Logan O’Connor should’ve bought a lottery ticket after he scored.
His short-handed rebound last Saturday against the Panthers broke a 38-game goalless drought, helped the Avalanche avoid a winless road trip, and provided a good omen for his Super Bowl Sunday.
The Avs flew back to Denver that night after the 5-3 win in south Florida. By kickoff time the next afternoon, O’Connor was engaged.
“Won the Super Bowl halftime betting squares, too,” the 26-year-old wing said. “So I had a good day.”
As slick as it seems, the timing of the proposal after a goal was sheer coincidence. O’Connor had been planning around that date “for a long time,” he said. Family and friends (about 40 people) were gathered at the Manor House in Littleton to celebrate with O’Connor and his new fiancé, former DU lacrosse player Kendra Lanuza, who is from Littleton.
The goal just happened to be a nice confidence boost. O’Connor went through a 45-game drought last season, and this stretch was nearing that total as he found himself on the receiving end of 2-on-1 rush with linemate Andrew Cogliano.
“I think as it gets stretched out, there’s definitely some frustration. Some stress that can come into it,” O’Connor said. “But I know my identity as a player isn’t necessarily being a goal scorer. It’s more so doing the little things. Providing energy. Trying to be a 200-foot player. … But at the same time, you always want to be contributing offensively when you can. So definitely led to frustration.”
O’Connor felt like he was generating better opportunities recently after a period in January when he wasn’t. Still, he played some of his best hockey during the dry spell, helping improve Colorado’s penalty kill and even registering four assists in the last three games before the NHL All-Star break. He also engaged Tampa’s Ross Colton in a fighting rematch last Thursday, rekindling their friction from last year’s Stanley Cup Final.
“He’s not known for his scoring, but everyone wants to score,” coach Jared Bednar said. “Everyone wants to chip in. He just brings so much more to the table than that. For a guy like OC, I just want him to concentrate on playing the right way.”
In fact, Bednar agreed, O’Connor is the kind of player a coach specifically tells not to stress when pucks aren’t going in.
O’Connor had other things to stress about, anyway.
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