The Avalanche penalty kill deserved a lucky break, and it got one.
With under four minutes remaining in a nail-biting road trip finale Saturday, Brandon Montour fired a shot that beat Alexandar Georgiev five-hole. The goal horn sounded in south Florida. The game was tied.
Only it wasn’t. The puck rattled the inside of the left post and crawled along the goal line, but never across it. Devon Toews cleared it, the Avs killed their fourth penalty in as many tries, and Colorado won, 5-3, at the Panthers to salvage three points from the three-game trip. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice, including the empty-net clincher with 58 seconds left.
The relief of secondary scoring
When was the last time two bottom-six forwards scored in the same game for the Avalanche? Logan O’Connor and Matt Nieto supplied the first two goals in a refreshing burst of depth scoring.
O’Connor was trapped in his second prolonged scoring drought in as many seasons. Last year, it was a 45-game stretch without a goal. This time, he had gone 38 games when he found himself on the rebounding end of a short-handed 2-on-1 rush. Andrew Cogliano threw the puck at the net, and O’Connor’s stick tapped in the second chance.
O’Connor is the kind of player who is valuable even when he’s not scoring — he recently had one of his best stretches of the season — but the goal was nonetheless a weight off his back. It was also Colorado’s first short-handed goal in 24 games.
Then Nieto positioned himself in the middle of the slot to power a one-timer past Sergei Bobrovsky. J.T. Compher’s pass was a beauty from behind the net, but Nieto’s finish was evidence of the precise reason Colorado traded for him. He has two goals in five games with the Avalanche.
When the lead slips away, turn to reliable leaders
The Avalanche led 2-0 (18-8 in shots) at first intermission, but Panthers hockey is always an unpredictable affair. When they visited Denver, the Avs erased a 4-1 hole in the third. This time, it took 65 seconds mid-second period for Florida to score twice.
Colorado couldn’t afford another demoralizing blown lead, and the leaders stepped up to ensure it wouldn’t get any closer to disaster. Toews scored his fourth of the season on a rebound 25 seconds after Florida tied it, then he had to make a clutch pass disruption while defending a 2-on-1 during an Avalanche power play.
MacKinnon also played a stellar second period. He scored on an Avalanche power play, assisted Toews’ goal and drew a penalty.
A bad break for blue line depth after waiver transaction
The Avalanche started the day by placing depth defenseman Brad Hunt on waivers, a sign of new health on the horizon; Josh Manson has been nearing a return after missing two months, and Cale Makar is already skating back in Denver after a head injury Tuesday. A converted AHL All-Star, Hunt has been valuable in his role, registering three goals and three assists in 26 NHL games on the third pairing.
The Avs were always going to have to waive either him or Andreas Englund for roster room as they neared full strength. But if Hunt gets claimed by another team Sunday, the timing will sting: While he played on waivers, fellow veteran defenseman Erik Johnson exited the game with a lower-body injury and didn’t return.
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