Takeaways from an Avalanche game that slipped away

Coming into tonight’s game, it felt like a Stanley Cup preview.

Even the fans were unusually amped up, with a verbal fight right below the press box beginning before the anthem and spilling over into the opening minutes of the first period that ended up with security removing some of the parties involved.

While fans were fighting throughout the evening, it was the fight of the Washington Capitals that prevailed on the ice as they completed a comeback 3-2 win over the Avalanche to stop Colorado’s five-game winning streak.

The Avs had a hot start and got out to an early lead, something they do as well as any team in the NHL, as goals from Andre Burakovsky and Mikko Rantanen ignited their top line and put Colorado ahead 2-0.

Beating Braden Holtby for the third time, which was key in running him from the net in the game between these two teams in Washington, never happened and ended up costing the Avalanche two points.

But Holtby standing tall wasn’t the only factor in the Caps climbing back into things.

Six penalties were called in the second period, three against each team, and gave both sides opportunities to do what they needed to.

Washington capitalized on one of their chances with Nicklas Backstrom poking a puck by Philipp Grubauer on the backdoor. When that goal made it 2-1, Colorado had a golden opportunity just minutes later with one minute of five-on-three play and failed to score as Holtby stopped the couple of chances the Avs managed to generate.

Entering the third period with a one-goal lead, the Avs couldn’t stay out of the box as they took two more penalties, just kicking open the door for Washington to climb back into the game.

And that’s where the game really felt like it turned. Ian Cole’s penalty was killed off early in the third and Gabe Landeskog was tripped almost right after they were back to even strength. 19,000 people saw it happen but the only two whose opinions mattered decided it was time to play on.

And that increasingly one-sided feel to the officiating certainly wasn’t resonating with just the fans in the stands.

“Penalties,” Landeskog said after the game when asked about the swings in momentum. “Got to bite my tongue so I don’t say anything wrong here but some of those calls were questionable. That’s all I’m going to say.”

Even though Washington still trailed by one, they began generating more and more offense as the game wore on.

A fifth penalty on Colorado finally proved costly as Tom Wilson tipped home a point shot to beat Grubauer and tie the game with just over seven minutes remaining in the game. With the goal, all momentum was firmly swung in Washington’s direction.

“If their best players are standing in the power play, moving it around, feeling confident and creating chances, you know they’ve got one of the best power plays in the league,” Landeskog said. “Whether they scored on it or not, they got the momentum. Ultimately, my opinion, that’s what swung the momentum. Obviously, the game became choppy that way and there was no real rhythm to it. We want to stay on the gas, stay on the attack, stay in the o-zone, but we’re playing four on five for 30 minutes. It’s hard to do.”

After the Caps tied it, Colorado did respond with a push of their own. When Holtby turned that push aside, Washington went right back to work offensively.

There was no more perfect of an encapsulation of the third period than Colorado overskating pucks in their own end and watching Washington whip it around the boards for a point shot. That shot ended up tipped by T.J. Oshie for the game-winning goal with just 2:04 to play.

The Avalanche did not succeed in their attempt with the goaltender pulled.

The five-game homestand continues on Saturday as the LA Kings come to town for the Stadium Series at the Air Force Academy.

GAME TAKEAWAYS

• An extremely disappointing end to an otherwise great hockey game. It was fast, had some good physicality, and the teams seemed engaged in the moment. A very fun regular season game between two very good hockey teams. It’s a tough way for the Avs to lose but as far as a litmus test of where they are compared to the league’s best, they continue to show well. A season split with Washington, a sweep of Boston, and two OT losses to Pittsburgh. Competitive, all. Tampa Bay next week will be the end of their games against elite eastern competition.
• Feel the worst for Grubauer after this one. He was awesome in this game. Awesome. And two tipped pucks got by him, the last of which Oshie didn’t even realize he had tipped until later. Even Oshie’s postgame interview indicated he didn’t mean to do it. He put his stick out and hoped for the best and got it. That’s just how hockey goes sometimes. It was also the first even-strength goal the Avs have given up since their game back in Ottawa last week. I don’t have the exact number but they went right around 277 minutes between giving up even strength goals. That’s incredible.
• Less incredible is Colorado’s ability to get scored on at 5v4. They just can’t stop teams from scoring. It’s a variety of ways, too. Tonight it was a tipped puck and a backdoor play. Previous games saw players jumping in from the point to score. The unit is just a mess right now. I don’t have any idea what more they should be doing with it because they go from a dominant kill where they stop everything and then the next one sees the other team setup a shooting gallery. The wild variances are just maddening.
• The easy answer is to fire Nolan Pratt and I get the sentiment. But the PK isn’t the only part of his job and we’ve seen several young players take meaningful development steps forward with Pratt working with them on a daily basis. All of Girard, Makar, Graves, and Zadorov have improved some aspects of their game under Pratt and I even think this is as solid as Erik Johnson has ever been in his own end. That’s not to say those players aren’t still flawed, but they’ve taken noticeable steps forward under his tutelage. That’s meaningful, especially if the Avs do continue to get younger with Bowen Byram and Conor Timmins in the next year or so.
• This is my fifth year covering the Avs as a member of the press and I can tell you I’ve never seen such an angry crowd as the one in Pepsi Center tonight. There were tons of opposing fans but that’s pretty normal. The fight below the press box escalated multiple times. I saw in the lower bowl beers being thrown between fans and for sure one physical altercation broke out during the third period. I don’t know what it was about tonight’s game that brought out the worst in so many people but it was disappointing to see. I know Avs fans are annoyed at so many opposing fans gobbling up tickets and going to the games but that’s a reality of living in Denver these days.
• Didn’t get too much into individual player stuff in these takeaways but did want to add that Mikko Rantanen looks fully back. The special version. He was awesome, especially early. I would like to see MacKinnon push his game to that elite level again because right now he feels like early-season MacKinnon where he was recording points but wasn’t dominating like we know he can.
• As cool as it would’ve been to see Ovechkin get his 700th, I don’t mind this group of particularly angry and aggressive Caps fans in Denver tonight not getting to see it live. Take that gong show to another city, y’all.