Studs

Alexandar Georgiev

I thought this was Georgiev’s best game since his shutout over Vegas. He tracked pucks well, didn’t allow anything easy, and made a couple of spectacular saves that were required at the moment.

He outplayed Thatcher Demko, who was also great. It was a goaltender duel that the Avalanche actually won. With these two teams, you’re expecting more of a run-and-gun in the style of what the Canucks dealt with last night in Minnesota (though not that extreme).

Instead, we got two goaltenders locked in and the game took on the rare high-pace, low-event feel to it. There have not been many nights this season that are encouraging signs that Georgiev can handle the rigors of the postseason but this was one of them. When we get to the end of the season, this will likely be one of his best games.

I loved his compete level and the results obviously speak for themselves.

Ryan Johansen

Speaking of compete level, Johansen has been the definition of a Jared Bednar “passenger” for most of this season. Whether it be a result of the injuries that have piled up in recent years or simply an unwillingness to compete, Johansen has been a major misfire by the Avalanche front office.

Most nights, Johansen drifts through games without making much of an impact, which is fine if you’re Fredrik Olofsson trying to lock down a fourth-line forward job. For a guy getting paid serious money this year (albeit from two organizations), you hoped to see the guy we saw tonight a little more often.

Johansen was moving well and actively involved before he started scoring goals. I was really liking his game and then he scored that first goal and it was a huge bonus for the Avs. Adding the game-winning goal early in the third period turned a great night into one of his best as an Av.

This was a great night for Johansen in both process and production.

Zach Parise

I’ll give a stick tap to my podcast partner Eric Lacroix for mentioning off-air that he liked what Parise brought to the game and when I went back and rewatched it I found myself really loving Parise’s game, too.

Parise played 2:39 on the PK tonight and the Avs only had to kill two penalties, so he spent quite a bit of time out there when the Canucks had the man advantage and led the Avs forwards in PKTOI.

I won’t make too much of that yet because there was no Logan O’Connor or Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen took one of Colorado’s penalties tonight so Bednar had to turn somewhere for that ice time but penalty killing was one of the selling points when Parise was signed.

The strong effort from the penalty kill in this game will hopefully encourage Bednar to give more looks to Parise and when O’Connor returns to the lineup maybe give Parise one or two of the shifts that are currently going to Andrew Cogliano, who has been struggling for a while now on the PK.

Parise added an assist on Johansen’s game-winning goal but it was just him making the right play and finding the open Av. Smart hockey usually leads to good results.

Duds

Jonathan Drouin

I really struggled with Drouin tonight. He loses J.T. Miller in the neutral zone on Vancouver’s only goal when he got caught puck-watching and then couldn’t make up the ground he lost by daydreaming.

That’s the kind of defensive effort that makes you nervous about the prospect of Drouin in the tight-checking playoffs but I won’t overreact too much to tonight because in general I think he’s been a passable defensive player this season.

Beyond just that play, you saw Demko make some of his best saves on Drouin right on the doorstep. Finishing has always been the biggest hole in Drouin’s offensive game and it was frustrating to watch arguably Colorado’s best scoring chances die on Drouin’s stick.

On one hand, you love that Drouin is going hard to the net and even in position for those chances to begin with, but on the other hand there has to be some finish there and his lack of goal-scoring despite heavy minutes is, for me at least, a concern. Tonight reinforced that.

Mikko Rantanen

At least Drouin had five shots on goal tonight but Rantanen finished with only two in 25 minutes (!) of ice time. That’s too much ice in a game the Avs were winning for most of the third period, but that’s probably a symptom of the coaching staff not having another line it truly trusts to close out a one-goal game.

Still, Rantanen’s passive play has been increasingly frustrating to watch and even though he made a couple of nice passes for scoring chances and eventually got a point on the empty-net goal, I found myself frustrated watching him.

Rantanen proved last year an ability to take over games and be an aggressor that can change games in the NHL. He’s an extremely rare combination of size and skill but he too frequently doesn’t utilize that size and defers a great deal to MacKinnon. You can’t blame the guy when MacKinnon is having the kind of season he’s having, but Rantanen appears completely content to ride shotgun next to that greatness instead of pushing for greatness of his own.

Tonight left me with a sour taste overall. I think Rantanen is capable of so much more despite his prolific production.

Unsung Hero

This PK work from Sam Girard

Girard was really good on the penalty kill and continues to bolster his reputation as one of the best PK guys on the Avalanche but it was really the end of Vancouver’s second power play that stood out to everyone.

It was late in the third period and the Avs were clinging to a 2-1 lead and the Canucks had been pressing for the majority of the period and carried all of the momentum into the man advantage. Things were not looking great for Colorado’s ability to maintain the advantage on the scoreboard, especially with Artturi Lehkonen off to the penalty box for tripping.

Colorado got through the first 90 seconds unscathed and when Josh Manson had an opportunity to clear the puck, he was unable to get the job done, extending the possession for the Canucks and giving them renewed hope at tying the game.

In most of this clip, Girard isn’t doing a ton but as you get to the end you’ll see him really take J.T. Miller to the woodshed. First he disrupts a Miller pass to the middle of the ice and when Miller gets the puck back, the smaller Girard goes beast mode on Miller in the corner and outmuscles him for the puck and clears it down the ice.

Vancouver would not generate a serious scoring chance for the rest of the game.