There is a reason 33-year-old Carl Soderberg is enjoying the best baseball of his NHL career.
The Avalanche second-line center tipped the puck beyond Los Angelesw Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick in the first stage Saturday. It opened the floodgates for a 7-1 success and notched Soderberg’s 16th objective of the year, tying a career high set this past year. Soderberg currently has 34 more games to extend it beginning Monday from the Nashville Predators in the Pepsi Center.
Soderberg, the Avs’ oldest participant, is a decade-plus before mates such as defenseman Sam Girard (20) along with winger Mikko Rantanen (22). You could never tell that watching Soderberg skate, since the calendar turned to January with seven points — five goals and two assists — over his previous six outings.
“I don’t even have that lots of years ago (in the NHL),” Soderberg stated, “therefore I try to enjoy every match. ”
The Blues drafted Soderberg in 2004 at the next round, but he didn’t debut in the NHL until 2013 at age 27 with the Bruins. The Avs obtained Soderberg via trade three years later, and he amassed a career-high 51 points for Colorado from the 2015-16 season. But Soderberg’s trademark moment came last week in Toronto when he recorded his first NHL hat trick.
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“All season that he ’s been producing, but especially the last few months,” winger Gabe Landeskog mentioned. “He’s been among the most consistent players and stepping up big when we want it. ”
Soderberg’s impact extends beyond scoring. He sparked a second-period breakaway Saturday and left a lead pass to streaking defenseman Colin Wilson for the Avs’ seventh score of the afternoon. And, using a 6-foot-3, 210-pound framework, Soderberg may be an intimidating presence on the ice.
“His seriousness was amazing,” defenseman Tyson Barrie said. “He’s been skating well, and then he ’s been a big driving force for us the last bit. We’ve made to sort of build off his energy. He’s been among those guys who has been bringing it every evening. That’s been amazing. We can all rally, get everyone going and be a dangerous team. ”
Additional trainer Jared Bednar, on Soderberg: “He’s winning races, and he’s winning conflicts. So that allows him to play on the right side of the puck a good deal. ”
The flip side to Soderberg’s current explosion is a social networking presence. Don’t even anticipate the Sweden native to boast. He’ll admit these previous two seasons in Colorado have been the best of his profession, however it’s a single-game concentrate with all the Avs fighting to stay in the playoff picture.
“I think I’ve been playing quite well lately,” Soderberg stated. “I’ll just try to keep up that. ”
Injury update. Rantanen along with defenseman Erik Johnson left the Kings match Saturday with accidents. Johnson suffered a concussion in the first period, Bednar told reporters Sunday, and is hopeful to return after the all-star break. Rantanen, who coped with a slight lower-body trauma in the next phase, returned to practice Sunday and is expected to play against the Predators.
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