MacKinnon shines as Avs snap skid in comeback win

Ok, we’re not going to do any of the fluff to start this piece off. The Colorado Avalanche were coming into their game against the Edmonton Oilers losers of five straight, and maybe the worst loss of this current skid came just two nights ago when the Avs blew a 2-0 lead to the struggling Vancouver Canucks.

Colorado needed to have a good game. A very good game. It wasn’t even so much about winning or losing, but they couldn’t have the same type of sleepy performance we’ve seen over and over for the last five games or so.

I went on the radio in Edmonton today and said that if the Avalanche didn’t commit to playing well in their own end, and get their legs moving early, they could be in some trouble. 

I thought that the Avs had a great start. Relatively uneventful for the first handful of minutes, but when the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl went to the box for removing JT Compher’s helmet, and it seemed to send a jolt through the Avalanche roster. 

For the first time in what feels like forever, we saw that dynamic Colorado offense. Quick movement, shifty skating, great passing, and pucks to the net from everywhere. 

Edmonton’s netminder, Stuart Skinner, was great early, stopping 15 shots in the opening frame. He was aggressive, really playing high on his crease. Nathan MacKinnon had five shots in the first period and hit a post during a net-front scramble. Aside from the post, Skinner had an answer for every MacKinnon bid in the first. The Avs’ star was flying, but he just could not get one to go.

I was asked today if I thought Nathan MacKinnon was a little snake bitten, given that he’s shooting at 6.7%… I think that shift answers that question pretty thoroughly. #Avs

— Jesse Montano (@jessemontano_) January 8, 2023

It was a really strong road period, but with not much time left, Alex Newhook took a penalty for interference in front of Edmonton’s net and sent the deadly Oiler power play to work. 

It was a soft call on Newhook. Like, absurdly soft. That said, it is so hard to take a penalty that far away from your own net and feel good about it. 

Sure enough, Draisaitl and Oilers captain Connor McDavid made two all-world passes to set up Zach Hyman right on the doorstep. It felt like somewhat of a gut punch for the Avs. Such a good period, undone in an instant. 

The question quickly became, how do they respond? Two nights ago they were the better team for the first half of the game, then they gave up an unlucky goal and just melted down. It was uncharacteristic, but you could see the frustration boil over. 

So what were we going to see tonight when the same *kind* of thing happened?

In my opinion, it was exactly what you wanted to see. 

They come out of the dressing room down 1-0 despite pushing the play, and they just went right back to work. 

One of the hallmarks of this team over the last couple of seasons has been their ability to adapt mid-game. They are fine playing any style of game that their opponent wants, and do it better. It’s one of the biggest things that I think has been missing from their game consistently so far this season. 

For the first 10+ minutes of the middle frame, the Avs just dominated. They were giving up nothing and were getting shift after shift of sustained zone pressure, and quality looks off the rush. 

Again, if not for Skinner, the Avalanche could have blown this one open. Give the team credit, one game removed from a full-on meltdown they were staying composed and just continued to play to their identity, and defended well. After all, a great offense starts on defense.

A combination of great goaltending from Skinner, and some crummy luck (three posts in the second period alone!) found the Avs still down one when there was a shift in the momentum of the game.

At 13:09 of the second period, Sam Girard crashed the net for a rebound and ended up making some contact with the Oilers’ goalie, and the officials sent him to the box for goaltender interference.

Ok… fair enough, I suppose. There was contact. 

A really strong kill for the Avs. Their guys worked hard, blocked shots, and skated down loose pucks. As the man advantage was winding down, it actually looked like the Avs were going to get a look on a shorthanded 2-on-1 break, but they were never able to get a clean lane to the net. 

Play goes the other way… pass, pass, shot from out high that goes off the glass behind Alexandar Georgiev, and comes right back out front into the blue paint to create a mad scramble for the puck. 

Hyman got a stick on it and the puck crept underneath Georgiev and into the net. 

Something like that after the period that they had been having to that point sullies the good name of “bad luck”.

To make matters worse, a failed coach’s challenge for goalie interference sent the Avalanche right back to the penalty kill. 

I’ll be honest, I didn’t love the challenge. There was one angle that I thought made it look like the puck was going in no matter what, and I just didn’t think the officials would overturn that, even though Hyman clearly did push Georgiev’s pad. 

The Avs got 90% of the way through another really good kill, and Erik Johnson got called for another penalty that I just thought was a weak call. He closed on McDavid, who was basically standing still throwing (effective) head fakes. Johnson went to hit McDavid, McDavid spun away and it caused his legs to get twisted. He goes down, the arm goes up, and the Avalanche were staring down about 15 seconds of a 5-on-3 down 2-0 in the dying minutes of the second period. 

Two outstanding kills back to back, just poised and committed. Save for one moment where they got caught running around a bit and Georgiev had to bail them out, but that’s why you have a goalie right?

Back at even strength, Colorado was able to throw some cold water on things to settle the game down. They went to the room down 2-0, but you felt a lot better after the big kill. 

I’d like to pause here to just talk about how unbelievably good Nathan MacKinnon had been to this point. Shooting from absolutely everywhere, driving the net, cycling the puck, distributing well, back-checking, and just everything he was doing looked like he was moving 100 mph.

MacKinnon had a number of great looks through the first 40 minutes. He was approaching double-digit shots on net and had several more that either just missed or were blocked (one post for good measure too). 

There was a calmness to him though, despite having so many good chances come up empty. 

He spoke to us after the Toronto Maple Leafs game last week. It was a bad loss and his first back in the lineup. When we asked him about some of the recent losses, he couldn’t have seemed less bothered. Very confident that they would get back on track and put some wins together. That’s someone who knows who he is. 

You could tell early on that it was going to be one of *those* games for MacKinnon. I think that’s why he looked so calm out there, he knew that it was going to go in eventually.

Just minutes into the third period, MacKinnon broke through in spectacular fashion. 

He picked up a pass from Makar at his own blue line, exploded through the neutral zone and split the defenseman to create his own breakaway. Forehand right over Skinner’s glove and the Avs had life. 

It was a superstar play when his team needed it most. 

Now just down 2-1, the Avs had controlled the game at 5-on-5 and looked like they had some real momentum for the first time in a week. 

It took just over five minutes for the Avs’ pressure to cause the Oilers to spring another leak. 

After hitting the post in the second period Brad Hunt came flying off the bench, after Devon Toews went for a change while the team had control in the offensive zone, he grabbed the puck and just ripped it over Skinner’s blocker, off the post and in. 

You could see it in the moment. They weren’t going to lose this game. The Avalanche stuck to their process, and trusted that if they did things the right way they would get rewarded. 

The last 10ish minutes of regulation saw several close calls for both teams, with both goalies needing to make nice saves to stay in a tied game. 

Getting past regulation feels like it has become the norm for the Avs, and it was needed again tonight. 

For years we talked about how this Avalanche team should be better at 3-on-3, how they have the personnel to dominate with so much open ice. Well, it has taken like six years, but I think they finally figured it out!

They play with poise and patience in overtime now. Good communication, and no unnecessary chances. 

After a three-post period in the second, Colorado got some good karma coming back around in OT as the Oilers hit two posts in the extra frame. Right after the second one, another one of Colorado’s superstars picked up the puck and put on a show. 

Cale Makar raced up ice and skated his way into an odd-man rush, chose to shoot and he just whizzed it by Skinner. Game over. 

It was a massive win for the Avalanche. Not just that they got back in the win column, but they did it the right way. It was a win that they can really feel good about. 

They will sleep soundly in their own beds tonight as they return home for a couple days off before welcoming in the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.