Champion mode activated.
For the second time this season, the last two Stanely Cup Champions matched up. Last time out, it was no match for the Colorado Avalanche who were shut out by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Sin City 7-0 in November.
Wednesday night’s affair between the two would be much different. While there would be another shutout, this time it would be Vegas being defeated 3-0 in Ball Arena in a thrilling showdown, mostly one-sided by the Avs. Let’s see how it all went down, shall we?
First Period
With Vegas controlling most of the play to open the period, Alexandar Georgiev stood tall against an onslaught of chances. After killing off a Jack Johnson interference penalty, the Avs got to work.
Colorado had a penalty but could not find any success, even with Mikko Rantanen finding the crossbar right in front. They even had shorthanded chances with Frederik Olofsson and Joel Kiviranta just unable to finish a shorthanded chance.
But, the Avs and chances gone missing would not go together at the end of the frame. In the final minute, Zach Whitecloud tripped Valeri Nichushkin in the near corner. Val made him pay for it by scoring right in front to take the lead into the room.
Second Period
The Avalanche took their dominant play from the end of the first period and carried it over for the entire second frame. After killing off a Rantanen high-sticking penalty, the Avs took the puck and ran with it.
Kurtis MacDermid should’ve made it 2-0 but missed his backhand flip shot right in front. Devon Toews followed suit by hitting the post, and chances continued to challenge Golden Knights netminder Jiri Patera.
Eventually, he would be broken through a second time. Once again, it came on the powerplay when Brayden McNabb went off for interference. And once again, Nichushkin would be the beneficiary of it right in front past a diving Petera. Special shoutout to Rantanen with a stellar behind-the-back tap pass to make it happen, and Nathan MacKinnon adding to his home point streak, now tying Joe Sakic for the longest in franchise history at 23 games.
Third Period
The Avalanche came into the third to shut the game down and did just that. It started with Colorado killing off an Andrew Cogliano penalty with great energy, including this massive save by Georgiev.
At the other end, Petera was doing the same to even give Vegas a chance. He made an incredible stick save on Rantanen right in front to keep it at two-zip.
But unfortunately for him and the Golden Knights, he couldn’t stop them all. His team self-sabotaged when Brandon Hague’s stick managed a perfect deflection behind the goaltender, with the initial shot and goal being credited to Logan O’Connor.
From there, it was all Avalanche keeping Vegas at bay, with Georgiev still making save after save – earning the chants raining down on him from the sold-out crowd. Those fans would also sing “All The Small Things” for the third time this season, closing out another excellent Avs victory.
Yeti Takeaways
For the second straight game, Colorado fought and controlled most of the play. At the very least they were ahead of the Golden Knights and eventually pulled through for a second straight win against a solid opponent. With the current tough stretch of teams the Avs are playing, it is a great sight to see – especially considering they’re still playing shorthanded without Miles Wood, Josh Manson, Bowen Byram, and Artturi Lehkonen – all of whom are close to returning to action.
A huge shoutout should go to the Avalanche’s netminder, who is quieting the doubters and showing what he is truly capable of. His 25-save shutout was his second of the season, and certainly earned him the first star of the game. The shutout also ties him with Craig Anderson for the sixth most shutouts in franchise history dating back to the Quebec Nordiques with 17 of them. If Georgiev is playing to his full potential with the entire team, watch out. Hopefully, he can keep this good stretch of play going and keep fans from questioning him moving forward.
Finally, the joint-first star of the game was Nichushkin with his two powerplay goals. He was close to getting his hat-trick, but it was second on the agenda behind the win for the team. Regardless, making himself open and available in front of the net is doing wonders for the Avalanche. It is where he thrives best on the man advantage, and also where he found tons of success leading up to the 2022 Stanley Cup Championship. With his run of play at the moment, it’s safe to say he should be in the running to make it to the NHL All-Star game with the fan vote, and especially dangerous in the latter part of the season and into the postseason.
Next on the Mountain
A tough road trip begins for the Avs, starting with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Puck drop is at 5:00 p.m. MT.