Penguins' stars devoured by increasingly confident Zadorov

DENVER — Since the moment Rob Blake left Denver, the Colorado Avalanche have been searching for help along the blue line to return them to prominence. In hulking Russian blueliner Nikita Zadorov, the Avalanche just might have found their future enforcer along the back end.

As players like Tyson Barrie, who scored twice tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Colorado’s 4-2 win, and Sam Girard fill the role of crafty puck-movers, Erik Johnson plays the all-around top defenseman, Zadorov has settled into a role with the Avalanche as a heavy-hitting protector of his own zone.

With the two-game suspension of Johnson beginning tonight, Zadorov’s role was expected to focus on stopping Pittsburgh’s top players and he delivered in a way that will honestly be difficult to replicate.

“Obviously, EJ is a big loss,” Zadorov said. “The defense stepped up and played as a team. We struggled in the first to get the puck out of our zone but after that we cleaned it up and began playing the way we know we can.”

His dominance was undeniable tonight as he played 19:18 at even strength with his primary assignment being slowing Sidney Crosby’s line down. Mission accomplished as the 8:24 Crosby and Zadorov shared the ice tonight at five-on-five saw the Penguins managed just four shot attempts while the Avs attempted 12.

The Evgeni Malkin (4:43 TOI against Zadorov)-Phil Kessel (6:09 TOI against Zadorov) combination didn’t have much better success – the Avs attempted 12 shots versus one against with Kessel on the ice and five for with one against with Malkin on the ice at five on five. The caliber of the competition was a driving force behind Zadorov’s success as he has begun to settle into the shutdown role the Avalanche envisioned for him when they traded for him in 2015.

“That’s why you play hockey,” Zadorov said with a smile spreading across his face. “The competition and going up against Crosby, Malkin, Kessel is why you play the game and those games are the most fun.”

The Avalanche had a slow start again tonight as the Penguins were all over Colorado, outshooting them 18-13 in the first period as the Avs struggled to match Pittsburgh’s energy and tenacity in puck battles.

“They’re a talented team who plays fast and they have a lot of skill guys,” Zadorov admitted. “They get around the boards hard and work corners so you have to be disciplined against them and win your battles when they give you the chance.”

After giving up those 18 shots in the first, Colorado locked down the lethal Pittsburgh offense and allowed just 14 shots to get to goaltender Semyon Varlamov the rest of the way. Despite holding a 3-1 lead going into the third, the Avs kept their foot on the gas and outshot Pittsburgh 9-8 and completed a season sweep of the Pens after beating them one week ago in Pittsburgh behind a yeoman’s performance from backup Jonathan Bernier. According to Zadorov, that familiarity was a key tonight.

“It does help,” Zadorov said. “All of our pre-scouting last week prepared us for them and they didn’t have time to make big changes. It was a big help having that comfort playing against them again.”

Given the results with Zadorov on the ice tonight, it’s fair to say other teams will be looking to make Zadorov a little more uncomfortable moving forward.