Avs snap losing streak with goal explosion

SUNRISE, FLA. – A plastic rat was thrown on the ice late in the game here at BB&T Arena. That used to signify good things for the Florida Panthers. Old-school hockey fans probably remember when thousands of the little critters used to fill the ice at Panthers games after goals (look it up, kids, as to the significance of it).

On Saturday night, a lone plastic rat came onto the ice, but more out of frustration from the sparse crowd, or so it seemed. It came after Colorado Avalanche winger Colin Wilson scored midway through the third period of what finished a 7-3 Avs victory.

The Avs played a great first period. A great first 19 minutes, 48 seconds, make that.

For some reason, Tyson Barrie decided to go for a change with the puck in the neutral zone, leaving the ice uncovered near their own blue line as the time ticked down toward the end of a period the Avs had outshot the Panthers to that point, 14-8 and had the only goal to that point, by Mikko Rantanen.

Aaron Ekblad charged down into the space vacated by Barrie and took a Jonathan Huberdeau pass that he blasted to the back of the net with 2.7 seconds left.

The second period started with several Colorado mistakes, one of which finished with another goal against. Nikita Zadorov and Patrik Nemeth were both frozen at the blue line when Jamie McGinn spotted Denis Malgin past them and he speeded all the way down the ice for a breakaway goal at 4:51 to give Florida the lead.

The Avs regrouped, however. They started moving their legs again and tightened the defense in their own zone, and started to get some rewards.

Nathan MacKinnon scored the goal of the night, of the week and of the Avs’ month so far, at 11:26 to tie it. MacK split the defense in front of him before flipping a soft shot over the shoulder of James Reimer for the equalizer. On the ensuing shift, Barrie wristed a shot from the blue line that was proven to have been tipped by Alexander Kerfoot, for the rookie’s ninth goal of the season.

The Avs were hit with a four-minute man-disadvantage toward the end of the period when Barrie was whistled, but the penalty-killing unit did a tremendous job keeping Varlamov’s work to a minimum.

The Avs almost had a disastrous start to the third. Despite starting the period with nearly two minutes left on a power play, the Avs gave up two 2-on-1 break-ins and one 3-on-2. Fortunately, Florida either misfired or Varlamov made the saves.

Again, the Avs settled down some after sloppy moments like that. They started to just play simple dump-and-change hockey, milking the clock down. Along the way, they got a fortunate goal, when an Erik Johnson shot changed directions after hitting a Panther and going through the 5-hole of Reimer.

Colin Wilson made it 5-2 Avs with a tap-in goal after a nice cross pass from J.T. Compher. Then, with Reimer pulled for the extra skater with more than four minutes left, Matt Nieto and Carl Soderberg got empty-net goals.

The win snapped Colorado’s four-game losing streak. The Avs play the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins Monday night.

Here’s how Bednar saw the game:

POSTGAME NOTES, QUOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• Erik Johnson went down in considerable pain toward the end of the game after blocking a shot. He left the game and didn’t return. The good news: I’m told he’s going to be OK, shouldn’t miss any time.
• The Avs gave up 42 shots, which is too many to a team like Florida missing top forward Aleksander Barkov. As Varlamov said, they’ve got to bear down harder for every minute of the game. There are still too many times when things get too loosey-goosey in their own end.
• The kill of the four-minute high-stick to Barrie, near the end of the second, was, to me, a big turning point in the game. The Avs then got a PP at the end of the second, which made starting the third a lot easier in a one-goal game.
• Don’t look now, but Johnson now has goals in consecutive games.
• I thought Mark Barberio was a lot better tonight than he’s been of late. Nearly 16 minutes of ice time, no big mistakes, moving the puck reasonably well.
• Gabe Landeskog was hit from behind into the boards, in the first period, by Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau. Landeskog, whose head went into the boards awkwardly, was down for a bit, but kept playing. It should have been a penalty, but none was called. We’ll see if the league’s player safety department reviews it (try to stifle your chuckle).
• I got some pushback on the possibility of Tyson Jost being sent to Canada to play in the World Juniors. Maybe I heard from some Canadian sources who engaged me in some wishful thinking, but it seems like the chances of him leaving the Avs for the tournament are smaller than I thought. Still could happen, but let’s face it – this team needs him.
• Former Av Alex Tanguay met some players afterward, down by the dressing room. Tanguay, who lives in Florida, also does some work for the NHL Network as an analyst – and he’s very good at it.
• The Avs will take Sunday off. It’s likely Jonathan Bernier will play one of the two games, either in Pittsburgh or Washington, to close out the trip. But nothing has been set in stone yet, at least not with the media.
• Finally, thanks for some well-wishers who checked in on me with a bad Airbnb experience Friday night. I won’t get too into it, but let’s just say it went from Brady Bunch to Amityville Horror in a hurry. Very bizarre story. Bottom line, be careful out there.