Avalanche offense rolls on in 7-3 win

In Denver, the Colorado Avalanche rolled a 7 for the third straight game and defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 7-3, on Friday night.

“Guys are moving well and shooting well, they’ve been getting to the net quite a bit,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “The puck decisions in the offensive zone have been much better. There’s a lot of activity, it’s tough to cover, and to me that starts with our back end. That, with the movement and puck protection with our forwards, it’s been tough to handle.”

Darcy Kuemper made 37 saves in the Avs win.

“The crazy thing is we haven’t played our best hockey yet,” the Avs Devon Toews said. “I think through our room we understand that, and we see that. We see progress, and it’s not going to change in one day, it’s not going to change in one game. Just a work in progress and we’re working through it.”

Andre Burakovsky scored twice for Colorado.

“I think we’re just hungry around the net,” Burakovsky said. “We’re putting pucks there, we talk a lot about we want to shoot and crash the net and put bodies there. I think we’ve been doing that pretty good lately. We just want to continue to do that.”

Vladislav Namestnikov, Joe Veleno, and Filip Hronek scored for Detroit.

Detroit dropped to 13-12-3.

“This team, probably, is going to test where you are defensively probably more than any other team in the league,” Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said. “They’re as good offensively as any team in the league, both on their rush and their [offensive] zone. And obviously we’ve got to get better.

“It was a litmus test for us defensively and we’ve got to grow. We’ve got to get better. They’re very good when it’s a bit of a shootout like that and we can’t let that happen.”

J.T. Compher, Burakovsky, and Darren Helm scored in the first period for a 3-0 lead to the Avs.

“It’s always nice to contribute a little bit on the board,” Burakovsky said. “I’ve found the back of the net for a couple games, so I think I’ve been creating, and it’s always nice to get the win.”

Nathan MacKinnon,,Burakovsky, and Samuel Girard scored for the Avs in the middle frame

Cal Makar added an empty net marker in the third period for the 7-3 final.

“We’re looking for answers,” the Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin said. “It’s not uncommon to look around the league and see everyone has a great home record. Fans are back in the building, it’s exciting to be home. There’s extra jump, so we have to find a way to take away that momentum and energy from the crowd.”