Avs come up just short as nine-game winning streak comes to an end

We talked last week on the DNVR Avalanche Podcast about the remaining schedule of games, and how there were really only 2-3 games left that we felt would be really entertaining must-see games.

Tonight, the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Washington Capitals, and even though the Avalanche have the West wrapped up, and the Capitals have secured their spot in the playoffs, it was absolutely one of those must-see games as the Avs and Caps slugged it out for 60 minutes, with Washington eventually edging out a 3-2 victory.

I asked Jared Bednar this morning what he was expecting out of the Capitals, and the first words out of his mouth were “veteran team.” The Caps have slid in the standings a bit lately, but make no mistake about it, this is a team that knows how to ramp up the intensity and win games when it matters. 

The game started with outstanding pace. These were two teams that don’t see a lot of each other and wanted to send a statement. Wide-open, north-south hockey from some of the game’s brightest stars. Adding to the atmosphere was a rowdy crowd that featured a healthy contingency of Capitals fans. 

The crowd was into it, leaning into the cliche, the game really had a playoff-like feel to it from the jump. What was really great about it, in my opinion, was that while both teams were playing with great pace, there was good structure and solid team defense. 

Both teams were forced to play fast, physical, intelligent hockey.  

I went on Fox21, the local Colorado Springs news affiliate, earlier this week, and I mentioned how Jack Johnson has been a pleasant surprise this season for the Avalanche. I said that he had become a steady, solid presence on the bottom pairing. 

Less than five minutes into this game, he made me look a little silly. Being the last man back, Johnson mishandled a puck in his zone and handed Garnet Hathaway a clean breakaway, and Hathaway wired one right past Darcy Kuemper’s head and gave his team the lead. 

I won’t lie, that was probably the loudest Ball Arena has gotten for a visiting team goal all season. After several years of being overrun by transplants coming out to cheer on opposing teams, the last couple of seasons have seen Avs fans somewhat “reclaim” Ball Arena and keep the opposing fans out, but that’s really neither here nor there. 

One of the most impressive things we’ve seen from the Avs this season has been their ability to push back in the face of adversity. The Caps had the first lead of the game and seemed energized, but the Avalanche were able to pour some cold water on everything and get back on track. 

It was about 10 more minutes of great back and forth hockey before Cale Makar set a breakout in motion that eventually lead to Val Nichushkin hitting the offensive blue line with a ton of speed and rifling a shot off the post and in. 

We were officially off and running, and just when you thought things were going to really open up and the goal-scoring floodgates were going to open, both teams decided it was time to lock it down defensively. 

After the Nichushkin goal, we saw the game tighten up, and both groups really start limiting shots on goal. The game didn’t get any less exciting or entertaining, it just changed. 

This is what Bednar was talking about this morning when he mentioned that Washington was a veteran group. The Caps knew getting into a game of “last goal wins” with the Avalanche probably wasn’t a good idea, even with the likes of Alex Ovechkin.

On the flip side, this Avs team has shown a ton of maturity in their game this year, and also have the ability to change their style at the drop of a hat. 

The 1-1 tie would hold into the intermission, and the second period saw a lot more of the same in terms of both teams locking things down. In fact, at the halfway point of the second period, neither team had recorded more than two shots in the period. 

When you have the kinds of offensive weapons that were on display in this one though, you don’t need a ton of shots for one to find its way to the back of the net. 

With just over seven minutes to go in the middle frame, a controversial tripping call on Nico Sturm sent Washington to the power play, and I don’t know if you knew this… but uhh… the Capitals have a pretty prolific power play goal-scorer on their team. 

It didn’t take long, just 37 seconds into the power play, the puck landed right on the stick of Alex Ovechkin, who dunked the puck into a wide-open net, it was his 48th goal of the season. 

That would stand as the lone tally of the period, and the final shot count in the middle frame was just 5-2 in favor of Washington. Suddenly these two offensive juggernauts found themselves in a defensive stalemate. 

You knew that we would see the Avs attempt to get the offense jump-started at the beginning of the third, after all, you have to score to win. Still though, it was only a one-goal deficit, and they weren’t going to sacrifice smart, structured play in order to sell out in the attacking zone. 

The Avs threw some good chances on net, and Darcy Kuemper was good when he needed him to be to keep his team within striking distance. One player in particular that I thought had a number of great looks throughout the game was Artturi Lehkonen. He was all around the net, all night long. 

Just before the halfway mark of the third period, Sturm threw a puck into the crease, and Lehkonen went to work. Lehkonen got two or three good whacks at the puck, before finally punching it over the goal line and tying the game up.

Since it was a scramble in the crease, you had a feeling Washington head coach Peter Laviolette would ask the officials to look at it for goaltender interference. They did, and it didn’t matter. The goal stood. Tie game. 

Unfortunately for the Avs though, it didn’t stay tied very long. A sloppy breakout attempt less than three minutes later, led to a sudden odd-man rush coming right at Darcy Kuemper. Kuemper made a great effort to get across but just couldn’t get a piece of the puck. 

The larger-than-expected showing of Caps fans erupted, and the Avs were on the chase again. 

They took that chase down to the bitter end, throwing everything they could towards the net. Give the Capitals a ton of credit, they played a great game, and just packed the slot in the final few minutes, making it nearly impossible for the Avalanche to get pucks and bodies through. 

The Caps hung on for the one-goal win, ending the Avs’ nine-game winning streak. 

The Capitals are officially the only team the Avalanche didn’t pull a win off of this year, losing both games they played in regulation. 

You have to lose eventually, and given the injuries Colorado is dealing with, and what a good team Washington is, you can live with this one. The next three are all on the road as the Avs continue to wind this season down.