The Colorado Avalanche finally finished their exhaustive stretch of 13 road games in a 16-game stretch, complete with three one-game homestands to break it all up. It was not how they wanted it to go, however, as they barely mustered an effort at all in a 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames, a team who had been struggling mightily at home recently.
This one got off to a disappointing start right off the bat as Nikita Zadorov, who was benched for the entire third period and overtime two days ago against the Edmonton Oilers, turned the puck over behind his own net on the first shift of the game. The turnover became a goal for Michael Frolik as he banked the puck off the inside of goaltender Semyon Varlamov’s left skate to put Calgary ahead just 18 seconds into the game.
Things wouldn’t get significantly better for the Avalanche from there.
A lazy backcheck by Colorado’s entire top line turned a three-on-two into a dangerous two-on-one and Mark Giordano’s one-timer off a pass from Mikael Backlund made it 2-0 at 7:24 of the first period. Despite pushing back and controlling the majority of the shot counter, the Avalanche barely mustered any semblance of dangerous offense and caught an amazing break as a weak Nathan MacKinnon shot from center ice banged off the post and then off goaltender Jon Gillies and into the net.
The incredible turn of luck for the Avs cut the lead in half and gave them serious life as they spent the rest of the first period putting pressure on the Flames. It was a bunch of effort for no pay off, though, as Gillies stood tall and turned away all scoring opportunities.
The second period began with the Avalanche continuing their pressure on the Flames and Tyson Jost drew a penalty, putting the Avalanche on the first power play of the game. It was a dangerous effort as they created multiple scoring chances and hit two separate posts but nothing made its way into the net, opening the door for Calgary to put the squeeze on Colorado.
A lazy Zadorov penalty gave the Flames just the chance they needed and a deflected goal by Sean Monahan changed the entire complexion of the game, putting Calgary up 3-1 and ultimately breaking Colorado’s spirit on the day. The Avalanche quickly gave up on any real pushback and let their foot off the gas, going into a full blown pity party on the ice.
The third period began with Colorado only down by two but the Avs were having none of that feel-good comeback nonsense today and they folded like the French, giving up a Troy Brouwer goal just over two minutes into the final frame, nailing the road trip shut with an emphatic thud. Backlund would net a power play goal in the final minutes of the game to bring the final to 5-1.
Varlamov made just 24 saves on 29 shots on goal, a save percentage of just .828. Colorado returns home to take on the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night. The NHL’s trade deadline is Monday afternoon, making for an intriguing day at the office for an Avalanche team that now sits four points out of the final playoff spot.
