednar said goalie Scott Wedgewood does not have a high-ankle sprain on the team’s pregame show before this contest. Bednar hopes that Wedgewood is only going to miss 1-2 weeks after falling awkwardly on Buffalo forward Zach Benson in his crease Thursday night.
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Originally Published:
On Friday, the Colorado Rockies announced that Paul DePodesta is the club’s new president of baseball operations.
DePodesta is the fifth head of baseball operations in the team’s history and will take over the position effective immediately. In a release on Friday, team officials celebrated their newest addition.
“Paul’s previous work in MLB set the foundation for many aspects of the way the game is analyzed today, and we are thrilled for him to be a key figure in our future. Under his leadership, we will evolve the Colorado Rockies into what we know will be an exciting new era,” said Rockies Executive Vice President Walker Monfort. “Hiring Paul is an essential first step to the evolution of our baseball department and we’re confident that he will not only maximize our current personnel but will also bring in additional leaders from outside the organization to help lead us forward.
Many baseball and movie fans may also remember DePodesta, portrayed by actor Jonah Hill, in the movie “Moneyball.” DePodesta is the only executive to win division titles with five different organizations.
The Virginia native began his baseball career as an intern in player development for the Cleveland Indians. He has worked in Major League Baseball for over 20 years and served as the vice president of player development and amateur scouting for the New York Mets, as well as a special assistant for baseball operations and executive vice president for the San Diego Padres. Before that, he worked as the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and served as assistant general manager of the Oakland Athletics.
His last job in the MLB was in 2015. Most recently, DePodesta served as the Cleveland Brown’s Chief Strategy Officer. He said he’s excited for this new opportunity.
“I have always kept my eye on baseball, and this is an incredible opportunity to help make an impact in the next chapter of the Rockies,” DePodesta said. “Building a consistent winner here is a shared goal and one that I am eager to embrace alongside Rockies leaders, staff, players, and fans. I am ready for the challenge and excited to get started immediately.”
After another warm and mostly dry week, drought conditions have worsened slightly across Colorado.
The latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that areas of moderate drought and abnormally dry conditions have expanded. Moderate drought from 29.20 to 29.37 percent and abnormally dry conditions have increased from 49.36 to 55.10 percent.
There’s some hope for a brief break in the dry pattern – a chance for rain and snow will return to the northern mountains and portions of the I-70 corridor Friday night, with light accumulations possible. Most of the state, however, will stay dry through the weekend.
Looking ahead, long-range forecasts hint at a potential pattern change by mid-November, with an increased chance for snow.
Colorado
16 Colorado state lawmakers face ethics complaints after political organization paid for Vail hotel rooms
Sixteen Democratic state lawmakers are accused of violating the state of Colorado’s gift ban after a political organization paid for their rooms at a luxury hotel in Vail.
The watchdog group that brought the complaints — Common Cause — is considered left-leaning. But it was also one of the driving forces behind a constitutional amendment that banned public officials from accepting gifts worth more than $75.
According to the complaints, the lawmakers are members of the so-called “Colorado Opportunity Caucus.” It held a retreat last month at a luxury hotel in Vail, where legislators mingled with lobbyists.
Common Cause says the head of the caucus — state Sen. Lindsey Daugherty — asked a pro-business organization called One Main Street to pick up the tab for lawmakers’ rooms, at a cost of $25,000. It says One Main Street agreed.
Common Cause’s Attorney, Scott Moss, says One Main Street — which doesn’t disclose its donors — created the caucus and bankrolls it to give business interests access to lawmakers. He says footing the bill for luxury hotel rooms is a clear violation of the gift ban.
“What the gift ban says is that there’s donations, there (is) independent spending. The one line you can’t cross is a legislator can’t say go buy me that and if someone tries to buy you a thing, you have to decline,” Moss said.
Daughterty released a statement saying, “Since its creation, the Colorado Opportunity Caucus has operated under direct legal guidance, so we know we acted in full compliance with the law. The State Ethics Commission has to perform their due diligence and when they do, we are confident the complaint will be dismissed as the political theater it is.”
The caucus consists of moderate Democrats who have clashed with more progressive members of the party. Headed into 2026, Daugherty says Democrats should be “elevating each other not tearing each other down.”
Moss insists the complaints are not politically motivated. He says this is he worst violation of the gift ban he’s seen since it was enacted 20 years ago. He says lawmakers should have to pay back the money plus fines.
The Independent Ethics Commission will have the final say.
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