Avalanche respond to disappointing Dallas performance with huge win over Nashville

It was a near picture-perfect response from the Colorado Avalanche after their lackluster performance last night in Dallas, as the Avs knocked off old friend Matt Duchene and the Nashville Predators 6-2 Saturday night back at home.

If you tuned into the DNVR Avalanche Postgame Show after the Avs lost 3-1 in Dallas, you heard a show filled with plenty of frustration. We weren’t frustrated that they lost, rather, frustrated at the way they played.

We’ve watched this team find their groove, and re-commit to their identity over the last three weeks. Playing, and winning games, the way we all expected them to at the beginning of the season. Even without superstar center Nathan MacKinnon.

If you watched that game against the Stars though, you know that the Avs didn’t do the things that have made them so successful and so dangerous as of late.

Their passes weren’t crisp, they weren’t tracking the puck well enough defensively, they were losing races and board battles, and maybe most of all, their best players weren’t their best players (with the exception of Cale Makar).

Tonight, however, when the Nashville Predators rolled into town on the second night of a back-to-back of their own, it was 180 degrees the opposite direction. Their puck movement was on point, Avalanche forwards gave Nashville nothing for time and space when trying to break out and transition and the team’s top players showed up big time to drive the bus, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog in particular.

Mikko opened the scoring less than five minutes in with an absolutely gorgeous tip from the goal line that Predators goalie David Rittich had no chance on. Rantanen would give the Avs some breathing room, and the confidence to continue playing the way they had been, at the end of the first with a bullet of a one-timer, both goals coming on the power play.

Rantanen was buzzing all night. That first tip in and you could just tell he was going to be the one to put the team on his back tonight and get them to the finish line, or should I say…. Finnish line? Rantanen would cap off the hat trick in the third period, giving him 10 goals on the year.

While Landeskog didn’t show up in the same way on the scoresheet, he was the emotional leader tonight, something that I said he wasn’t enough of in recent games. He made sure his teammates were ready to bounce back, and his feet were moving.

Cale Makar did more Cale Makar things tonight in picking up three more points, pushing his season point total to 20. What a run he’s on right now. If he isn’t the best defenseman in the NHL yet, he’s coming for that title.

The other big storyline for the Avs tonight was the return of stand-out rookie defenseman Bowen Byram, and I thought he was stellar.

Byram was everywhere early on. He picked up right where he left off before he was sidelined with a concussion, shots from everywhere, physical play, fluid skating, and he scored a great goal by finding open ice and presenting a target for Gabe Landeskog in the slot.

The Avs are back in the win column and feeling good after another really solid performance from an execution standpoint.

TAKEAWAYS

• Jonas Johansson turned in a rock-solid performance tonight. He was what the Avs needed tonight, and looked good when called upon. If he can seal that post a little better late in the third, his night looks even better.
• Byram was spectacular in his return. The Avalanche have done a great job of getting guys ready to return from injury over the last few seasons, head coach Jared Bednar attributes that to the work injured players put in with skills coach Shawn Allard.
• Landeskog was praised after the game by teammates and coaches for the way he stood up for Rantanen late in the second period. He ended up putting his team down a man for ~3 minutes, but from the sounds of it, the team is more than happy to kill that penalty. “That’s a penalty we’ll kill every day,” Rantanen said postgame, “Landy steps up and buries the guy. So that was fun to watch.”
• Tyson Jost finally broke through. Sure it was in garbage time, but that kid has been working his tail off and it’s nice to see one go in for him. You could tell it was a relief for him.
• Avs defenseman Ryan Murray left the game after playing just 11 seconds. While Jared Bednar said he didn’t have an official update, he did say that when a guy leaves that early and return is ruled out as quickly as it was, it’s usually not good news.
• The Avs will now head out on a five-game road trip that will see them play some of the best teams the Eastern Conference has to offer. They haven’t gotten out to a great start this season against the East, so a tough test lies ahead.