Matt Duchene Turning Colorado Avalanche Into Dangerous Playoff Team

The Colorado Avalanche did something no other team had done all season this past weekend when they snapped the long unbeaten streak of the Chicago Blackhawks.

There is no doubt that Colorado’s success in recent games has been focused on one player in particular in Matt Duchene. Duchene has four goals and three assists in the team’s last five games, and had four points in Friday’s beating of Chicago. He is very young and has a long career ahead of him, but this is truly one of the best runs that Duchene has had in his young career so far.

Duchene is only in his fourth year with Colorado, and is still only 22-years old. The center has 26 points this season, to lead the Avalanche in points, and is on a pace to score 53 points this season — more than a point a game. He has shown in the past that he can be a scary player to deal with, and is doing it again in 2013 after missing a lot of time last season.

The Avalanche may find a way to sneak into the NHL playoffs as the No. 8 seed, and that should scare the team they just beat Friday night.

It is obvious that the Avalanche have the formula to beat the Blackhawks, and they showed it with their 6-2 drubbing of Chicago. There will be a ton of pressure on Chicago in the playoffs to prove that the long winning streak wasn’t just a regular season thing.

Duchene could be the one player that makes Chicago’s run go up in smoke — Colorado could be the most dangerous No. 8 seed out there.

Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.