"It was a very dramatic win": MacKinnon, Soderberg lead Avalanche to shootout win

When you’ve lost 12 out of 13 of anything, you’re probably going to be pretty over getting involved in whatever you’re losing. When the Avalanche found their way in overtime once again following a blown third period lead for the second time in three nights, they buckled down.

I talked with Erik Johnson this morning about how the team can change its approach in the extra session and he talked about defending more and treating it less like pond hockey and more like a disciplined part of the game. The Avalanche did that, got some good looks on offense and Semyon Varlamov came up with when asked to stop the three shots the Vancouver Canucks put on him in the overtime period. No winner was determined so for just the second time all season, the Avalanche found themselves in a shootout. Does that mean the Avalanche were better in the format?

“They almost scored so…it’s close,” Nathan MacKinnon said. “We had some chances. [Brassard] made a good give and go play. He just tied up my stick. My wrap I thought was really close, too. I had him biting on my shoulder fake on the strong side. We’re close. Hopefully, we can score more than two and win in regulation but it’s good we got two points.”

MacKinnon and newcomer Derick Brassard nearly connected on a tic-tac-toe goal but MacKinnon’s stick got tied up in front of the net. He also was stopped by Jacob Markstrom on a wraparound attempt that was a very close call. The Canucks sort of scored when Tanner Pearson pushed Varlamov into the net and jarred the puck loose and pushed it into the net. It was called no-goal on the ice but the league reviewed it just to be safe and ultimately the call on the ice stood.

The overtime period gave way to overtime where Brock Boeser and Mikko Rantanen scored in the first three rounds. The shootout ended up lasting six rounds with Carl Soderberg scoring the game-winning goal for the Avalanche to give them the 3-2 victory and just their second win of the season after regulation.

“It was exciting that Carl scored that goal,” MacKinnon told BSN Denver. “It was a very dramatic win. It was a lot of fun to be part of that. I haven’t been in a shootout in a while. Obviously, we had some chances in overtime and I thought we did better finally but still couldn’t get a goal. We got the win though.”

Getting to overtime was a bit of a letdown as the Avalanche thoroughly outshot and outplayed the Canucks throughout regulation but Markstrom stood tall and kept his Canucks in it. The game opened with the Avalanche pouring it on despite Mikko Rantanen taking a penalty just 11 seconds into the game.

The scoring started when MacKinnon blew a one-timer past Markstrom to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead. MacKinnon has taken to eschewing the cute stuff for the grip it and rip it approach recently and it once again worked tonight as he went post and in for his 33rd goal of the season.

“I just want to keep evolving and getting better,” MacKinnon said. “My one-timer was a weak part of my game when I first came in the league. I haven’t really scored any in my whole career until the last like four games, which is funny. I’ve been working on it a lot, getting confidence. I’m not aiming post-in, they’re just kind of finding their way so I’m getting some good bounces, too.”

The shot from the famed “Ovechkin spot” has been productive for a Colorado offense and power play that occasionally gets caught being too cute and overpassing in search of the perfect shot. With MacKinnon being more aggressive, he has rediscovered his goal-scoring touch.

“I’ve been working on it a lot lately,” MacKinnon said. “[Tyson Barrie] gives me probably 25-30 pucks a day after practice or morning skate or whatever. It’s something I want to develop. I couldn’t really shoot it when I first came into the league. Every year it’s gotten a little bit better. I keep evolving my goal-scoring abilities. Sometimes wrist shots aren’t going to find it for me.”

If MacKinnon is going to continue evolving like a Pokemon determined to take his trainer to the top, the NHL is on notice – the Avs are coming to take over your gyms.

Takeaways from the game

• Can’t help but feel like the Avs missed an opportunity early in the game to absolutely bury Vancouver. They came out flying and were creating Grade-A chances all over the place and the missed chances were topped by Mikko Rantanen missing an empty net on a nice passing play right after he had left the penalty box.
• Colorado’s penalty kill looked like a totally different animal tonight. They were sound in their coverage and didn’t allow an abundance of quality chances against. Your goaltender has to be your best penalty killer but the guys in front of Semyon Varlamov really didn’t make him work too hard while down a man.
• Nathan MacKinnon saying screw it and deciding he can bomb one-timers from the Ovechkin spot like all the other right-handed superstars has been a useful revelation for Colorado’s offense. If he continues with his “bombs away” approach, he’s going to make life that much more difficult for opposing offenses trying to stop him.
• The steal from Gabe Landeskog that led to Colorado’s second goal was as game-changing a play as it gets. Vancouver had gathered possession and Tyson Barrie was caught flat-footed with a Canucks player getting behind him and all that was needed for the breakaway was the pass. Landeskog stole the puck at the last possible moment and he hit Rantanen for the one-timer. Huge play.
• The Tyson Jost Revival Tour continued tonight with Jost playing like a man possessed once again. His puck retrieval and transition from defense to offense created several scoring chances for his line. We’ve seen small stretches of high-caliber play like this from him before so you can’t fully buy in yet but this is what he needs to do to prove he belongs in a prominent role.
• Whatever brand of chocolate milk Sam Girard has been drinking since the end of the bye week needs to be a permanent fixture in his diet. He has grown sturdy and mighty as his play has taken a noticeable leap in quality. He has also begun embracing a more physical element when the moment calls for it. Good luck with that, opposing forwards.
• On the flip side, Tyson Barrie seems to have gone full Wile E. Coyote and slammed into the wall. His effectiveness has dropped significantly and he’s no longer being asked to fire away constantly from the power play so his points have slowed their roll just a bit. Of course, he did hit a post tonight so maybe the breakthrough is coming. He basically should not be allowed on the ice during overtime at this point as the Avs came very close to losing yet another one with him out there defending.
• Derick Brassard is fitting in just fine through two games. He could’ve had an assist on a MacKinnon overtime goal but MacKinnon’s stick got tied up and he wasn’t able to get a clean shot off.
• Nikita Zadorov has started shooting constantly. Sometimes that’s good, other times it’s just dangerous for opposing players brave enough to get in the way. Good luck!
• Colorado has only participated in two of them this year but tonight was a nice reminder that shootouts are pretty fun. I enjoy watching them.