"We're going to need to be better in some of those routine plays." Avs comeback falls short after Florida scores 4 unanswered goals

The Avs have a tough schedule ahead: the Florida Panthers today, Boston on Monday, and Vegas on Wednesday.

After two five goal wins back-to-back in overtime, a lot has been asked of them already coming out of the New Year.

They didn’t make things easier for themselves to start the game with mistakes on routine plays in the first four minutes.

Ivan Prosvetov earned his eighth start in net and didn’t finish the night after allowing four goals – he allowed the first three on four shots.

About a minute in, Colorado lost the d-zone faceoff and Sam Girard tried to clear the puck but Florida kept possession. Matt Tkachuk gathered the puck behind the net and fed Carter Verhaeghe at the bottom of the circle. Both Ross Colton and Girard got tied up defending Tkachuk and Verhaeghe was free to one-time it in past Prosvetov far-side.

Then, Nathan MacKinnon pressured Anton Lundell along the wall, but he was still able to move the puck out high to Gustav Forsling at the blueline. Forsling ripped a shot on net and Sam Reinhart was in its path to deflect it in.

“We duplicate on a guy below the goal line, leave the netfront open,” explained Jared Bednar. “And then we’re covering for the D in the offensive zone and we don’t stay there and they get a break away. I didn’t like those two goals. The other ones are probably on the goaltending.”

Later Devon Toews and Cale Makar activated and went deep into Florida’s end, but Makar was stripped of the puck. Reinhart received the breakout pass from Aleksander Barkov and took off on the breakaway. Makar tried to chase him, but Reinhart had the step up on him and beat Prosvetov glove-side.

Florida dominated the first period, but Avs launched their comeback early in the second period.

In the opening seconds, MacKinnon shipped the puck up ice and Mikko Rantanen raced to carry it into the offensive zone. Rantanen let up and allowed the Panthers to set up in favor of the perfect play. He found MacKinnon quickly and MacKinnon dashed across the slot to Makar. Makar held the puck on his stick for a moment and wristed it past Sergei Bobrovsky.

Thirty-one seconds later, Colton led the charge in transition and weathered the battle along the boards long enough to get the puck to Logan O’Connor behind the net. O’Connor handed it off to Nichushkin in relief and Nichushkin found Josh Manson at the top of the circle. Manson wound it up and released his shot on net. Bobrovsky’s blocker punched it away and the puck bounced off Verhaeghe’s body and in.

Makar and Josh Manson scored within the opening 52 seconds of the second period and became the first two defensemen in NHL history from the same team to score within the first minute of a frame.

Shortly after on a drive to the net, Girard ended up inside the goal and Tkachuk took issue with it and delivered a few cross-checks and punches. Tkachuk was assessed a double-minor for roughing and Girard received a goaltender interference call.

On the following powerplay Colorado cycled the puck, but Florida was extremely aggressive in their kill. Rantanen got the puck to Makar our high and Makar shimmied in the high-slot in search of his lane. He released the puck on net and Nichushkin’s stick ensured it went in.

Nichushkin joined MacKinnon and Rantanen as the Avs third 20-goal scorer this season

Eventually came the goal that got Prosvetov pulled.

Ben Meyers and Girard fought for the puck in their end, but Barkov escaped with it. Barov angled the puck up the boards to Oliver Ekman-Larsson at the blueline, and Ekman-Larsson’s shot from distance beat Prosvetov.

His night ended there. On fourteen shots, Prosvetov made nine saves for a 0.692 save percentage in the contest. Alexandar Georgiev entered the net in relief.

“We made two mistakes that ended up in the back of our net,” said Bednar. “It’s not like we gave up a ton of scoring chances in the first, but we need a save… I wanted to give our team a chance if they were gonna battle the way they did in the third and the second period to come back.”

Georgiev finished the period with four saves on four shots including a flying pokecheck on a partial breakaway shortly after his arrival.

The Avs were quite impressive in this stretch. They regained possession, outshot the Panthers, and created more dangerous chances.

Early in the third period, Verhaeghe’s shot bounced off Girard in his lane, and Drouin was high in his zone and capitalized on the opportunity. Drouin took off on the breakaway and evaded Niko Mikkola. He went forehand-backhand and beat Bobrovsky.

Their heroic comeback, however, had its limits.

At 4:47, Ross Colton took a double-minor for high-sticking

Twenty-six seconds into the kill, Logan O’Connor tipped a puck over the glass and went off for a delay of game.

On the subsequent five-on-three, Tkachuk found Reinhart in the slot and Reinhart snapped it into the net to complete the hattrick.

Minutes later, MacKinnon won the d-zone draw, but Kevin Stenlund threw his stick down to prevent Girard from getting to it and Ryan Lomberg retrieved it instead. Lomberg tagged up Stenlund inside the circle, and Stenlund threw it on net and beat Georgiev.

It all happened so quickly after the draw.

With Georgiev pulled, the Panthers scored two empty net goals. Bednar took a chance on his comeback kids with the extra skater after what they’d shown earlier, but it fell short.

“We came out in the second with a different mindset and just went out there, started attacking them, and tilted the ice a little bit in our direction. (We) got some momentum from that,” said Makar. “(It’s) definitely a little bit tough to have that double-minor there, but it is what it is. That’s hockey. We have to be able to either kill that and get some momentum from it – even if we just give up one – just get them back after.”

“We can sit here and learn a little bit for sure, but we gotta kind of just put it in the back of our mind,” he added. “Our schedule is only gonna get harder here going into All Star, so it should be a lot of fun tests for us. Tonight was the first of them. We just kind of let it slip away there, but we’re going to have another couple of good opportunities at home in this little stretch here.”

Colorado showed a lot of fight in tonight’s contest and they have the last two games. They’re 7-2-1 in their last ten games and Monday marks the official halfway point in the season.

Despite the negatives of the game, tough moments revealed strengths within the group too.

“We’ve shown it when we’re going. This group in here can do a lot of really good things, and it’s about doing it day-in, day-out, every night, coming to the rink and going to work every single day,” said Toews. “We’ve done a pretty good job of it this year, and obviously we’ve had some stretches that haven’t been as good, but tonight was kind of a one-off.”

The schedule isn’t favorable, so the Avs will need to turn the page quickly. Monday the Avs will be back in Ball Arena to face the 24-8-6 Boston Bruins.