ST. PAUL, Minn. — The lingering evidence of the blocked shot that shelved Josh Manson for most of December is still visible when he removes the outer layer of his hockey gear.
There’s a heavily wrapped wrist, with some extra padding, to help him play for the Avalanche while the injury he sustained on Nov. 29 continues to heal. For all of the firepower on Colorado’s roster, this team still needs what Manson provides.
And on nights like Thursday, when he helps ignite the offense as well, he’s an immensely valuable player.
“He was outstanding tonight,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said after Colorado crushed the Minnesota Wild, 6-1, at Xcel Energy Center. “That’s what he can do. It’s super aggressive defending. It’s physical all over the ice. It’s hard in all the right areas. And then he chips in on the offensive side of it. He shows his skill off, too.”
The Avs have a trio of high-end offensive talents on the blue line, highlighted by arguably the best in the world, Cale Makar. Most nights, Devon Toews and Sam Girard are part of the club’s offensive engine as well. Sam Malinski provides a spark for the third pairing.
But Manson brings different elements. He’s big, and he plays mean. When he’s really going, though, like he was Thursday in the Twin Cities, he’s also plenty capable of some offensive panache as well.
Two of the best plays against the Wild began on Manson’s stick. One got the offensive part started, and the other was an exclamation point.
“All it was was two passes, right?” a mildly modest Manson said. “My legs felt good tonight. I was creating separation, which is good for my game. It’s just good when I don’t have to shoot the puck because when I’ve been shooting it, nothing good has been happening. I can get it to somebody else and maybe do some good things.”
The first play came less than four minutes into the first period. Manson collected the puck in the neutral zone with his back to the Minnesota end. With a Wild forechecker to his left, Manson quickly spun to his right and snapped a pass to Logan O’Connor at the far blue line. A couple of seconds later it was 1-0.
“I kind of felt the guy off my inside, and it was just turn and get it up as quick as I can,” Manson said. “I don’t know if they were changing or what, but (O’Connor) had a great route off the wall through the middle to split that gap. That’s the timing you love to see from the forwards. He made a good play, out-skated them and put a good shot on it.”
The Avs were dominant without the puck at times Thursday, and the game was probably over at 4-1 early in the third period. Minnesota did have a power play, maybe one last gasp, but Manson made sure this was a walkover.
Manson collected a bouncing puck while at a standstill with his skates below the hash marks in his own zone. That’s a dangerous place for the puck to be, but Manson decided to keep it instead of flinging it to the other end of the ice.
One Wild player was on the ice, but three were within striking distance when Manson started skating. By the time he reached the Minnesota zone, those three were in his rearview, and he beat the last guy back with a perfect backhanded pass to Artturi Lehkonen for a stellar shorthanded tally.
“I just kind of kept skating. I felt like if I just kept skating, sometimes those power-play guys are out there for a long time and you can kind of catch them a little bit tired,” Manson said. “Once I felt like I was in front of him, it was just keep chugging with it until I got across their blue line.”
Manson logged 20:58 against the Wild, which is the most he’s played in a game that ended in regulation all season. He’s got four assists (a pair of two-point games) in seven contests since coming back from the injury.
Before that setback, Manson and Girard were on the ice for too many goals against. It wasn’t always their fault, but the volume was an issue.
It’s only seven games since Manson has returned, but the Avs are outscoring foes 8-5 when he’s on the ice at 5-on-5 and collecting 55.64% of the expected goals, which is a better-than-12% increase from before he got hurt.
“A very well-rounded game, and one of his best,” Bednar said. “That’s what you need coming off a loss. It’s on a back-to-back. You need guys to step up, and I thought he was outstanding.”
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