Tonight’s game saw two teams out west face off against each other. In what was ultimately a low-scoring affair, the Colorado Avalanche ultimately came out on top of the Vancouver Canucks by a final score of 3-1.
Let’s break down all the action from tonight’s game!
First Period
Colorado came out swinging in this period. Vancouver had a couple of offensive chances to start, but could not convert. Eventually, at the 10:46 mark in the first period, it would be Vancouver that would break through first. As the Canucks entered the zone, J.T. Miller found his way around a group of Avalanche players, and Brock Boeser managed to find him. Miller found himself all alone in front of Alexandar Georgiev and managed to score.
Second Period
At the start of this period, it was evident that Colorado wasn’t too keen on going quietly. They once again came out flying and had a handful of quality looks right out of the gate. Hard work usually gets rewarded, and in this case, that’s exactly what happened. Ryan Johansen found the back of the net 2:54 into the period. Jack Johnson collected the puck at the top of the zone and simply fired a wrist shot on net. The shot initially went wide, ricocheting off the boards behind the net. Johansen maintained his space at the front of the net, collected the puck, and managed to bang home the rebound.
Third Period
Coming into this period, you could honestly kind of feel this one coming. Colorado carried over the momentum that they built up in the second period, and they pretty much immediately converted. At the 1:35 mark, it would be Johansen scoring his second goal of the night to give the Avs the lead. Zach Parise collected the puck deep in the offensive zone and fed it to Johansen at the point. Johansen simply threw the puck on net, and a seeing-eye shot found its way past Thatcher Demko and to the back of the net.
After Johansen’s second goal, it looked like Vancouver might have tied the game later in the period. However, the puck was played with a high stick, so it was ruled no goal.
Vancouver would eventually pull their goalie in an attempt to tie the game, but they were unable to find the equalizer. Artturi Lehkonen would get the empty-net goal to seal the victory for the Avs at the 19:32 mark of the third period. There’s really nothing special about Lehkonen’s goal, as it’s a pretty routine empty-net goal. But, Nathan MacKinnon did register an assist on the goal, so his home-point streak officially extends to 27 games.
Yeti Takeaways
Ryan Johansen had himself a night, holy cow. It’s not exactly a secret that he’s struggled to find his game in Colorado, for a multitude of reasons. As is the case whenever any player is struggling, it’s always a relief when you see them manage to break through. And it’s the exact same case here. Not only did he break through tonight, but he was a huge contributor on the offensive side of the puck, ultimately ending up with two goals. Tonight’s performance was incredibly encouraging to see from Johansen.
Speaking of encouraging performances, let’s talk about Alexandar Georgiev quickly. Yes, the first goal that Vancouver scored is probably one that you want back. However, that was the only goal that the Canucks scored in this game, as he locked it down the entire rest of the way. It wasn’t like Georgiev wasn’t being tested either, Vancouver had multiple opportunities to tie this game, especially late in the third period on the powerplay. And he rose to the task against an incredibly talented Canucks roster. Every single time that they were threatening to tie the game, he denied them. What we saw tonight from Georgiev is hopefully a performance that he can feel really good about and build upon.
Next on the Mountain
Colorado heads back out East, this time for a quick trip up Detroit, as they head to play the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. The puck drops at 5:00 p.m. MT.