Avs surrender a point after third period collapse in Arizona

Last year, the Avs faced the Arizona Coyotes coming out of the holiday break and the combination of a weird travel day and bad ice smacked the Avs upside the head.

The smack took a different form this year, but the Avs still took a loss in the end.

They came away with a point in their 5-4 OT loss, but the means to getting there rightfully caused frustration because the game was once well within their grasp.

Plus, after the previous game against Arizona that set the standard for how they’d like to play from now on, it’s quite the fall from grace.

The first period was again unconventional. It was a lot of back and forth with pucks flying through sticks and taking weird bounces for both sides.

The animosity between both teams was palpable early too. Josh Manson and Jason Zucker went to the box in the opening minutes and the four-on-four hockey that followed added to the weirdness of it all.

Neither team was able to capitalize.

Later the Avs received another powerplay chance with Zucker in the box a second time.

The period was coming to a close and the first unit looked a bit shaky: needing to reset and re-enter. In the final thirty seconds, the top guys did what they did best.

Nathan MacKinnon made an incredible pass between four Arizona skaters through the slot to Mikko Rantanen at the bottom of the right-circle. Rantanen dropped to one knee and snapped the puck far-side past Karel Vejmelka.

MacKinnon’s contributions on the play extended his point streak to nineteen games – the longest active streak in the NHL this season and third longest streak in Avalanche/Nordiques history.

Alexandar Georgiev made a big save in the final seconds to keep the Avs up by one goal. The Avs created more dangerous chances, but Arizona spent a fair amount of time in Colorado’s end.

Colorado leaned into the chaos.

At the start of the period, the top guys were in the middle of coming off for a change.

As a result, Devon Toews threw the puck to Ross Colton behind the net. Colton fed Jonathan Drouin at the crease and Drouin’s initial handling to put the puck on net was stopped, but Drouin stayed with it to throw the rebound backdoor.

Six minutes later, Bowen Byram made the breakout pass to Logan O’Connor in the neutral zone. O’Connor used Josh Manson to drop the puck back and Manson got the puck around his guy to O’Connor driving to the net. O’Connor carried the puck around the net and dropped it off at the opposite post on the wraparound.

In between those goals, the Avs killed a Manson penalty.

Georgiev gloved a Michael Kesselring shot at 10:33, and Arizona struggled to rein in their discipline.

Thanks to two stacked penalties against the Coyotes, the Avs earned a five-on-three.

The Avs cycled the puck and Rantanen tagged up MacKinnon at the top of the slot. It was an unselfish play and the correct choice. MacKinnon one-timed it past Vejmelka.

Near the end of the period, Makar tried to kick the puck out to clear it and the Coyotes kept it in. Nick Bjugstad had the puck at the half wall and gave it to Matias Maccielli behind the net. The play baited Makar and Byram to engage each and left the front of the net open.

Lawson Crouse snuck in to the crease and banged a feed from Bjugstad in.

In the third period, after being denied earlier in the contest, Kesselring found his opportunity.

Sean Durzi made an incredible seam pass to Kesselring at the right-circle. Kesselring held the puck patiently and wristed it far-side. The goal not only came in the opening minutes of the third period but after sustained pressure in Colorado’s end as well.

Arizona feasted on the momentum of the early-period goal.

A few minutes later, Durzi’s shot created a rebound opportunity for Zucker to escape with. Georgiev pushed to close his near-side post and Zucker wrapped the puck around and sent it far-side.

Once 4-0 with four minutes to go in the second period, the game shifted a great deal to 4-3 with thirteen minutes left in the game. It was a far cry from where they started after two strong periods.

Colton left the game after blocking a shot midway through the third period.

Aside from a breakaway chance from Miles Wood, the Avs looked like they had fallen asleep.

With two minutes to go, Durzi ripped a shot from out high and tied the game.

Despite solidly building the lead in the first two periods, the Avs did not win the possession game in any period except the second thanks to two stacked penalties on Arizona.

The Avs played overtime like they were hoping for the shootout. Jared Bednar’s interesting choice in personnel gave an unexpected batch of players ice time in OT: Drouin, Wood, and Manson joined Toews, MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Makar.

Curiously, Byram was not deployed in OT.

The Avs had one dangerous chance in overtime to Arizona’s three. A flurry of saves came from Georgiev who all but stood on his head. Ultimately an ill-fated decision from Manson at the defensive blueline led to the winning goal – a weird bounce off Jack McBain inside the blue paint ended it.

The collapse inside the third period negated the strong play inside the second. Goals from Rantanen, Drouin, O’Connor, and MacKinnon should have been enough to decide this game, but the fourth in the Central Arizona Coyotes have strung together a surprising and fun season due to their pesky and persistent nature.

On just seven shots in the third period, they converted on three of them. Colorado only created four of their own.

Georgiev probably wanted the Zucker and Durzi goal back, and the Avs likely wished they hadn’t rested on their laurels at the start of third so that this could have ended in regulation.

For the first game coming out of the holiday break, the 4-0 point in the game created a new expectation which made the 4-5 OTL result feel wholly disappointing.

This isn’t the lowest point of the year, but it still doesn’t feel good.

Though they’re first in the Central after tonight, it’s a big gut check to the team. They have to close out games and can’t let them slip so far out of their grasp that they can’t pull it back.

They should return to normalcy now that they got the first game back from the break out of the way, but they still have a lot to prove on the road.

Their road record (7-7-3) leaves a lot to be desired, and they’ll have the chance to improve upon it at St. Louis on Friday.