Having given up seven goals in each, the last two games have stung a bit for the Colorado Avalanche. Coming on the heels of a deadline that wrapped with an American League-level trade, many were left wanting.
Before the losses, the Avs strung together six straight wins. In a storyline we’ve seen play out several times this season, Colorado would play a rested team on the second leg of their back-to-back yet again.
Positively Val Nichushkin, who missed the Dallas game due to illness, would return to the lineup tonight.
First Period
The first ten minutes played out kind of weirdly for both teams. Puck management was a struggle, and Colorado had a difficult time getting shots on net.
At 9:19 however, Devon Toews dumped the puck in and Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen got to work retrieving it. Their hard work paid off and the puck trickled out to Nathan MacKinnon who scooped it up from the right circle and snapped it in with the help of Nichushkin now at the netfront as a screen.
With under five minutes left in the period, Jordan Eberle was accused of tipping the puck out of play in his own end, and the Avs went on the powerplay.
They generated a shot on net and two attempts that were blocked.
Jared McCann tried for a shot on Alexandar Georgiev near the end of it but missed.
Colorado held on. They didn’t exactly look tired, but they looked a little disheveled at points. A smart play from Brad Hunt in the final minutes prevented one of Seattle’s best scoring chances.
The Avs were outshot 7-6 and Seattle had the possession edge.
Second Period
Cale Makar took a cross-checking penalty and the Avs went on the kill. Alex Wennberg had an excellent chance on Georgiev. After its conclusion, a Morgan Geekie pass gave Brandon Tanev a breakaway chance and Georgiev stopped his backhand.
At 12:07, Georgiev came up with a huge glove save on McCann’s wrist shot.
A little more than a minute later, Eeli Tolvanen had a breakaway chance but Georgiev made another save.
At 10:08, Bo Byram was worked off the puck and Seattle reclaimed it. Will Borgen sent a pass from up high and Alex Wennberg got around Nichushkin to tip it in.
Denis Malgin had an answer for it. Toews and Alex Newhook battled hard to retrieve the puck and Cale Makar broke the puck up ice and Malgin took off all alone at 11:45 into the second. Malgin opted for a simple maneuver and wristed it past Philipp Grubauer’s glove side.
With 6:47 remaining, Nichushkin tripped over Grubauer’s arm and fell backward onto him by accident. Still, he was called for goaltender interference and Colorado went back on the kill.
It was a great kill, the Avs kept the Kraken from registering a shot on net and even created two chances of their own.
As the period came to a close, Mikko Rantanen and Will Borgen had an altercation after Rantanen completed a check. Borgen and Rantanen gave each other some additional shoves. Simultaneously, and unrelated to this, Jack Johnson was called for tripping Matt Beniers. Rantanen took issue with this and was given an unsportsmanlike conduct for vocalizing his displeasure with the official.
The Avs would begin the third period on a five-on-three penalty kill.
Third Period
Colorado managed to stave off the Kraken, but it was no easy feat. Seattle registered seven shots on net with chances coming until the final seconds of the kill.
Two minutes in, Andrew Cogliano was high-sticked and the Avs earned a powerplay chance, but they were unable to capitalize on three chances on net (with three additional blocked).
Shortly after, Matt Nieto caught Justin Schultz up high and went to the box for high-sticking, but the Avs managed to kill off another for the fifth time.
At 7:46, Georgiev bailed the Avs on an odd-man rush after Lehkonen missed MacKinnon’s pass and Byram whiffed on a shot in the offensive zone. It led to a chance the other way, but Georgiev stopped Geekie on the return.
Seattle’s shot generation didn’t really let up at any point in the night, so Georgiev had to stay sharp.
With 2:30 remaining, Seattle’s pressure broke through. MacKinnon accidentally turned it over behind the net and Jaden Schwartz collected it and found Brandon Tanev between the circles.- Tanev snapped it in.
The shots were tilted more heavily in favor of Seattle 34-23. Colorado was still creating dangerous chances with 11 to the Kraken’s 13. The third was their worst period analytically. They were outshot 16-7 with a Corsi for percentage of 30.77% at five-on-five.
Overtime
Seattle controlled possession in overtime. At 1:24, Vince Dunn handled the puck in his own end while Colorado made a change. MacKinnon skated in to challenge him, and Dunn sent a stretch pass up to Yanni Gourde who had Jared McCann on his flank.
Cale Makar skated in to chase him, but Gourde had the step and wristed it shortside, post and in.
Observations
Rantanen’s frustrations: It was the second unsportsmanlike conduct in back-to-back games. Rantanen leads the team in penalty minutes with 56 and the most minors of anyone at 23. As an alternate captain, it’s tough to see a member of the leadership group invite a penalty in such a close game.
“He can’t do it,” said Jared Bednar. “He knows he can’t do it. My options are: sit him the rest of the period or talk to him and turn him loose and hope he can bounce back. I didn’t think we got a good night prior to that, so frustration (was) probably some of it brought on by his own game.”
“I didn’t think our top guys had a good night. He takes the penalty, which hurts us again, and you can’t do it. Games are too important. This time of year points are too important. I think he understands that. He knows that. As long as I have that discussion, I’d rather turn him loose and see if he can dig in and help our team win and make up for it.”
Bednar isn’t concerned that this has crept into his reputation as a player.
“He’s been a disciplined player for us for years now,” he said. “I understand it. You have to be mentally tough and work through it.”
Georgiev’s excellence: Not to be lost in this is Georgiev’s solid night in net. Though he did leave the Dallas game after five allowed goals, Bednar did not fault him for it and admitted that he pulled Georgiev to give him rest ahead of tonight’s Seattle game since the Dallas game had gone off the rails by that point.
Now rested, Georgiev came up big in important moments to keep Colorado as close a they were.
With 32 saves on 35 shots, he finished with a 0.914 save percentage and came up huge on the penalty kill.
“I thought he was fantastic,” said Bednar. “I don’t put any of those goals on him yesterday. And today, I thought he was our best player.”
