Gutsy Avalanche grind out quality win in Vegas

I wondered how long into the season we would get before I found an excuse to talk about that “championship mettle” that will follow this Avalanche core around for the rest of their careers.

Turns out, it was just six games.

For the second time in those six games, the Avs had the pleasure of traveling on the second night of a back-to-back and playing a team that’s just been sitting and waiting for them, nice and rested.

Despite the Avs having a top-heavy lineup usage last night in their 3-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken, Colorado jumped all over Vegas early and built up a 3-1 lead before eventually hanging on for a 3-2 win of their own, spoiling the schedule maker’s devious plan to get Vegas off to a hot start this season (this was their third straight game playing an opponent on a SEGABABA while they were rested).

You could tell from Jesse Montano’s interview with Andrew Cogliano last night after the Kraken game that the Avalanche knew and understood their effort in that game was unacceptable. If you missed it, here’s what Cogliano had to say:

My full conversation with Cogliano after the game. #Avs https://t.co/aaNyHDLdo0 pic.twitter.com/dy9vxe9ijg

— Jesse Montano (@jessemontano_) October 22, 2022

That level of accountability is what helped forge the inner fire that burned throughout the postseason and propelled the Avalanche to their most recent Stanley Cup. That’s that championship attitude people like me love to write about during the course of a season.

We saw it on full display from the start of this game. While Cale Makar got worked on the first shift of the game and required Alexandar Georgiev to stop a breakaway 15 seconds into the game, the Avs dominated the next 18 minutes or so.

Even with Makar still not looking quite right and playing without his normal partner, Devon Toews, Colorado’s defense looked comfortable and activated the offense as they do and the forwards got quality efforts beyond just Nathan MacKinnon’s line.

They drew the first power play of the game and their league-leading power play went to work, scoring on a MacKinnon one-timer that almost looked routine. You knew the Avs meant business when the goal was scored and the players on the ice hardly reacted. They fist-bumped and got back to work.

Despite a dominating opening frame, a late penalty put their league-worst penalty kill on the ice and, like their power play earlier, that unit lived up to its reputation and gave up a wide-open backdoor goal to Jonathan Marchessault (because of course).

The Avs carried a 29-10 advantage in Corsi into the first intermission, but the score was just 1-1.

Special teams got back to work in the second period, however, as Colorado’s second unit got in on the goal-scoring fun this time when Evan Rodrigues wired home his own one-timer and the Avs regained the lead at 2-1 on goals that looked pretty similar.

It was the second goal in two nights for Rodrigues and gave the Avs that little jolt from beyond the top line they’ve been needing.

Vegas really took control of the game in the second half of the period but failed to convert on their turn on the power play but drew a penalty on MacKinnon with one second left.

Fresh off intermission, the Avs killed their second straight penalty but would again find themselves down a man when J.T. Compher was called for an absolutely pointless hook in the neutral zone.

Down one of their primary PKers, the Avs rose to the occasion, killed the penalty, and got back to even strength.

Once there, Valeri Nichushkin went blazing through the neutral zone, turned Brayden McNabb inside-out and blew the puck past Logan Thompson to give the Avs a little breathing room at 3-1.

From there, the Avs’ legs were clearly spent and Vegas went into comeback tryhard mode. With the help of some truly incredible good fortune, it nearly worked.

All night the Golden Knights had been on the right side of the little bounces, from a puck taking a random bounce over Georgiev’s stick to give them possession of the puck behind Colorado’s net and then another bad-ice puck bounce that hopped on multiple Avs players that created the possession at the end of the second period that ended in MacKinnon hooking Mark Stone.

It was an impressive display of the uncontrollable breaking heavily in the favor of one team, and boy did it ever continue. Sam Girard was retreating in his own zone with the puck when his stick randomly got stuck in the corner boards, giving possession to the Knights and allowing them to center it through Girard’s stickless position for a one-timer goal in front.

Just like that, it was 3-2 and the game was tight again. The bounces didn’t stop there, however, as Georgiev was tested multiple times by wild caroms. One was a puck ticketed several feet wide of the net that hit an Avalanche body in front and ended up on goal, which Georgiev corralled. The most incredible was a bounce straight from the days of old Joe Louis Arena, where the puck hit the back wall and took a diagonal bounce around the post and off Georgiev’s backside.

Georgiev fell on it, kept it out of the net, and shut down the rest of the chances Vegas created the rest of the way. He finished with 33 saves on 35 shots on goal and put up easily his best Avalanche performance to date.

When a team has tired legs and is protecting a lead like that, they turn to their last line of defense to get them across the finish line and Georgiev met the moment wonderfully.

It was a gutsy win all-around for the Avs and puts them at 3-2-1 on the season. Not incredible, but seven of 12 possible points isn’t the apocalyptic scenario many were predicting just 24 hours ago after the disheartening loss to the Kraken.

The Avalanche schedule only gets tougher from here, however, as they head out east for tilts against the Rangers, Devils, and Islanders before leaving for Finland and their third back-to-back in the first ten games of the season.

We know this Avs group is capable of digging deep and finding something special. We just weren’t expecting to have to see it so early in the season.