Avs turn the page on a difficult chapter with a 4-1 victory over Seattle

Colorado rounded out the final game of their road trip in familiar territory.

Seattle’s inaugural playoff appearance pushed a debilitated Avs group to seven games last April.

Nathan MacKinnon has talked about how Colorado “just didn’t have it” as the hits just kept coming: Cale Makar was suspended for his hit on Jared McCann, Andrew Cogliano fractured his neck after a crushing hit into the boards from Jordan Eberle, and the mounting injury list coming out of it took a toll: Darren Helm’s unsuccessful return, Josh Manson’s continued struggles behind-the-scenes, Artturi Lehkonen’s broken toe, Pavel Francouz’s eventual procedure, and Jack Johnson’s lower-body injury at its start.

Unlike Jared McCann, who returned for the Dallas series last year, Andrew Cogliano played hockey for the first time since April this past Saturday.

Cale Makar served a one game suspension for his hit, but Eberle’s hit from behind which fractured Andrew Cogliano’s neck in two places didn’t even get a look from the Department of Player Safety.

Colorado has exciting new additions and a core in its prime, but there was just one thing they needed to do before they truly turned the page on a difficult chapter.

The Avs top-line took the opening faceoff and on the second shift of the game, Bednar deployed Logan O’Connor’s line.

At 1:20, O’Connor challenged Eberle to a fight which he readily accepted. O’Connor landed a couple rights, but it wasn’t overly violent once you got past the “fight” part. After all, Eberle isn’t a player with a history. It was about justice.

Business was handled.

As for Colorado’s first period? Business was not handled. The Avs seemed a bit stunned by Seattle’s strategy which played out similarly to their execution in the playoffs. Seattle’s backcheck pressured Colorado in the middle of the ice and the Avs struggled to transition. For a team that relies on speed through the neutral zone, Seattle created speed bumps.

As a result, they struggled to enter Seattle’s end and control possession. Seattle managed six takeaways in the first period alone and dominated the faceoff dot.

In their d-zone, the Avs struggled to breakout pucks and got hemmed in.

Some other game notes: Alexandar Georgiev earned his third consecutive start, Riley Tufte and Justus Annunen were reassigned to the Colorado Eagles, and Ivan Prosvetov backed up Georgiev for the first time.

Jared Bednar toyed with a lineup change, adding Jonathan Drouin to the second line in place of Val Nichushkin who was elevated to the top-line.

They were fortunate to end the first period down one goal. Alexander Georgiev was under duress – a rebound dribbled out and allowed Vince Dunn to reset up high. He fed Kailer Yamamoto at the bottom of the left circle, and Yamamoto whipped it in.

Early into the second period, after a successful penalty kill, Bednar reverted his top-six back to the same unit we’ve seen thus far. Almost immediately, the reunion of Lehkonen and Nichushkin provided Colorado the boost they needed.

Nichushkin applied pressure on the forecheck and won a battle along the boards. He skated the puck toward the net in traffic and Lehkonen retrieved it from the rubble and fired it in from the slot.

Following that, a breakout pass from Sam Girard fed Ross Colton on the breakaway and drew a penalty.

Seattle’s strategy of swarming the puck-carrier kept the Avs from capitalizing, but Colorado clawed back into this contest. 

Evidently Logan O’Connor’s scoring touch is fueled by brotherhood and spite. An objectively bad interference call on Nathan MacKinnon put the Avs on the penalty kill. He collided with Yanni Gourde at center ice, and even Gourde seemed confused by the call.

Toews and Makar helped the puck out of their end, and Makar ushered the puck deep into Seattle’s zone for a streaking O’Connor to collect. Shorthanded, O’Connor got inside Vince Dunn and tapped the game-winner past Philipp Grubauer at the top of the crease.

The Avs had a strong end to the middle frame even though Seattle made an impressive push in the final seconds – Georgiev made a big save on Gourde. Much of it was spent on special teams, but their five-on-five game improved.

Unlike the San Jose Sharks game, Colorado did not have shot volume on their side. Instead, they had to be very intentional with their creation – their looks needed to be good and dangerous.

In the final period, Mikko Rantanen’s first shot on net resulted in a goal. Seattle’s postseason strategy of stifling Colorado’s stars definitely limited Rantanen much of tonight, so he had to make it count.

A good shift led to sustained possession, a board battle won by Cogliano and Sam Girard got the puck to Rantanen and he let his one-timer do the talking.

The tide in this game didn’t turn in an instant. It was another respectable effort to gain another inch shift by shift – especially after a first period that fell flat.

A late four-on-four opportunity with Bo Byram and McCann in the box gave Colorado the chance to tie this game up with a bow. Val Nichushkin sank the empty-net goal to end it 4-1.

Colorado won their third straight contest, undefeated so far, and Seattle continued on without their first win. Their overall road game record (dating back to March) improved to 14 consecutive road wins to tie the NHL record.

Even though they weren’t analytical darlings tonight, Colorado had key players and their penalty kill remained perfect.

Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and an assist and played a strong two-way game.

With an assist tonight, Cale Makar tuned out the noise inside Climate Pledge Arena to notch his 250th career point. He’s the fastest defenseman to reach the milestone unseating Bobby Orr in the process.

Alexandar Georgiev made 37 of 38 saves for a 0.974 save percentage on the night. He stopped 19 high-to-medium danger chances, and gave Colorado exactly the runway needed to fight their way back from the first period.

Finally, Logan O’Connor’s individual performance highlighted an important element that makes this Colorado group special.

A lot of the players have talked about how well the new players gel with the returning guys. It’s a fundamental component of Avalanche hockey.

Their culture is demanding, but it’s also rewarding. The bond that unites the guys in that room gives them something to play for that’s bigger than themselves.

Logan O’Connor played for Andrew Cogliano tonight, and that’s a win that can’t be measured.

The Avs return home for their home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. They’ll take the day off Wednesday before hitting the ice for their first morning skate at Ball Arena of the regular season.