Avs can't stretch their lead and lose 4-3 in shootout

The Colorado Avalanche would be without Cale Makar yet again. The team is exercising extreme caution given the gravity of the situation involving his concussion. Makar skated in a no contact jersey at morning skate and Josh Manson was a regular participant but would not be ready to go tonight.

As a result, the Avs recalled Brad Hunt and Ben Meyers so that they could run 12-6. The Avs were smack in the middle of the Central with 60 points and games in hand to try and unseat Minnesota from the third place spot. Alexandar Georgiev would start in net.

First Period

Tampa Bay came hot out the gate on Thursday. The atmosphere resembled the intensity of playoff hockey, and the end result reflected that for the Lightning at least.

Almost as if in direct response, fifty seconds into tonight’s game, Colorado managed to do what they couldn’t in their last contest. They beat Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Sam Girard passed to Artturi Lehkonen for the controlled entry. In the zone, Nathan MacKinnon ripped off thie shot attempt and the Avs worked hard to retrieve it. MacKinnon set Lehkonen up at the left circle. With Val Nichushkin planted at the crease, he served a perfect screen for Lehkonen’s wrist shot to go farside.

The Avs took the first penalty of the game, but the kill was effective. Andrew Cogliano poked the puck away from Vasilevskiy and created a shorthanded chance for Logan O’Connor coming down the slot.

Colorado put up a solid period, but Tampa wasn’t going away any time soon. The Avs had the edge in shot attempts 17-16, but Tampa created eight dangerous chances to Colorado’s four – eight chances that Georgiev made important, timely saves on.

Tampa spent their fair share of the time in Colorado’s end, but the Avs did a nice job with their d-zone coverage: blocking shots, getting sticks down, and tying up lanes.

Second Period

J.T. Compher took a high sticking penalty and Colorado went back on the kill early into the start of the second period. It was another great kill, Cogliano generated a chance and at its expiry, Matt Nieto fed Evan Rodrigues for another. 

At 6:21, the Avs set up in the offensive zone. MacKinnon deked Stamkos but the puck dribbled away from him to Brayden Point. Point tried to clear the puck, but sent it directly to Bowen Byram. Byram came around the side and sent the puck farside. MacKinnon snuck in the back door and tapped it in.

The Avs earned their first powerplay chance of the game. Nieto set Ben Meyers up in the offensive zone and just as Meyers tried to play the puck, he was hooked. Meyers had a shot attempt blocked in the first, so it was encouraging to see him unafraid to try and create.

Past the midway point, Compher’s shot went wide and rimmed around the boards. It led to an odd-man rush and Point sent a cross-slot pass to Nikita Kucherov to tap in at the side of the net. Lighting got on the board.

With three minutes remaining, Alex Killorn fell into Georgiev and knocked him backwards. A penalty was called, but Compher made sure to express his displeasure and Killorn dropped the gloves.

A good kill on a Lehkonen penalty kept the PK perfect through three chances. Georgiev had to make just four saves on the kill because the Avs did a nice job of clearing the zone and defending their end. The Avs gained a step on the Lightning in the possession battle and outshot Tampa 33-24.

Third Period

Twenty-six seconds into its start, Byram tried to deny Anthony Cirelli entry but his timing on the check was slightly off and Cirelli passed the puck to Stamkos to skate in. Andreas Englund tried to get his stick on the puck, but Stamkos set Cirelli up from the top of the left circle and his shot went in.

Moments after, Nieto skated in on the breakaway. His shot was blocked, but Denis Malgin was able to skate in and collect the rebound with speed. Malgin wristed it past Vasilevskiy. This breakaway was more successful for Nieto than the chance he last had against Tampa.

Denis Malgin, who has earned criticism for a lack of finishing touch, scored his first goal as an Av and bested one of the best goaltenders in the league to do it.

Two minutes later, some of that wind was taken out of Colorado’s sails. What should have been routine became a nightmare. Kurtis MacDermid skated the puck around the boards and passed the puck to Compher presumably to start the breakout. The puck was too far ahead and Compher tried to reach for it, but it turned over to the Lightning instead. Corey Perry banked it off the boards and MacDermid tried to skate to it, but Vlad Namestnikov took it and danced around Byram to score.

It was a glaringly avoidable play. The game was now tied.

At 12:36 into the third, Logan O’Connor took the team’s fourth penalty, but even without him on the kill, it remained perfect.

Colorado lost a little of the edge that they had gained in the second period. Until Namestnikov’s tying goal, Tampa Bay was pressed to close in on their one goal deficit. It was within reach and they had their sights locked on the target for the whole period.

The Avs, in recognizing a one goal lead is not secure, tried to stay in it too. Colorado outshot Tampa 12-10, but the Lightning created five dangerous chances to the Avs’ one.

Overtime and Shootout

Colorado escaped overtime. Tampa didn’t look much more capable, but the outcome felt far too random to be determined based on how both teams played three-on-three. The Avs held onto the puck, but it was a lot of setting up and resetting. Mikko Rantanen had the best chance on a rebound, but he couldn’t hit the target.

In the shootout, Vasilevskiy was one save better than Georgiev. Only Steven Stamkos scored with a wrist shot. It was the goaltending dual we wanted, just not quite the outcome. Georgiev finished with 32 saves and a 0.914 save percentage in the end. He stopped 15 dangerous chances on 35 shots throughout the contest. By comparison, Vasilevskiy stopped 20 dangerous chances on 46 total chances.

The Avs managed a point out of the contest and would immediately fly out to Minnesota for a back-to-back. The Wild would have the benefit of rest and home ice. Georgiev received the nod as likely to start tomorrow. Ben Meyers was reassigned after the game which points to Josh Manson’s return. Cale Makar was ruled out for tomorrow’s game.