Avalanche defense generates all the offense in sweep of Kings

Last night, the Avalanche toppled the Kings with a 3-2 win that was driven by a number of young players coming into their own. It was a validation of Colorado’s draft and development program, something that has been very hit-or-miss over the years.

Tonight’s 3-2 win over Los Angeles by the Avs is a good example of how different things can be in the NHL in just 24 hours. There were no points from Tyson Jost or Conor Timmins this time around.

No, instead the damage was done by a combination that the Avs put together only out of necessity. Cale Makar and Devon Toews were humming along having great seasons with different partners but Sam Girard’s injury forced them back together. The results have been mixed overall but tonight they scored all three of Colorado’s goals, giving that pairing a much better showing to hang its hat on.

One of the challenges faced by Jared Bednar this year is how to utilize a defense corps headlined by three players who are several steps ahead of their brethren. For most of the year, the answer has been pairing Girard and Toews while Makar leans on last year’s success next to Ryan Graves.

The team has thrived with that alignment but when Girard went down, it forced some changes. Given the results, you can’t help but wonder if this experience ends up being very informative for when Girard returns.

Toews and Makar were downright electric tonight as each made great individual reads and plays to get Colorado’s first two goals.

Toews jumped into the rush and was able to handle a puck that was bobbled by the Kings defenders after a cross-ice feed from J.T. Compher was deflected into open ice. Toews read the play, jumped into the fray and corralled the puck before snapping it home to give the Avs a 1-0 lead.

Just a few minutes later with the Avs on the power play, Cale Makar dropped a clapbomb on the Kings with a one-timer from the point off a feed from Mikko Rantanen. Notably, Andre Burakovsky had the second assist on both goals.

From there, the Avs eventually found themselves up 2-1 and dominating possession as they have done all year against the Kings. With the fourth line on the ice in front of them, Toews and Makar went to work together after watching the Bellemare-led forward group cycle the puck fail to generate any meaningful pressure.

Makar scooped up the puck, danced into traffic, drew the defense to him, which Toews read and jumped into the empty ice created by Makar’s magnetism. Makar made a perfect pass to Toews, who accepted the pass and fired another puck behind Cal Petersen, giving him eight goals on the year and Toews the first multi-goal game of his career.

The Avs gave up a goal to Rasmus Kupari in the third period but otherwise held the lead and snagged two more points from the Kings. They move to 5-1 on the season against Los Angeles with the final two games back in Denver next week as the last two games of Colorado’s regular season.

TAKEAWAYS

• The Avs won another game without Nathan MacKinnon, generating six goals in the two games. That’s very positive. A little concerning is some of Colorado’s depth really struggling to get on the score sheet recently. Val Nichushkin has just one goal since April 9 and Burakovsky was as responsible for that goal as Nichushkin was. Joonas Donskoi’s last goal was March 31 when he scored a hat trick in the first period against Arizona. J.T. Compher’s last goal was April 14. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare’s last goal was April 22. That’s four guys who are lineup regulars combining for just one goal in the last nine games. Even tossing in Nazem Kadri gives them a whopping two goals in that time. It’s just not good enough from that group. They’re being bailed out by how special Colorado’s top line is plus the most prolific defense in the league. Going to need just a bit more from that group come playoff time.
• The Avs haven’t struggled much in protecting leads this season on the whole but it was absolutely disappointing to see them go into the third period with a 3-1 lead and register just four shots on goal in the frame. Only two of those shots on goal came at even strength, which is even more disappointing. Granted, they only gave up seven shots on goal against so it wasn’t exactly a classic turtle (or “thirdle”) but it wasn’t as solid as it could have been. Just another area that was good enough tonight but can still be improved.
• While the West Division melee at the top of the division has been unrelenting with Vegas and Minnesota refusing to lose unless playing each other, the Avs actually find themselves in kind of a surprising position right now. If Colorado wins their last three games in regulation, they will win the President’s Trophy. While I’ve spilled a lot of virtual ink and used a lot of podcast airtime to talk about how bad the division is at the bottom, it’s crazy that all of Vegas, Colorado and Minnesota are currently in the top seven in the NHL.
• Adding what I also mentioned on tonight’s postgame podcast: If Girard and Bowen Byram get healthy, I think the Graves-Timmins pairing they’re running right now should be the pairing they use at the start of the playoffs. Patrick Nemeth and Jacob MacDonald were rough tonight and neither has been very good recently. Timmins especially is trending upward and has put together two solid weeks in a row. He’s in a great rhythm and removing him from the lineup would be very tough right now. Of course, two weeks ago I wasn’t even talking about Timmins in the lineup at all so these things are subject to change but it appears Timmins just might have gotten hot at the perfect time.
• MacKinnon’s injury timeline appears to still be “whenever he wants to play, he can.” Jared Bednar just doesn’t seem too concerned about it. I have a hard time imagining the competitor in MacKinnon doesn’t play Monday in Vegas with the division potentially on the line but anything is possible. It will be interesting to see how Colorado handles MacKinnon and Vegas handles Max Pacioretty, who has been sitting out nursing an ailment of his own, come Monday night’s showdown.