Thank You, Utah Mammoth

I have been timely with the Colorado Avalanche recaps lately, but there are a few reasons why I'm a tad late with this one. For one, I was focused on the World Baseball Classic coming to a close. Also, the NCAA Tournament was kicking off. And, I was looking ahead to Wednesday, which is not only my birthday, but also our big game against the Dallas Stars. Which leads me to another reason for the lateness: I kinda want to forget this game actually happened.

Before our big game, we returned home in our Quebec Nordiques unis against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were still without Sidney Crosby. However, Evgeni Malkin was back from his suspension, and boy did he let us know it. Avs had an early power play that was killed off with no shots, and right after the kill, Malkin got out of the box, and put one in. Just over a minute later, Nathan MacKinnon tied it up; a beautiful shot! But just seconds later, Anthony Mantha made it 2-1 for Pittsburgh. Yikes.

It gets worse, because with General Crosby having the best seat in the house, his top Colonel scored again. Malkin struck at 13:00, and 43 seconds later, it was Elmer Soderblom. Brent Burns scored later on, but even, the Avs were down 4-2 after 20 minutes, despite us having a 2-1 shots advantage. Avs had more power plays, but they were not amounting to a damn thing. Even so, we had some momentum, but it was snuffed out by Erik Karlsson, who made it 5-2. Later on, Bryan Rust made it 6-2, and once that happened, I took out my remote and turned the channel. That was that.

However, fellow Avs fans, let's not fret. Because, finally... it happened.

The Dallas Stars actually lost in regulation. At home. Against the Utah Mammoth. So we weren't the only ones getting punched in the mouth that Monday evening. Seeing the Mammoth as Dallas' opponents made me so wary. I don't trust Utah. They are too damn up and down, and while the Penguins were making mincemeat out of us, I was too afraid to look at Dallas' score. I figured that Dallas would be mopping the floor with Utah and they'd be one point behind us. I was so over the moon when I saw Utah was up 5-2 late. Dallas hadn't lost in regulation in nearly two months, and that's because that streak started before the Olympic Break!

7-2 was the final score in our game, but thank goodness that the Utah Mammoth actally learned how to play hockey that night. Our lead is still three points; miniscule, yes, but it's better than two or even one. Now we prepare for the big battle. Stars @ Avalanche on Wednesday, my birthday. We do have one more meeting with Dallas left, but this one is just too big. Two teams with a combined 191 standings points will go at it, and it will be absolutely monstrous. TNT will have this one, kicking off a huge weekend for the network, as they'll be working alongside CBS, TruTV, and TBS in airing the first two rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

March Madness affects more than one sport, folks. And yes, I was inspired by WWE Champion Cody Rhodes' "Wrestling has more than one royal family" line, but it's the truth.

* * *

If you like this story and review, click the heart and subscribe button, and feel free to comment below! Tips and pledges would be greatly appreciated, but only if you want to do so!