Tonight the Avs take on everyone second favorite NHL team, the Detroit Red Wings. No Erik Johnson or Tyson Barrie in this one, so that should bolster the defense. Petr Mrazek is in the midst of a 7-2-1 stretch in goal for the Red Wings, so it will be interesting to see if the Avs can solve him.
This is also a NBCSN game, but no Doc because this game is taking place west of the Delaware River.
First Period
The game starts off with a literal bang as Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Ericsson exchange pleasantries.
The Wings look very sloppy early on and the Avs respond with pressure. The pressure culminates in what appears to be a goal by Landeskog, but it is disallowed as Nick Holden was judged to have passed it with his glove. Pretty fair call based on replays.
Matt Duchene then draws a penalty with 7:55 left in the period. Being the power play we’ve known and loved over the majority of the season, the Avs cannot capitalize and the Red Wings dodge a bullet. Slightly unfair on my part, the man advantage looked a bit livelier than it had.
Ryan O’Reilly and Landeskog nearly combine on a 2-on-1 chance, but to no avail.
Late in the period, Dennis Everberg breaks free despite getting hooked, but fails on the breakaway. The Avs get a penalty with 1:26 left in the period and spend the rest of the
The Avs hold a 12-5 shot advantage, partly aided the by power play but the team looks really good at the moment.
Second Period
The rest of the power play goes by without a goal and we are back to 5-on-5 hockey. Ryan O’Reilly gets a good look that’s stopped by Mrazek, but the game is evening out at this point.
Jan Hedja takes an interference penalty and the top-ranked power play from Detroit converts to take a 1-0 lead. Justin Abdelkader parks himself right in front of Varly, gets a couple whacks at a puck that was fired in and eventually scores. Simple as that.
Very little action for the rest of the period, each team gets a power play chance but doesn’t convert and we are headed to the third period as Detroit leads 1-0.
Shots are now 21-18 Colorado.
Third Period
The Avs are really buzzing now. Even the fourth line is able to create havoc and keep the puck in the offensive zone.
With about 14 minutes left in the game, the Red Wings have about 90 seconds of golden chances to put the game away. Varly makes a few stops, the defense blocks a couple of shots and the threat is dodged.
The teams go up and down the ice, but it’s Detroit that’s looking more likely to score. I guess the Avs are just waiting until the final minute to score.
Six minutes left and it’s still Detroit applying the pressure. At this point the Red Wings have an 8-4 shot advantage in the period.
Duchene picks up a pass and gets a quick shot off but it goes off Mrazek’s shoulder and over the net.
Varly is pulled with three minutes left, a pretty risky move considering the Avs couldn’t get it out of their own zone for the last five minutes. Helm gets the empty-net goal with 2:36 left to seal the win. And the lower bowl goes wild. Detroit adds another empty-net goal with 15 seconds left. Wow.
Thoughts
The team just collapsed in the third period. No other way to say it. The Red Wings were the far better team over the last 13 minutes.
You know when talking heads say well here are the keys to the game, and begin to recite nonsense. Well one of those would have been in the special teams area, as the Red Wings had the top-ranked power play and Colorado entered 29th. Well that folks was actually the difference as the Red Wings went 1-for-2 and the Avs went oh-for.
Very physical game as well, was cool to see the old rivals dish out some big hits.
Two points in this game were necessary and the Avs just didn’t get them, looming large with the Kings and Stars both losing as well.
Next up is a showdown Saturday everyone’s third-favorite team, the Minnesota Wild.