Bubble players impress in Colorado's 4-1 win over Vegas

Following a stretch of four preseason games in six days, the Avalanche entered a prolonged stretch of inactivity where they play just two in ten. One of those two came tonight as Colorado played the fifth of their six preseason games with tonight’s contest in Vegas to take on the Golden Knights.

With a prospect-laden lineup against a grip of NHL regulars from the Golden Knights, it seemed like running back the 5-0 drubbing Vegas laid on Colorado last week could be possible but the prospects had something to say about that.

A pretty low-event first period saw Colorado score the only goal when Matt Calvert put it home courtesy of a T.J. Tynan pass.

10:38 Matt Callvert (1) Wrist Shot, Assists: TJ Tynan (1) 1 – 0 COL pic.twitter.com/YRI1uK6Lsf

— DNVR Avalanche (@DNVR_Avalanche) September 26, 2019

The second period was much busier, a nice reprieve from the slow burn that is preseason hockey. The Avalanche completely dominated the period and began opening up their lead when Vladislav Kamenev scored a goal he badly needed.

1:37 Vlad Kamenev (1) Wrist Shot, Assists: AJ Greer (2), Matt Calvert (1) 2 – 0 COL pic.twitter.com/VszPWYH5ZE

— DNVR Avalanche (@DNVR_Avalanche) September 26, 2019

Next up to get off the snide was the power play, which Colorado had failed to score on through the first four preseason games. Logan O’Connor, of all players, ended the futility when he banged home a loose puck.

10:22 (PP) Logan O'Connor (1) Wrist Shot, Assists: Sheldon Dries (1) 3 – 0 COL pic.twitter.com/m1viS60Hv4

— DNVR Avalanche (@DNVR_Avalanche) September 26, 2019

The second period ended with Colorado leading 3-0. Instead of sitting back and letting Vegas push hard in the third period, the Avalanche just continued to do work. Jayson Megna added to his impressive preseason resume with another goal to put the Avalanche ahead 4-0.

8:33 Jayson Megna (3) Back Hand, 4 – 0 COL pic.twitter.com/CECvnUr1i2

— Nathan Rudolph (@DNVR_Rudo) September 26, 2019

Colorado’s bid to be the first team to ever shutout Vegas in the preseason ended with just 17 seconds remaining as Pavel Francouz gave up a pretty soft goal by Patrick Brown.

Here's the softy by Francouz pic.twitter.com/hlnL2vW5nD

— DNVR Avalanche (@DNVR_Avalanche) September 26, 2019

The final score was 4-1 and moved the Avalanche to 2-3 on the preseason. Their final game of the fake schedule is Saturday afternoon in Dallas.

GAME TAKEAWAYS

• Shots finished 32-17 in favor of Colorado. Given the lineup for Vegas had as many NHL players as it did, including half of their regular top six, that defensive effort from the team was awfully impressive.
• Colorado was smothering on the forecheck, too. A lot of shot suppression is preventing controlled zone entries and the Avalanche did that very well tonight. They were aggressive on the forecheck and disruptive in the neutral zone. More than individual efforts, which we’ll get to below, it was just a damn fine team performance.
• Let’s start with Jayson Megna. Signed to be a top six contributor for the Colorado Eagles, he scored his third goal of the preseason tonight and it was a great individual effort. It’s obvious he has some offensive chops. I’m not sure the all-around game is there for him to stick more than a week or two but it would not be a surprise to see Colorado keep him.
• The question if Megna stays is who goes? The forward group is mostly healthy and without Mikko Rantanen there really only is one spot. Valeri Nichushkin would seem to be a safe bet given Jared Bednar’s praise but would Megna get it over all the other guys vying for spots?
• Those other guys include Vlad Kamenev, who really showed out tonight. He scored the second goal of the game and that confidence boost seemed to do wonders for him. He was an impact player throughout and looked like one of Colorado’s best forwards. This was exactly the kind of game he needed to keep himself in contention for a spot.
• Other guys who had flashes tonight that you think might be in contention for a forward job: A.J. Greer, Martin Kaut, Logan O’Connor, Sheldon Dries. It was a very good night for bubble players.
• The competition for jobs on defense is getting very interesting. Yet again, Conor Timmins was excellent tonight and Calle Rosen also stood out as a net positive. Both players continue to separate themselves from their competition. I don’t know what else to say about these two other than that. They have been a level above the rest of Bowen Byram, Mark Barberio, Ryan Graves, and Kevin Connauton. The jobs in question for the third pairing and maybe two healthy scratches so you can reasonably keep four of these six if they want.
• They seem awfully committed to Byram but the more he plays the more obvious it is to me that he’s just not quite ready yet. There are flashes of talent throughout but he’s played four of the five preseason games and has yet to truly separate himself. This is a team with serious competitive aspirations this year and it might not be the right year to use it on forcing the development of an 18-year-old on a unit with some real depth for the first time in ages.