It would have sounded ludicrous as recently as four days ago to credit the 2022-23 Avalanche with a feat of dominance equally impressive as the previous year’s team.
But the Stanley Cup-winning Avs only matched this one: a two-game stretch with a plus-10 goal differential.
Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon both scored twice, and with a faction of Red Wings fans almost outnumbering the home attendance at Ball Arena, the Avalanche tipped those scales in their favor with a commanding 6-3 win Monday. It would have been a plus-11 in the last two games if not for Detroit’s tally in the last 40 seconds.