It felt like a playoff hockey atmosphere Sunday night inside Ball Arena.
The Avalanche (16-5-2) persevered over the Florida Panthers thanks to Andre Burakovsky’s hat trick. But here are five additional takeaways from a wild 3-2 finish. This game had it all.
Scary moment. A lively home crowd went silent for several minutes in the second period when Colorado defenseman Jacob MacDonald laid motionless on the ice after a legal (but brutal) hit by Florida winger Ryan Lomberg.
The Avs said MacDonald was “alert, responsive and has full movement.” Good news. But there have been two players carried off the ice on a stretcher over the past week alone.