"That's when Avs goaltender Scott Wedgewood, the most loquacious player on the roster, had a thought that actually turned out to be more of a prophecy in hindsight. "For whatever reason, the whole vibe is an expectation that because we're a league leader and a threat that we are tense and guys are uptight and thinking, 'Oh, s---. We might get our butts kicked tonight,'" Wedgewood said. "That's where we like, 'We can kick someone's a--. Let's go to work.' I think that's freeing for the team.""
"Six hours later, that's exactly what they did to the Ottawa Senators in an 8-2 win that was more emphatic than the final score suggests. It was the way Josh Manson fought Tyler Kleven early in the first that set the tone. It was the two-goal lead at the end of the opening frame. It was the six goals they scored in the second period."
"It was a performance that proves how multiple things can be true at once. It was just one game; that's fair. But the game itself fits within a larger scope of a season in which the Avalanche have emerged as the favorite to win the Stanley Cup, despite the number of teams who believe they can win a title. That's what happens when a team wins 34 of its first 48 games. Winning that much presents the idea they could be more than just Stanley"
Colorado Avalanche entered January with only two regulation losses and had won 34 of their first 48 games, establishing themselves as Stanley Cup favorites. A brief two-game skid provoked external concern, but goalie Scott Wedgewood's contrarian mindset liberated the locker room. The team responded with an 8-2 rout of the Ottawa Senators, sparked by Josh Manson's early fight, a two-goal first-period lead, six second-period goals, and Samuel Girard's rare fight. The victory reinforced the team's scoring depth, physicality and confidence, fitting into a larger season-long dominance that projects sustained championship contention.
Read at ESPN.com
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