Kuemper, Avs outlast Penguins in thrilling matinee matchup

What a game we were treated to in Denver on Saturday afternoon. 

The matinee matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins was one of those games that you could tell just a few minutes in that, regardless of the outcome and who you were cheering for, it was just going to be a fantastic hockey game to watch. 

It was the first matchup of the season between these two teams, as well as the first of a home-and-home that will see the Avs head to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, and the much-anticipated “Battle of Cole Harbour” (hometown of both Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon) did not disappoint. 

The Avalanche were without Nazem Kadri, adding to an already long list of injuries to key contributors, but this game was still being viewed by players and coaches as somewhat of a measuring stick game. The Eastern Conference appears to be absolutely loaded this season, and Pittsburgh is right up there at the top of the standings. Meanwhile, Colorado has been widening their gap over the rest of the West since January.

It’s always fun to get two top teams like this together, and even more so when they’re in separate conferences. You just don’t spend a ton of time thinking about teams you only see twice a year, and especially at this stage of the season, you can get a good sense of where you’re at and what you’ve built in games like this. 

From the opening puck drop, both teams and the crowd were engaged. Both the Avalanche and the Penguins seemed happy to open things up and play fast-paced, north-south hockey. It makes for super entertaining hockey, mostly because of how many scoring opportunities it creates. 

That’s great for fans, terrible for coaches. 

The first ten-is minutes were pretty even, with both teams getting great looks at the net, and multiple odd-man rushes, forcing the goaltenders on both ends of the ice to be sharp. Just past the halfway mark, it felt like Pittsburgh was able to tilt things ever so slightly in their favor. 

The Pens were able to establish some quality zone time, and made it hard for the Avs to get out of their own end and up ice. 

During that push, Darcy Kuemper was phenomenal. Without him, the Penguins could have EASILY found the back of the net at least once, if not two or three times. They weren’t out playing the Avs that dramatically, but they really got some good opportunities near the end of the first period, and Kuemper had an answer for each one of them. 

The second period started and you could tell both coaches told their teams “ok, that was fun…but enough of that”.

While I thought the first had the excitement and energy of a playoff game, I thought the intensity that we saw two really good teams bring starting in the second frame really gave it a postseason feel. 

We’ve talked a lot about this season about the Avs’ ability to ramp up intensity and change their game seemingly on-demand. Well, Pittsburgh did the same today. This Pens team is somewhat of what the Avalanche are ultimately trying to imitate, they obviously know how to win and they know what it takes to play and beat good teams. 

Suddenly we were in a much more structurally sound game, both teams were still getting chances, but they weren’t the super high-danger, run-and-gun chances that we saw early in the game. 

Neither team wanted to give an inch. Both goaltenders were still playing well, only now, they had much stronger defensive support in front of them. You got the sense that it was going to take an exceptional effort to find the back of the net, and beyond that… you knew once one went in, this game would really pick up.

One second shy of the exact halfway mark of the game, Nathan MacKinnon teed up Andre Burakovsky for a one-timer, which hit Tristan Jarry, popped straight up, and Mikko Rantanen batted the puck out of mid-air and into the net. The Avs were off and running. 

Pittsburgh, like the veteran team they are, began to push back right away. It was exactly what we thought would happen, once the first one went in, the pace ramped up.

Just shy of five minutes later, it was the man himself, Sidney Crosby, who won a battle in front and punched a rebound past Kuemper to even things up. 

The deadlock was short-lived, however, as 20 seconds later Alex Newhook came screaming into the zone, dropped the puck, and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel hammered one from the circle beating Jarry to restore Colorado’s lead. 

That lead would carry over to the third, where we saw Pittsburgh try to ramp up their play again as they tried to get the score even. 

Coincidentally though, the third period also just so happens to be the Avs’ best defensive period. It was truly two juggernaut teams slugging it out, so much fun to watch. 

Eventually, Pittsburgh created enough o-zone pressure to force Burakovsky into an absolutely terrible turnover. Really just one of those plays that make you wince and think “you can’t do that”. It was a blatant giveaway right in the slot and the Pens made no mistake to get this score even with just under five minutes left in regulation. 

The relatively large contingency of Pittsburgh fans lit up and started celebrating in a way that made you think this game was destined for overtime and a thrilling, walk-off finish. 

If you thought that though, you were wrong. Just as they had done before, the Avalanche responded less than a minute later when Devon Toews collected a puck that bounced off the end wall and put it past Tristan Jarry to put the Avs ahead for good. 

I can’t overstate it enough, this was such good game. So much intensity, so much speed, and just so structurally sound from both teams. Add in the atmosphere in the building, and this started to feel like a playoff game, and in a playoff game, you need your goalie. Darcy Kuemper showed up and showed out today. He was calm, crisp in his movements, tracking pucks well, and not giving many second chances, if any at all. 

Three days off, then they’ll close out the home-and-home in Pittsburgh. I’m looking forward to that one, you know the Penguins will want some revenge, while the Avalanche will be looking to put an exclamation point on their effort from today. 

TAKEAWAYS

• Logan O’Connor is officially on point-watch. This is more a manifestation than a criticism. He hasn’t registered a point since March 7th against the Islanders – his last goal was January 2nd. Things are beginning to settle following the trade deadline for the bottom 6. With the addition of Landeskog, hopefully Sam Girard and Bowen Byram, and the return of Kadri (hopefully soonish), this is a glimpse into the playoff roster to come. Most of these returns won’t affect the bottom 6. Though it would cater to my personal interests, I just don’t think there are many call-up opportunities in the balance through the remainder of the season. The time to inject the anti-venom is now for O’Connor. Outside the scoresheet, there are still promising components to his game. Through November and December, O’Connor’s production increased and he was awarded ice time. It was difficult production to sustain, and the slog has settled in after the New Year but his work ethic has remained consistent. Tonight he was among the leaders in blocked shots with two hits and two shots and an important contributor to the sole penalty kill in this disciplined game with under 5 minutes remaining. I continue to be hopeful for him. His shorthanded chance on the kill in the March 27 loss to Minnesota showed flashes of old Logan O’Connor.

• Though one of the worst faceoff percentages in the league (31st), the Avalanche had a fine night at the faceoff dot. Nico Sturm, a deadline acquisition in part brought in for this quality, won 11 of his 20, MacKinnon won 11 of his 21, and J.T. Compher split 7 of 14 giving them a 55.6% edge overall. I found myself questioning the decision to utilize Compher in the 4v3 overtime in that same March 27 game mentioned above, and I found myself wondering what might give him an edge to play on the Lehkonen/Nichushkin line in place of Newhook today. I come back to faceoffs (among a smattering of other things), though this afternoon he was middle-tier among the others. For this game, I think it was a matter of experience. J.T. is usually reliable defensively and if he’s going toe-to-toe with Malkin, Crosby and beyond – I like him for that role just a bit more than Newhook – especially with a lineup missing Kadri. On the plus side, I liked the role Newhook played in the Aube-Kubel goal. While the drop pass may not have been entirely intentional, his speed awarded them all the chance.