The Colorado Avalanche fell in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 2-1 Thursday night. Colorado led for about half of this contest, and got a career performance from prospect goaltender Justus Annunen, but were unable to put multiple past Red Wings netminder Alex Lyon.
Let’s break it down.
First Period
The game got off to a rather wild start. There wasn’t a lot of room for high-tempo hockey the Avs are accustomed to, but when there were a handful of dangerous scoring chances to both sides. Annunen made a couple of really nice saves to keep the Avs out of another early hole, including a point-blank save on a between-the-legs shot attempt from Daniel Sprong. Alex DeBrincat would also ring the iron in the middle of the frame, but the Red Wings were held blank midway through the period.
The latter stages of the period slowed down a bit, and we saw our first round of penalties. Moritz Seider tripped Jonathan Drouin, sending the Avs to the first powerplay, but Drouin took a tripping minor of his own on against Jake Walman halfway through the man advantage. Detroit was unable to score on their brief powerplay, and the two teams would skate into the dressing room scoreless after 20.
Second Period
Colorado came out of the room flying to start this period, dominating the opening quarter of the second stanza. After the Roaring 20’s line of Miles Wood, Ross Colton, and Logan O’Connor worked the Detroit defense for an entire shift, the big boys hopped on the ice, and Nathan MacKinnon finally solved Lyon after a handful of dangerous opportunities from Colorado.
Shortly after the goal, Detroit got another powerplay off of a classic bait call from J.T. Compher on Mikko Rantanen, and Detroit had a chance to immediately strike back.
While they didn’t get the job done, this certainly stalled the Avs’s momentum, as we returned to a lethargic hockey game with little space to offer on the ice. It wouldn’t be until the later stages of the period when Detroit made a big push responsive to Colorado’s early period surge. Annunen was up to the task on each save, along with some luck as Walman missed the cage on a breakaway.
Colorado retained their 1-0 lead going into the final period and one period away from the first shutout of Annunen’s young career.
Third Period
The Avalanche would get their second powerplay of the contest only 24 seconds into the 3rd period, as Michael Rasmussen tripped up Rantanen. Colorado wasn’t able to generate much on the powerplay, and after returning to 5-on-5 were hemmed in by Detroit for multiple shifts. Despite some good opportunities, Annunen kept the door shut, and Colorado with a one-goal advantage.
Things would calm down after this Wings’ surge, as scoring chances became few and far between as the period rolled along, until the 11-minute mark when Drouin went off for his second penalty of the contest. With nine minutes to go in the game, Detroit had an opportunity to even the score on the man advantage.
The Red Wings would find their answer, attacking the low slot right below the circles, the area where Colorado’s PK has struggled with coverage all season long, as Wings Captain Dylan Larkin ripped a shot short-side past Annunen. Now sitting tied late, it was time for the Avs to ramp it back up.
About a minute later, Colorado would get their third opportunity a man up, after Alex DeBrincat tripped Cale Makar in the corner. Colorado would only generate one shot on this power-play, however, and the woes in that department continue to harm the Avs in games.
With just over a minute to go in regulation, Colorado went to the box on a questionable holding infraction by O’Connor and now had to fight towards extra time a man down. With only seconds to go in the period, the puck found Compher out front all alone with Annunen, and he had the chance to rip the heart out of his former club.
Justus Annunen stepped up and made the best save of his career thus far. The clubs skated into overtime tied a goal aside. The Avs were still due to serve 51 seconds of PK time in OT.
Overtime
The Red Wings won the faceoff to start overtime, and while they didn’t score on the man advantage, were able to control the puck for the opening minute and some change, only to be bailed out by a Detroit icing.
Back at 3-on-3, the ice opened up, and Seider and Bowen Byram exchanged high-danger opportunities that were met by Annunen and Lyon.
The ensuing rush off of Byram’s missed chance would see the game’s end, as after a short cycle period in the offensive zone, Patrick Kane retained his now six-game point streak, firing a missile past Annunen to seal the game for Detroit. Colorado drops a heartbreaker in the Motor City.
Yeti Takeaways
Details continue to be a problem for the special teams. On the powerplay, the top unit is passing up far too many shooting opportunities in favor of the same MacKinnon one-timer. It doesn’t feel like Makar or Rantanen are shooting threats at all anymore. This unit needs Valeri Nichushkin back big time. On the penalty kill, they continue to give up the most dangerous area on the ice with far too much ease, and it’s resulting in a frustrating amount of goals against them.
Despite the loss, this was Annunen’s best performance of his young career. He finished with a .933 SV% on 28/30 shots saved and made plenty of high-danger saves all night long. You’d love to win this one for him, but this should be nothing but a huge confidence builder for Annunen in the NHL.
The Avalanche are now 1-5-1 on the road since the All-Star Break. That simply needs to improve moving forward into the Spring. They didn’t play badly tonight, but you have to close on the road.
Next on the Mountain
The Avalanche return home from their one-game stop in Detroit for a meeting with imminent 3x Maurice Rocket Richard winner, Auston Matthews, and the Toronto Maple Leafs on NHL Network. The puck drops at 5:00 p.m. MST.