Take a bow, MacKenzie Blackwood, despite the loss.
Blackwood stopped 51 of 52 shots by the Colorado Avalanche, but the star power of the Avs eventually pulled through in a 2-1 win late Saturday night. It took 58:34 of the game for the Avs to finally beat the San Jose Sharks netminder to tie it late before Mikko Rantanen won it in a shootout.
Despite what the scoreline suggests, Colorado was all over San Jose for the majority of the game. It was a masterclass effort from Blackwood who did everything in his power to keep the Avs out until the dam finally broke. See how it all went down:
First Period
Colorado would dominate to start things off, as was the mantra for most of the period. This continued further when Matt Benning went to the box for slashing Rantanen. While the Avs dominated, they couldn’t score which allowed Thomas Bordeleau at the other end to tip one in for his first career NHL goal.
After another penalty was killed off by the Sharks to keep their lead, they were put to the test and on the back foot often. Even the fourth line was dominating shifts, keeping them pinned in their zone for almost two minutes before San Jose just had to ice the puck.
In the final minutes of the period, Colorado had multiple goal-line scrambles, with pucks just staying on the other side of the goal line. One came from Nathan MacKinnon getting one through Blackwood but not the crease and was sitting there, and another where Jan Rutta saved a goal in midair with his stick. The Avs did everything right but were super unfortunate to be down 1-0 heading into the room.
Second Period
The period started in a funky way, with the goalscorer Bordeleau and Miles Wood colliding together into an open door on the Avalanche bench, injuring both of them. Both would return to the game and be okay, however.
Colorado would continue to force the issue after killing off a Jonathan Drouin holding penalty. One chance came shorthanded when Cale Makar almost snuck one in from the point on Blackwood, along with Valeri Nichushkin just missing out on a rush into the zone and going around the netminder. At the other end, Alexandar Georgiev also got called on a few times including on a breakaway from Luke Kunin.
Wood made his apperance know as well with a big hit on Benning in the corner to set the tempo. His team had a golden chance towards the end of the period with an initial power play, then a 5-on-3 chance for 27 seconds. Nothing found the net, and the chance was squandered when Nichushkin took an interference penalty, and put his team a man down in the final moments of the period and to start the third.
There would also be concern for Makar, who in the dying seconds of the period took a shot off the right leg which injured him. He was video-taped leaving the ice putting no pressure on his right leg, something being watched very closely by the Avalanche heading into the final period.
Third Period
With Makar luckily returning to the ice for the third period, he would try his best to help get even. Another goalmouth scramble saw the puck end up underneath Blackwood, and then moments later Artturi Lehkonen hit the post right from the slot.
After killing off a Devon Toews holding penalty on a breakaway, chaos ensued. The Avs have chances galore, including a robbery on Makar in front moving from left to right, same with MacKinnon who thought it went in, and so many more.
Just when it looked like Colorado would not find a way through, the Avs pulled Georgiev with 2:14 left. Finally, with 1:26 left to go, Makar would send the 50th shot of the game from the point through all sorts of traffic to find the back of the net and send this game to overtime.
Overtime
Penalties was the name of the game in overtime. After neither team got good looks 3-on-3, MacKinnon took a kneeing penalty which the penalty killers did an excellent job of shutting down. Coming out of the box, MacKinnon would draw a holding penalty from Bordeleau to give his team a shot at winning it. But, it would come to no avail as the game headed to a shootout.
Shootout
Round 1
Alexander Barabanov: backhander moving from left to right stopped by Georgiev
Nathan MacKinnon: wrister moving from left to right stopped by Blackwood
Round 2
William Eklund: wrister into pads of Georgiev
Mikko Rantanen: wrister into the top corner over the glove of Blackwood
Round 3
Mike Hoffman: stopped comfortably on move to middle of net by Georgiev, Avs win 2-1!
Yeti Takeaways
The Avalanche did everything right in this game. They came out flying, getting shots to the net and moving the puck brilliantly. Despite the scoreline and the early-season efforts from both sides, the Avs got the job done in the end. To tell you they did everything right, MacKinnon ended the game with 14 shots on net. Luckily, they did not have to worry about getting no points or only one point from the game, as it could’ve made a difference at season’s end. It still may make a difference at the end of the season, but just in a positive way for the Avalanche.
While the stars did the heavy loading and ended up on the scoresheet, there were some quietly good players in the depth of the lineup. Particularly, the fourth line for the Avs did a lot of dirty work on the forecheck and putting pressure on the Sharks to tire them out. Logan O’Connor also hit the post shorthanded once, and did an excellent job on the penalty kill as did everyone on the PK unit. They kept their perfect record to start the season, and were key to keeping the Sharks out of the net after they got the lead.
Also key to keeping San Jose out of the net was Georgiev, who made the big saves when he needed to. Particularly in the second period, there was a stretch where the Sharks were close to biting yet again and doubling their lead on some odd-man rushes, turnovers, and rebounds in the crease area. But, Georgie did what he needed to do making 20 saves for his 100th career win.
Next down the Mountain
The Avalanche finish up their first road trip of the year for a highly anticipated playoff rematch. It comes on Tuesday night against the Seattle Kraken at 8:00 p.m. MT on ESPN.