"We knew we could come back": Sven Andrighetto embodies quiet confidence of unshakeable Avalanche

Fresh off his heroics late last night, Sven Andrighetto was saddled with an unfamiliar spotlight as the Colorado Avalanche returned from Nashville this afternoon. Standing in front of a throng of reporters, the diminutive forward was as calm and relaxed as ever as he replayed the events that led to his game-winning goal with just over one minute left in the third period of last night’s 2-1 victory.

Andrighetto tapped in a rebound as Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne was unable to cleanly corral J.T. Compher’s initial shot. When the puck squirted free of Rinne’s gear, Andrighetto pounced and took advantage in scoring the deciding goal. It was his first career postseason goal and couldn’t have come at a better time.

“We saw we had a broken two-on-one,” Andrighetto began. “And he was trying to take the passing lane away so I figured Comph is going to shoot it, which he did, so I was just trying to be ready for a rebound if it pops out there and it was there and I got a whack at it and it went in.”

His goal was the dagger in a stunning turn of events that saw the Avalanche go from being on the short end of a controversial goal halfway through the third period and facing elimination to suddenly going back to Denver with the momentum and belief that this series can go the distance. Their ability to bounce back from Nick Bonino’s goal, which was initially waved off for being kicked in and overturned upon video review, and continue grinding away at the process reinforced the belief this team has in itself.

“When we got down 1-0 there in the tenth minute, it wasn’t bothering us,” Andrighetto stated. “We kept believing in ourselves as we did the whole time and it’s been huge all season for us. The belief in this group has been amazing and we knew we could come back and we did just in time.”

The game-tying goal from captain Gabe Landeskog was set up with the incredible patience of Nathan MacKinnon, who deked P.K. Subban and then outwaited the defense until a passing lane opened. When it did, he hit Landeskog and the captain calmly redirected the puck into an open net.

“That was an unbelievable play by Nate,” Andrighetto said. “Just watching the replay and even on the ice, basically all of us thought he was going to shoot it there but he finds [Landeskog] in front of the net and he’s just got to tap it in. It was an amazing play and a huge goal for us to give us back the momentum. It’s definitely fun.”

Game Five was unlike any other in the series as neither team found the back of the net in the first period. The defensive stalemate dragged on into the third period, a position the Avalanche rarely found themselves in during the regular season.

“We started to get comfortable with a zero-zero game, which is huge for us,” Andrighetto admitted. “We haven’t done that all year. It was a learning experience but we stick to our game plan for the full sixty minutes and at the end of the game it was the right thing.”

When asked if the team got nervous once it got down 1-0, Andrighetto shrugged it off before allowing some late-game nerves might have crept in.

“Not really,” he said. “I didn’t feel like we were [nervous]. I was personally at the end when we were leading 2-1 with a minute left. Then you get a little nervous but our guys did a great job to keep it out of our net.”

Getting back to Pepsi Center, where Colorado won 28 games in 40 tries this season, and playing in front of their own raucous home crowd was the team’s intention from the drop of the puck.

“It was our goal to come back here and play on home ice in front of our fans,” Andrighetto began. “It gives us a lot of energy and we’re really excited for tomorrow.”

There wasn’t much time for the team to soak up the joy of their victory as they had to get on a plane this morning and fly back to Denver to be ready for tomorrow evening’s puck drop.

“We enjoyed the win last night, real quick,” Andrighetto said. “Real quick turnaround and we fly back here and we’ve got to get ready for tomorrow. It’s playoffs. You have a game every second day almost and that’s a fun part.”

The fun part for Avalanche fans has been watching this very young team continue to defy the odds, not only being competitive in this series but now presenting the Predators with a legitimate problem on their hands. Winning in Pepsi Center has been a tall task for opposing teams this season and while Nashville accomplished the feat in Game Four, they had to stave off a furious Avalanche rally and got the good fortune of the Avalanche hitting the post in the final minutes.

Colorado has already passed the point of being an easy out. Even if they get down on the scoreboard tomorrow, you can be assured this group won’t stop fighting back with their season on the line.