Gameday Soundtrack: Revisiting the Bunny Slope

Oh, right, the Colorado Avalanche are still happening. They got off to a hot start, but since Chicago and St. Louis have established themselves as the biggest contenders in the Central Division, nobody’s talking about the Avalanche as much anymore.

They lost one game in October, but they’ve seen their share of ups and downs since then. The biggest news for them is that they beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Thursday night, which doesn’t really count as exacting revenge for their 8-2 drubbing at the Oilers’ hands to start December. I guess it must have been exciting for the Avalanche, though. It’s good to figure out how to come back against the 29th team in the league, who the Kings had already shut out in the same week.

To be fair, the Avalanche are technically the only team that have managed to shut out the Kings so far in 2013-14. I say “technically,” because both teams were scoreless throughout regulation, and then the one goal the Avalanche scored in overtime was actually a rebound that bounced off of Jarret Stoll and right into the open net. So, really, the Kings are the only team to shut the Kings out so far this season.

Since that game, LA has gone 9-2-2 and continue to claw their way up among the league standings. Despite dropping a game to Chicago last Sunday, they’re still the top defensive team in the league, allowing only 1.86 goals against per game on average. Shutout? What, shutout? LA hasn’t suffered at all, really.

That doesn’t mean that this game against the Avalanche will necessarily be a cakewalk. Goaltenders J.S. Giguere and elephant waste pile Semyon Varlamov are still among the top guys in net right now. They’re no Martin Jones and Ben Scrivens, but they can get it done most nights.

Colorado also has the offensive edge. They’re ranked seventh in the NHL, with 2.88 goals for per game. The Kings stand at 13th, averaging 2.67 goals per game so far this season, though they’ve averaged 3.10 goals per game in their last 10 match-ups. Colorado’s Matt Duchene has four goals and six assists in his last five games, making him a threat, but the Avalanche will need to worry about the terror the Kings have unleashed on many occasions this season.

Trevor Lewis still hasn’t managed to put together any kind of point-worthy anything this season, but maybe that’s because Top Line Left Wing Dwight King™ has hogged it all. King has earned three goals and three assists in his last five games. He’s gotten so good at startling traumatizing goalies with his face that even his weaker shots turn into goals.

Jeff Carter has three goals and five assists in that same time frame, making the line they’re on with Anze Kopitar a serious problem for opponents right now. (I like to think of it as the Beauty and the Beasts line.) Goals from Jordan Nolan, Tyler Toffoli and Alec Martinez show that depth players are also finding ways to contribute. If the Kings keep up the solid pass work from the Thursday game against the San Jose Sharks, this could be the second straight successful Saturday afternoon outing for them.