Coming out of the All-Star break, the Avalanche sought to right the wrongs of the response following the holiday break. The weird travel day led to a 6-3 loss to the Arizona Coyotes and a five-game losing streak.
Colorado came out of that slog with a promising stretch of games before the All-Star break. They strung together a six-game win streak and won seven of their last eight games. They capped it off with a win against the St. Louis Blues.
Also in this time, the Avs learned Val Nichushkin was good to go and defenseman Bowen Byram would make his return to the lineup after missing three months. He sustained a lower-body injury in the Global Series and was a late scratch before the second game on November 5th.
The 21-year-old’s presence was missed as a stabilizing force in the defensive group. His status was listed as week-to-week, and we learned that the nature of his injury was finicky, so his timeline was based upon the response to his treatment. He began skating shortly after the holiday break and continued to ramp up in practice.
Pavel Francouz earned the start in net.
First Period
In the first ten minutes, Colorado controlled possession, outshooting Pittsburgh 7-0. Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar, and Evan Rodrigues all had close chances.
The Penguins didn’t register a shot on net until 8:44 remained in the period.
The Avs continued to dominate zone time and outshot the Penguins 13-6. There were no penalties, and the strong play from Colorado right out of the gate placed them in a good position.
Through just one period, the usage within the d-corps already felt more balanced. Byram played 6:47 and blocked two shots. There was a brief scare when he left the bench to get looked at, but he returned.
Second Period
About the midway point, the first penalty of the game was called. Artturi Lehkonen went to the box for slashing. Halfway through the kill, Guentzel was called for hooking, so the teams went four-on-four.
Rantanen won the faceoff in the offensive zone. Girard passed it to Byram who found MacKinnon at the right circle. MacKinnon skated the puck completely around the back of the neck and cut to the center slot and fired a shot in. It was both a terrific individual and team effort.
Sidney Crosby took a tripping penalty, and Colorado went on the powerplay. On the first unit, Evan Rodrigues appeared to take Lehkonen’s usual spot on the bumper. For unit two, Byram and company returned to an earlier iteration of Toews-Girard-Byram-Compher-Newhook.
Lehkonen’s absence was notable after a blocked shot left him smarting earlier in the period.
The controlled play of the first period carried into the second. The Avs finished outshot the Penguins 29-16 with eight dangerous chances to their four. Pittsburgh had a better period compared to their first, but the stable play from the Avs gave them a continued edge.
Third Period
About five minutes into the start, Jeff Carter collided with Cale Makar near the netfront. Carter’s shoulder caught Makar high and square in the chin and Makar went down in discomfort. He was pulled shortly after likely by concussion spotters.
There was no call on the play.
Halfway through the period, Bryan Rust was called for tripping. Lehkonen returned to the first unit and Rodrigues went onto the second unit. They were unable to capitalize on the chance.
Francouz, though not tested as much as Casey DeSmith in net, still had to come up with timely saves including a glove save on Evgeni Malkin’s wrist shot late in the third.
Makar also returned to the game.
At 16:22 into the final period, Francouz tried to poke check the puck away from a streaking Jason Zucker. He fell into the attempt and came out of the crease, but Zucker regained possession and sent the puck flying through the blue paint. Malkin captured the puck and tried to direct it on net, and the puck bounced off Bryan Rust’s skate and in.
Francouz’s attempt was valiant, but because it failed, it did leave the net empty.
Now tied, the period closed and headed to overtime.
Overtime
Twenty-three seconds in, Kris Letang tried to stuff the puck past Francouz. The puck nearly went in but after a review, it did not cross the line fully and was not considered a goal.
Makar drew a tripping penalty, and Colorado gained the man advantage. Jared Bednar called a timeout and the team regrouped at the bench.
The subsequent powerplay unfolded in disappointment. Val Nichushkin, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen were out for the task and opted for shot options on the perimeter. DeSmith came up with the necessary saves and the Pens were able to clear. They didn’t take enough time to establish the zone and hunt for more dangerous chances.
Fifteen seconds after its conclusion, Rantanen tried to get a stick in a passing lane, but Sidney Crosby and Malkin started a chaotic sequence of netfront chances. Francouz stopped a chance from each, but Crosby fished the rebound out of traffic and passed it to Letang at the left circle. Letang fired it in, and this goal was good.
The Avs fell 2-1 in OT.
Observations:
Bo Byram’s return: In his return, Byram played 21:29 – a total which surprised me a bit. When Jared Bednar said he’d throw him into the fire, he wasn’t kidding. It was encouraging to see him utilized like normal alongside Sam Girard.
The pair combined for a Corsi for percentage of 46.88% (at all strengths) – the highest of the pairings for the night. He appeared on the second unit as previewed earlier in the season and contributed an assist on Nathan MacKinnon’s goal.
The scare from the first period caused concern, but he played to completion and had a shot on net, led the team with three hits, three blocked shots, and a takeaway. He didn’t shy away from contact. With overtime in mind, Cale Makar and Devon Toews finished with a respectable time on ice total: 24:21 and 26:01 respectively.
Pittsburgh is within the top ten teams in the league when it comes to generating shots on net. Colorado’s teamwide defense kept the Pens at bay through the first two periods and conversely, the Avs put up 42 shots to their 38 – 11 of which come from the defense. Most of Pittsburgh’s chances came about in the third onward.
In a game of seconds, one bad bounce late in the third led to their undoing. DeSmith was forced to stop 18 medium-to-high danger chances, and Colorado generated 17 high-danger chances to Pittsburgh’s 9. This was not how the Avs had hoped to come out of the break, but it was a far cry from the Arizona game in December.
