After the disappointing overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, the Colorado Avalanche received an added bit of bad news ahead of tonight’s game. Cale Makar, though he passed initial concussion protocols, woke up not feeling well and would miss tonight’s game.
The frustration following Jeff Carter’s hit on Tuesday was palatable after there was no call or supplemental discipline on the play which has resulted in Makar missing the remainder of the road trip.
In better news, Artturi Lehkonen and Bo Byram – who both missed parts of the last game – were good to go for tonight.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche had not seen each other since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Championship game last summer. The Avs were back in Amalie Arena, and Tampa Bay would undoubtedly be a hostile building.
First Period
In the first two minutes, Ian Cole had a knee-on-knee collision with Andrew Cogliano. Cogliano went down and had to get help off after appearing unable to put weight on his right leg. He was back on the bench for his next shift shortly after.
Later, tensions continued to build. Kurtis MacDermid tangled with Pat Maroon and delivered some retaliatory blows, but neither took the bait and play continued.
At 13:37, Byram took a holding penalty and Colorado went on the penalty kill. Georgiev came up with a big glove save on Brayden Point’s wrister, but on the following play, Corey Perry received a feed from Anthony Cirelli and maneuvered the puck to backhand the puck backdoor and in.
With a little over a minute left, Logan O’Connor took issue with Ross Colton’s hit along the boards and the two dropped the gloves. It was clear that these teams did not like each other.
Right as the period came to a close, Val Nichushkin drew a hooking call and Colorado would begin the second period with nearly a full powerplay chance.
Colorado had their work cut out for them. It wasn’t a bad period for the Avs, but Tampa Bay had the edge out the gate. The Lightning outshot the Avs 15-9 and Colorado only generated one dangerous chance to their nine. In five-on-five play, the Avs controlled possession.
Second Period
The Avs registered two shots on net, but they were unable to convert on their powerplay.
Matt Nieto had a breakaway chance shortly after, but he fired it right into Andrei Vasilevskiy’s glove.
At 14:57, the Avs earned another powerplay chance. Ian Cole held Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen had a chance right after the faceoff win, but he was denied. Both the first and second unit created chances. They established the zone well and retained control and possession without allowing Tampa Bay much chance to clear.
A minute later, things took a brutal swing. Rantanen’s slap shot was saved off Vasilevskiy’s skate and play transitioned the other way. Cirelli took off into the zone and Toews and Girard tried to chase him. Rantanen was stride for stride with Brandon Hagel in the neutral zone on the back check, but he fell as he came into the zone and Hagel carried on.
Girard attempted a stick check on Cirelli, but he swept the puck right to Hagel in the low slot instead. Hagel wristed the puck in past Georgiev.
Two minutes after, Byram took another minor penalty and Colorado went back on the kill. Seconds into its start, Nichushkin tried to sweep away Kucherov’s rebound at the same time as Point tried to poke it in – it went in between Georgiev’s skate and the post.
Colorado challenged the goal for a hand pass – at one point, Nikita Kucherov fell to the ice and appeared to knock the puck to Steven Stamkos with his glove. The challenge failed and the Avs went back on the penalty kill. They managed to withstand it, but they were still down 3-0.
In another chaotic sequence, even more stumbles lead to Hagel’s second goal of the night. Nathan MacKinnon dropped the puck to Rantanen inside the blueline in an attempt to exit. Rantanen was prepared to jet but tripped over Brandon Hagel and lost control of the puck.
It dribbled over to Erik Johnson who tried to skate back to grab it, but Alex Killorn easily knocked it ahead. Killorn sent it back to Hagel who wristed it shortside. Rantanen smashed his stick in frustration and received a ten minute misconduct. He felt he was tripped on the play.
Colorado outshot Tampa Bay 15-10 in this frame, controlled five-on-five play, and had the higher expected goals at even strength, but the scoreboard doesn’t lie. Costly mistakes between the hashmarks allowed Tampa the opportunity to be the most dangerous.
Third Period
At 5:44 into the final period, Point carried the puck around the perimeter and passed to Mikhail Sergachev at the blueline. Sergachev fired a shot from up high, through traffic and beat Georgiev. Maroon and Brad Hunt tussled a bit at the crease, and Hunt ultimately fell backwards onto Georgiev.
At 10:35, Evan Rodrigues took a puck to the face and immediately left the ice. He did not return.
With under ten seconds, MacDermid and Maroon dropped the gloves. It was a footnote in a game with so many other events.
The Avs were shut out 5-0. Tampa Bay outshot Colorado 32-30 in the end. The Avs were unable to score five-on-five and through two powerplay chances. They allowed two powerplay goals against on three chances.
Observations:
High’s and Bo’s: Bowen Byram’s second game back was a bit of a rollercoaster. He had a shot on net and three additional attempts blocked/missed. All came about inside home plate. Especially in the first half of this game, he looked like a heat-seeking missile quick to close in on gaps and dish punishing hits behind the net.
Two hooking penalties also led to two goals against. The hooks were overzealous. This is often an infraction I would say is born from being a step being the assignment. In Byram’s case, I did not feel he was behind the play and instead trying to do too much.
He finished the night with a Corsi for percentage at five-on-five play at 52.78% – the second best among all defensemen. Like his first game, his time alongside Girard (at even strength – so, excluding their powerplay time) was the best of defensive combinations in the absence of Cale Makar. A notable feat in a game the tested the team’s defense immensely.
MacKinnon blocked and stopped: A team with so many offensive weapons is not often shut out. Matt Nieto gets stopped on the breakaway. Denis Malgin flubbed on a wide open net. These aren’t the only reasons Colorado is kept off the scoresheet. When the stars are quiet, the entire team gets snuffed out. In MacKinnon’s case, it certainly wasn’t for a lack of trying.
MacKinnon had a team-high seven shot attempts blocked. Tampa did an terrific job to support Vasilevskiy’s strong performance with adept shot blocking between the hashmarks. Against MacKinnon, Tampa deployed some of their best defensive forwards (Cirelli, Hagel, and Killorn) and the d-pairing having a solid night possession-wise (Erik Cernak, Sergachev) expressly to shut him down. Alongside a terrific night in net for Vasilevskiy, it was an effective strategy.
