Avs get a point in Minnesota

To go into Minnesota, on the day after Thanksgiving, and come away with a point? That automatically made it a good day for the Colorado Avalanche. That the Avs didn’t get that extra point, against the Wild?

Yeah, disappointing. The Avs were probably the better team overall Friday at Xcel Energy Center. But still, coming away with a point in a 3-2 shootout loss still counts as a good day for this team.

Shootout goals by Charlie Coyle and Chris Stewart got the Wild the extra point, in the first game of the season between the teams. The Avs were very good in the first 60 minutes, but played a surprisingly flat overtime and got nothing from Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen in the shootout, against backup Wild goalie Alex Stalock.

Things were really going nicely for the Avs in the second period. They were maintaining a 2-1 lead, after successive goals by J.T. Compher (a short-hander, on a breakaway) and Blake Comeau (wrister, near post, right circle). But then Mark Barberio decided to get sloppy with a puck near his own blue line, and it cost the lead.

Barberio made a bad pass, one that was picked off and started a counter-attack. Comeau, seeing that it would be a break-in situation, tried to get the puck back but was whistled for slashing. On the ensuing power play, Nino Niederreiter scored for the sixth straight game, a one-timer from the right side.

The Avs managed to get out of the period even at 2, despite some sloppy play in their own end after the Wild PP goal. And, the Avs even went into the third on the power play, after Eric Staal was called for tripping near the horn. The Avs had some good puck movement and controlled the zone most of the two minutes, but Alex Stalock was good in net.

The Avs went right back on the power play, with 14:12 left, when Mikael Granlund was called for holding on Mikko Rantanen. Again, though, the Avs failed, being kept mostly to the perimeter and taking too long to make decisions. Lack of efficiency on the power play, on the road, continues to be a big problem.

Compher had an open net with about 9:45 left, after getting the rebound of his own shot. But the puck bounced away on him.

In the overtime, Jonathan Bernier was outstanding, making five saves – including a great stop on Granlund at the horn.

NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• Kind of a sleepy day for the top line. MacKinnon, Gabe Landeskog and Rantanen just didn’t do a whole lot at even strength. Not that they were terrible, but…just not enough.
• Sven Andrighetto got back in the lineup, with Gabriel Bourque getting the day off. Andrighetto didn’t do a whole lot though, either.
• If all goes as expected, Semyon Varlamov should return to the net Saturday night against Calgary. He is feeling better. Expect Andrew Hammond, therefore, to be sent back to Hamilton of the AHL.
• Sam Girard had lots of filthy moves with the puck. Nothing to show for it on the score sheet, but the kid was at his whirling-dervish best.
• It was Andrei Mironov’s best game of the season. The Russian rookie has been much better in his own end and has cut down on the bad, jittery penalties from the early going. He deserves his spot in the top six right now.