Unholy Shenanigans

The Colorado Avalanche were coming off a huge win; a 2-0 victory over the Dallas Stars on the road. That win reduced our magic number from six points to just two; just one win away from not only winning the Central Division, but also getting the #1 seed in the Western Conference. In this game, the Avs were up against the St. Louis Blues, one of a number of teams locked into an insane logjam in the Western Conference's Wild Card race.

Mackenzie Blackwood was in net against Joel Hofer. Avs had the first three shots of the game, but St. Louis finally started shooting. Ross Colton made it 1-0 for the Good Guys; or so we thought. Taken off the board. Offsides. Or so they say. Later on, the Blues get on the board. Robert Thomas with the goal. Blues actually were offside. Refs let it slide because of course they did. Parker Kelly tied it up later on, and with 11 seconds left in the first period, the Avs were on the power play. It carried on into the second period, and was knocked off.

Shortly after the PP ended, Brent Burns, who played his 1,001st consecutive game, shot a long one into the net! Amazing! 41 years old and he's still got that magic touch! Avs took the lead, but unfortunately, we only had it for about 20 seconds, as Robert Thomas tied it up. Hell's bells. Each team had a power play that was killed off, and after 40 minutes, it's 2-2. Third period is where the bullshit happens. At the tail end of an Avs power play, MacKinnon's called for "slashing," because being held and being nearly pushed down is "slashing." Refs really need to stop hating Mack because he's better than their boy McDavid. Penalty was killed off, but they decided to put Josh Manson in the box because, well, reasons. That was knocked off too.

It looked like we could get OT, but unfortunately, an odd man rush (it appeared to be 3-on-2, but it looked like 3-on-1) allowed Robert Thomas to do something he's never done: complete a Hat Trick. We're down 3-2 late, and we still have time to force OT. However, an asshat in stripes decided to call a penalty on Gabriel Landeskog for slashing. The stick broke on its own! But because Our Captain just happened to be next to him, it's a penalty. Landeskog let that ref have it, and rightfully so. Even Bob Wischusen, who called this game on ESPN, said the stick was breaking on its own. But the Blues got a power play with less than two minutes left in regulation, so that's that.

Another instance where the refs totally robbed us. Refs handed the Blues a win on a silver platter because they (again) let the Blues get away with murder, and they made up bullshit to call on us--the biggest insult being the non-existant slash that was called on Landeskog. I tell people constantly that the refs hate the Avs, but they think I'm nuts. Those same people even say that the Avs are "power play merchants." Since when?! The average Avs game sees us get maybe two PPs while our opponents get at least four. The people saying that we're PP merchants clearly never watched a Golden Knights, Stars, or Oilers game at all.

But good news, fellow Avs fans! We are still two points away from getting #1 in the West. So a win, or an OT/SO loss and a Dallas OT/SO loss, or a Dallas regulation loss. Any combination of two points will get it done. And more good news: we get those same Blues on Tuesday!

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