Nathan MacKinnon leads late Avalanche push in 5-4 OT win over Anaheim Ducks

Colorado rolled with a slightly different lineup within their forward group tonight. After three combined goals in their last two games – Jared Bednar elevated Alex Newhook and Ben Meyers to the third line with Lars Eller.

Now on the fourth line was Matt Nieto, Andrew Cogliano, and Logan O’Connor.

Game #️⃣7️⃣9️⃣#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/KJr3rV9ILG

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 10, 2023

After missing time since October 13th, Pavel Francouz returned to the lineup and earned his 16th start of the season.

First Period

Colorado had a much better first period than their last against Los Angeles, but they still appeared to lack a little spark.

At 5:14, Devon Toes took a hooking penalty and the Avs had the first penalty kill of the game. Colorado, even without one of their key penalty killers, withstood it and allowed just two shots on net.

Jack Johnson caught Anaheim in a change and carried the puck up ice in transition. He carried it deep into the zone in search of the perfect play, and gave it to Erik Johnson. Johnson’s initial pass attempt to J.T. Compher on the other side of the crease, but it was blocked by Nathan Beaulieu. Val Nichushkin collected the puck as it bounced off and made the pass to Compher to tap it in despite being off-balanced at 10:15. Avs went up 1-0.

Through the midway point, Cogliano took a hooking call as well. This time Colorado allowed just one shot on net.

The first period took a turn after a string of penalties from Anaheim led to four powerplay chances back-to-back. The Avs had two 5-on-3 chances sprinkled in and missed seven shot attempts and hit three posts.

Through it all, they only managed to get two pucks on net.

As the period closed, the shots differential was 9-7 in favor of Anaheim, but Colorado reasonably controlled possession (with so much time on the man-advantage) and created four high-danger chances of their own.

Second Period

Colorado did a much better job to collect themselves at the start of this frame and gained in the shots battle. Through the first half, the Avs outshot the Ducks 12-6.

The Avs cycled the puck up high in Anaheim’s end and were rewarded with a chance to reset. Toews passed to Sam Girard who passed to Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen skated into the slot past two Ducks defenders and backhanded it in.

Less than two minutes later, the Avs were pinned in their end in search of a clear. Erik Johnson tried to engage Trevor Zegras, but he got the pass off to Frank Vatrano between the hash marks. Vatrano released a slapshot and the puck went bar down.

Then, as the period neared its end, the Avs won an o-zone draw and Mikko Rantanen had possession. He was pursued hard by Adam Henrique, and Henrique forced the turnover at the blueline and took off on the breakaway.

Pavel Francouz came to the top of his crease to challenge him, but left his five-hole exposed and Henrique backhanded it in to tie it up late.

What was otherwise a good period unraveled in the final minutes.

Third Period

Early into its start, J.T. Compher was called for hooking while trying to collect a loose puck. Shortly after the penalty kill expired, Ducks maintained possession in Colorado’s end. It was a pretty simple play, Terry left the puck for Vatrano and Vatrano carried it up high and snapped it in past Francouz. For the first time in this game, the Avs trailed.

Soon after, Ducks were ambitious off the o-zone draw and Brett Leason bounded up ice. Derek Grant grabbed it in the corner and sent it toward the net for Leason to bat in. The rebound took a weird bounce off Sam Girard in front of the net and went in awkwardly.

At 11:40. Trevor Zegras went off for hooking and the Avs earned an important powerplay chance. The Avs had some ground to make up for after the failed powerplays from the first period. Nathan MacKinnon and J.T. Compher battled for the puck in the corner and MacKinnon got it up high to Toews. From there, it was tape-to-tape from Toews to MacKinnon to Rantanen at the right circle.

MacKinnon’s cross-ice pass was impressive by itself, but Rantanen stole the show when he beat Dostal short-side to notch his 100th point of the season and his 54th goal.

Colorado was now within one goal, and Devon Toews drew a tripping penalty at an opportune time. Near the end of this powerplay, Nathan MacKinnon drew a tripping penalty, and the Avs earned an extended look with the man-advantage. Jared Bednar called a timeout to strategize.

This time Nichushkin passed to Mikko Rantanen in the high spot. Rantanen fed MacKinnon at the left circle, and MacKinnon one-timed it in to tie the game.

The Avs just needed to hold on for four and a half minutes, and they did with a fair exchange back and forth.

Overtime

Colorado had a solid overtime period. Nathan Mackinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Devon Toews were the trio elected to start. Rantanen won the opening faceoff, and the Avs held Anaheim to zero chances on net with four of their own coming from MacKinnon, Girard, and Evan Rodrigues.

At 3:53, Frank Vatrano was called for interference on Evan Rodrigues.  

The Avs made quick work of this powerplay. Rantanen passed to MacKinnon at the left circle. In search of the perfect lane, MacKinnon reset to Toews up high and received the puck back in return. Like he’d done once before already, he one-timed it in to win it in overtime. It was his 107th point of the season.

NATHAN MACKINNON 🐶

OVERTIME SPECIALIST! #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/lAnLvOloqY

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 10, 2023

Colorado rose to 104 points in the standings and bolstered their first-place spot in the Central division.

The Avalanche finished their four-game road trip with a perfect record and collected all eight possible
points.

They’ve won their last ten road games and have the second-best road record in the league behind the impossibly-good Boston Bruins.

Observations

Mikko Rantanen hits 100: It was definitely touch and go at points. After a particularly tough outing against Los Angeles, Rantanen’s quest for 100 still felt within reach but perhaps took a backseat to the bottom line which were the important points on the line in their quest for home ice.

Naturally, these two things can lend themselves to one another, but winning was paramount.

Rantanen’s contributions were timely. Sure, he advanced the game to 2-0 and brought the game back within one goal, but he also had a primary assist on the game-tying goal and a secondary on the game-winning goal. He finished the night with a team-high four points (two goals, two assists) and a total of 102 points on the season.

He joined Nathan MacKinnon in the 100 club – the second pair in Avs history to do it since Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic in 1995-96. He also notched his 54th goal and tied Joe Sakic for the most goals in Avalanche history – only one in the franchise succeeds him (Michael Goulet at 57 goals).

It wasn’t the prettiest game for him to unlock the record, but it is fitting in ways. Mikko Rantanen has dressed for all 79 games this season and has seen this team through some ugly points – sometimes being the lone bright spot himself.

Through the good, the bad, and the ugly, Mikko Rantanen has blossomed into this record-smashing player right before our eyes. He’s had the obvious tools for several seasons, but to put it all together as consistently as he has throughout the chaos of the season is an especially impressive feat. What Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen have been able to achieve together has been a big reason why Colorado is able to push for a division title.