Recap: Avalanche Don't Kill Penalties, Fall to Panthers

The Panthers capitalized on power play opportunities and the Avalanche did not. In a game that saw zero even-strength goals until the last minute, Colorado simply didn't execute well enough on special teams to earn a victory.

The first period saw a recent trend continue: the Avalanche drawing penalties and failing to capitalize on the ensuing power plays. Officials would send Panthers Dave Bolland and Alex Petrovic off the ice nearly in succession, but Colorado would fail to score despite holding the puck in the Florida zone for nearly the entire combined advantage. To make matters worse, the Panthers would draw a holding penalty on Alex Tanguay with 1:23 left in the period, and score with just over 19 seconds left on a confounding 1-on-3 rush through the neutral zone.

The Avalanche would see even better opportunities in the second period, the best being a 52-second 5-on-3 power play just 2:08 into the frame. True to form, Colorado would avoid taking many meaningful shots and would again come up empty-handed. Fortunately, the team would also manage to fend off the Panthers for the remainder of the 2nd period, giving themselves a great opportunity to take control of the game in the 3rd. However, that wouldn't last.

Francois Beauchemin would take two unnecessary penalties and Florida would oblige by scoring power play goals on each, making it 3-0. The Avs would get one last chance with 7:25 left in the period when defenseman Aaron Ekblad took an interference penalty; but instead of scoring to draw the game closer, the Avalanche would cough one up along the boards and get scored on shorthanded. 4-0.

Gabriel Landeskog would find the net on an assist from Nikita Zadorov with 57 seconds left, but it was way too little, way too late. The Avalanche fall 0-1-0 on the road trip and 2-4-1 overall.