"Tonight is exactly the game that we need to play going forward." Depth scoring shows up for Avs

The Avs set themselves up for success before the holiday break. With their win tonight against the Arizona Coyotes, taking away those points from a division rival made the result mean more.

Two wins back-to-back at home and a solid effort brought them a 4-1 victory over the Coyotes.

“From the goaltender out, I just thought we had the details. That’s what it’s supposed to look like from our standpoint,” said Jared Bednar.

“To dig in the last couple of games after a disappointing loss and get two really good victories at home, that’s what we want to remind the guys when we come back on the 27th – how it looks when we do it right.”

“Tonight is exactly the game that we need to play going forward,” Andrew Cogliano added.

Early in the first period, the Avs received a powerplay opportunity.

The powerplay wasn’t able to create very much, so with thirty seconds left, Bednar gave the second unit a chance. Once they were able to successfully enter the zone after a failed attempt, they stayed with it to control possession even if it meant not getting a real good look, rimming the puck around the boards.

Their controlled, persistent approach paid off. Even though the powerplay expired, the Avs were still in possession. Bowen Byram sent the puck behind the net for Ross Colton. Colton’s pass slipped by Ryan Johansen inside the right-circle and found Byram instead.

Byram coasted down the slot patiently and held the puck on his stick until just the right moment to wrist it past Connor Ingram.

The Avs had to kill a penalty later in the period and did an excellent job to shut it down. The Coyotes weren’t able to register a shot attempt.

The Coyotes outshot the Avs 12-8 in the first frame, but the Avs played a responsible period.

“First period and second period might have been our most complete periods of the year,” said Bednar.

Less than two minutes into the start of the second period, Val Nichushkin entered the zone and passed to Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon threw on the brakes and used Devon Toews to move the puck low-to-high back to himself. MacKinnon got the puck back and slid it across the slot to Nichushkin in the right-circle completely alone.

Nichushkin one-timed it glove-side to give the Avs the two-goal lead, and MacKinnon subsequently extended his point streak to 18 games and established a new franchise record. 

That’s ten goals and 25 points in the month of December – easily on pace for another 100 point year.

Nichushkin also stretched his point streak to seven games. He has 33 points on the year and 12 points in December.

Shortly after a borderline late hit on Matias Maccelli from MacKinnon, Miles Wood and Lawson Crouse went toe-to-toe to answer for it.

Both exchanged blows and went to the box for fighting. The Avs kept rolling.

To add to Colorado’s winning formula, they received tertiary scoring too. After goals were exchanged between just MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen last game, it was great to get more contributors involved.

Alexandar Georgiev started the breakout with a pass to Jack Johnson. Johnson got the puck to Logan O’Connor who angled the puck to Fredrik Olofsson waiting to exit.

Olofsson skated the puck into the Coyotes’ end and dropped the puck back to Josh Manson at the top of the slot. Manson wristed the puck cleanly past Ingram. His willingness to join the rush and take the shot rewarded him.

With three minutes left, a breakaway from Miles Wood drew a penalty and the Avs received another powerplay chance.

Though they didn’t convert, the man-advantage helped to control the possession game down to the final seconds.

Olofsson and O’Connor battled to keep possession late in the period. O’Connor fed the puck to Andrew Cogliano down low and Cogliano dropped a no-look pass to Olofsson waiting at the post. Olofsson easily banked it in backdoor thanks to the impressive set up from Cogliano.

“A little lucky, I think. The odd time a squirrel finds a nut,” Cogliano joked about play. “I know he was going backdoor and I just threw it back… So, it looked good.”

O’Connor also tallied his second point of the night on the goal.

Cogliano returned to the lineup after missing the last two games and had an immediate impact offensively and on the penalty kill. Bednar said that their success coupled with Cogliano’s return is no coincidence.

“I think every one of those guys like that, it’s not just that we have a handful of guys out, it’s what those guys mean to our team,” he started. “With the PK, with his work ethic, holding players accountable, the leadership – it starts in the room two or three hours before the game and it’s carried out until the job’s finished.”

“It’s easy for players to look at how he’s operating and what he’s saying… I like having him back in so many different ways, but the penalty kill especially. Then I don’t have to use [Nichushkin] so much. Those guys take a lot of pride in our penalty kill details and our checking details five-on-five. It (means) another shift where you’re watching guys going out and doing it the right way.”

It was a tighter period and the Avs held Arizona to just one dangerous chance. Colorado built upon the momentum of a good first period to put out a strong second period. They climbed ahead in the shots battles and capitalized on their chances – born from hard work of course.

In the third period, Georgiev came up huge. Arizona spent a lot of time in Colorado’s end to make a late push and had two powerplays.

The Avs endured the first penalty kill, and the Coyotes put three shots on net. Ball Arena broke out in “Georgie” chants after a flurry of saves.

Colorado came up with chances of their own, but the Coyotes did create four high danger opportunities in the third.

On the second penalty kill, the Avs fell victim to the ex-Avs curse. The Coyotes worked quickly off the draw. Michael Carcone ripped a shot from the top of the left-circle, and Alex Kerfoot tipped it in at the net-front.

Even though his shutout was snatched from him, Georgiev was solid until the end.

He made eleven of twelve saves on high-to-medium danger chances and 24 of 25 saves on the night.

“Sometimes it feels like a long time when you play every second day. I’d like to focus on the last few games – so many good things for us as a team,” said Georgiev. “It feels like we’re kind of finding our ways and for me as well: keeping good focus and finding the pucks through screens and playing good, solid hockey right now.”

Cogliano affirmed that tonight was the template.

“We’ve talked and we’ve tried to push ourselves to have better habits overall, just defending (with) and without the puck,” he said. “It seems like when our team does that, we have the puck more and we create more opportunities.”

The Avs play the Coyotes again coming out of the break.

“There’s a lot to look at from that game that we really like, so we’ll sell that on the (morning of) the 27th and get ready to go and try and do it again,” said Bednar.

Bednar joked that playing the Coyotes again so soon made his pre-scout a little bit easier.

Hopefully the Avs take full advantage of the holiday break – they’ve earned it.

Colorado was one of seven teams to play the most games in December at 12. They went 6-5-1 and sit second in the Central Division.

Even more hope is on the horizon with the eventual return of Sam Girard and Artturi Lehkonen who have begun skating with the team.