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:
The Colorado Buffaloes are still putting the finishing touches on their 2027 class over the next few months, but their 2028 recruiting plan continues to take shape.
Earlier this week, Deion Sanders’ staff extended an offer to one of the top prospects in the class of 2028, composite five-star wide receiver Jaylen Addai. Addai now holds 43 offers, including one from nearly every blue-blood program in the country.
247Sports’ Composite currently ranks Addai as the No. 12 overall prospect in the 2028 class, the No. 3 overall wide receiver and the top player from the state of Texas.
At 5-foot-11, 165 pounds, the Pearland, Texas native fits the mold of the modern-day receiver. He seems likely to fill into his frame given his youth. Addai is a multiple-sport athlete with elite athleticism on the field, on the basketball court and on the track.
Given how early it is in Addai’s recruitment, several teams are in contention for his commitment, with Notre Dame and Ohio State leading the way early. When the 2028 cycle picks up later this year, who really has a chance should come into focus, especially when visits begin.
Colorado’s 2028 class does not have any commitments yet, but has offers out to 28 different wide receiver prospects.
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DENVER (KDVR) — New data from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office shows that more than half of Colorado voters are now registered as unaffiliated, meaning they are not registered with a political party.
With the primary election just weeks away, those voters will need to decide whether to participate in the Democratic or Republican primary.
Colorado operates under a semi-open primary system, allowing unaffiliated voters to choose which party’s primary they want to vote in. With unaffiliated voters now making up the majority of registered voters in the state, their choices will play a significant role in election outcomes.
According to the Colorado County Clerks Association, the trend has been building since 2004, with voters continuing to leave both the Democratic and Republican parties to register as unaffiliated.
While an unaffiliated voter’s ballot choices remain private, the party primary they participate in does become part of their public voter registration record.
Unaffiliated voters also face some limitations. They cannot participate in party caucuses and cannot sign petitions for party candidates.
“I think the largest reason why we have so many unaffiliated voters is because people are intensely unhappy with both political parties, and they don’t want to be a part of it,” Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said. “And now with the primaries, they really don’t have to make that choice. They can just vote and then move on and not have to worry about some of the baggage and garbage that comes with being a member of a political party.”
Election officials are reminding unaffiliated voters that they received two ballots in the mail: one for the Republican primary and one for the Democratic primary. Voters should return only one ballot. If both ballots are submitted, neither vote will be counted.
If an unaffiliated voter casts a ballot in-person, the clerk will ask them which ballot they would like to cast.
The Colorado County Clerks Association also reminded voters that ballots must be received by Election Day, with the exception of military and overseas voters. Voters planning to return their ballots by mail should send them by the Tuesday before Election Day, one week in advance, to ensure they arrive on time.
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