DENVER, CO – It was a slow start, but a heck of a finish for the Colorado Avalanche Monday night at Ball Arena against division rival Nashville. Colorado is now winners in 2-straight and 3 out of their last 4 and on home ice, have won 3 in a row while also remaining perfect in overtime this year.
Thats a lot of records to make a short point.
The Colorado Avalanche are a resilient group that finds ways to win and are doing the things necessary for finding success despite still being very short handed. There certainly has been a notable shift in the vibe around this team, and a renewed confidence in the group, that in my opinion, is a reflection of the calmness and confidence from their Head Coach Jared Bednar who tied Michel Bergeron for the most games by a head coach in Avalanche/Nordiques history with 634.
Throughout a roller coaster of a start to the year, Bednar has remained stedfast in his demeanor. Perhaps moments of more intensity than the usual affable, down the middle confidence he consistently exudes have crept in, but that’s to be expected. He has the presence of a dad with a son that everyone knows is the star, but yet he remains proud, however grounded…pointing out the positives, but stressing the areas that need attention.
Colorado is finding success. Nothing is perfect, but the pursuit of it for the Avalanche to this point, with these circumstances, has been nearly that. Contributions throughout the roster, timely goaltending, an absolute full-send effort by the leaders and stars, plus a resolute resilience has told the story of a .500 record of 8-8.
At Ball Arena on Monday, their division rival, the Nashville Predators came to town as a team coming off a win, but still struggling to find their footing. Colorado has struggled mightily to start hockey games and the same held true once again tonight.
Just 1:45 into the game, and on the 3rd shot, Alexandar Georgiev, who was starting his third straight game, found himself down 1-0 on the goal by Luke Evangelista. Colorado was outshot 12-6, but managed to only limit the damage through 20 minutes of hockey.
As has been the script, the second period was a completely new scene for the Avs. They were out shot 13-9, and weren’t setting the world on fire, but managed to win the period and capitalized on multiple second period goals that changed the tone of the game and win the period 2-0. Devon Toews (still not playing at 100%) got things to even at 4:32 just after a Colorado power play concluded. Sam Girard and T.J. Tynan added the helpers.
Mikko Rantanen, who has been heating up as of recent, put the Avalanche into the lead, scoring for the second consecutive game and third straight home outing, elevating his scoring line to 9g/12a on the campaign after Nathan MacKinnon got the play going. The assist for MacKinnon got the reigning MVP to the 30-point benchmark for the season (7g/23a). He’s the first NHLer to 30 points.
In the third Colton Sissons got it to all squared right away. He scored in the first minute on a miscue and lost coverage and was one of the only mistakes the Valance made through the last two periods.
At the 9:40 mark, Mikko Rantanen was called for one of the more bizarre penalties I’ve seen. A phantom hit in the corner on Michael McCarron that didn’t appear to be a penalty suddenly was under review. The options for the call was either a 0, a 2, or a 5. The result was a 2 and turned out to be the best penalty kill of the season. With stops on the blue line and all 4 killers on the same page. It was the most sync’d kill of the season.
Regulation ended with no solution, OT started methodical with the Nashville Predators content to be patient and non-aggressive on their approach.
Enter Samuel Girard.
With a great read, Girard caught Brady Skjei committing a cardinal sin, turning your back. the defenseman pounced on the error, forced a turnover, drew a delayed penalty and then cruised to the Nashville net on a breakaway to bury a goal scorers goal top shelf on Juuse Saros for his first of the year and the game winner. It was the second of his career, with the first coming back on Dec. 23, 2022 in Nashville. The marker was also his fourth career game-winning goal.
The Avalanche will next face the Los Angeles Kings Wednesday night at Ball Arena. Puck drop is 8pm MST due to the national coverage on TNT.
