Joonas Donskoi: 2020-21 Season In Review

In his second season with the Colorado Avalanche, Joonas Donskoi was once again a reliable depth forward for the club.
The 29-year-old set a new career high with 17 goals in the 2020-21 campaign, the fifth-most on the team. He set a new personal best with a plus-14 rating on the year, while registering 14 assists and 31 points in 51 games and averaging 14:32 of ice time per contest.
Donskoi tied a personal best with a four-point performance (three goals, one assist) in Colorado's 9-3 win on March 31 against the Arizona Coyotes at Ball Arena, the first game that the Avs played in front of their home fans since March 11, 2020.

In that outing, he lit the lamp three times in a 3:27 span, marking the second-fastest hat trick in franchise history (2:17 by the Quebec Nordiques' Alain Cote on April 1, 1982). Donskoi's three goals came in the opening 7:31 of the first period, the fastest hat trick to start a game in franchise history. The previous mark was 15:46, set by Cote in that April 1982 contest.

"I love seeing him get rewarded. He's been a consistent worker for us," head coach Jared Bednar said of Donskoi after the March 31 game. "He looks extremely poised with the puck, and he's patient making plays. But it's not just fancy, it's the right play at the right time. He gets rewarded tonight. Three goals in a hurry, and probably could have had two or three more assists in the first period."
It was the second career hat trick for Donskoi, with his previous coming on Nov. 7, 2019 versus the Nashville Predators while a member of the Avs. With the three markers coming in the opening frame, he became the first Colorado player to score three goals in a period since Tomas Fleischmann on Dec. 15, 2010 at Chicago.
Overall, Donskoi opened the scoring for the Avs on seven occasions and nine of his goals came in the first stanza, tied for second in the league behind only Auston Matthews' 12 first-period tallies.

The Raahe, Finland, native had a pair of five-game point streaks to tie his career best, finding the scoresheet from Jan. 26-Feb. 2 and March 14-22. In between those runs, he registered his 100th NHL assist on Feb. 27 at Arizona, helping the Avalanche win that contest 6-2.
To close the regular season, Donskoi found the back of the net in each of Colorado's final two games to help the club capture the Presidents' Trophy and West Division title. He ended the campaign with a career-high five power-play goals, the fourth-most on the Avs, and was second on the team and eighth in the NHL in shooting percentage (19.8).

In the postseason, Donskoi had three goals and two assists in Colorado's 10 games. He has competed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of his six NHL campaigns and has 32 career points (15 goals, 17 assists) in 69 total contests.
A trusted winger in all three zones, Donskoi will look to build off his solid 2020-21 season when the new campaign opens this fall.