It’s been a week of streaks being busted for the Colorado Avalanche. On Tuesday, their nine-game winning streak came to an end against the Montreal Canadiens, and on Thursday, Nathan MacKinnon’s historic home point streak was stopped by the New York Rangers.
Oh yes, and the Avalanche lost the game in a shootout by a score of 3-2.
The Avalanche tied the game up late in the third period on a goal that, at first glance, looked like it was put in by Mikko Rantanen. Replays showed that Ryan Lindgren put the puck in his own net, which meant that Devon Toews was given the goal, and no secondary assist for Nathan MacKinnon. 35 straight home games with a point is an impressive feat, but it looks like it’s over. Time to start a new streak on Saturday, I guess.
Colorado did pick up the point by getting the game to overtime, but couldn’t solve Shesterkin in overtime or the shootout. Casey Mittelstadt and Toews scored the goals for the Avalanche, and Alexandar Georgiev stopped 22 shots in the loss.
First Period
Neither team looked like they wanted to make a mistake in period one, and neither of them really did.
The Avalanche controlled most of the possession on the evening, but it didn’t lead to much in terms of scoring chances. New York (and Colorado) really kept things to the outside, as there were only three high-danger chances recorded in the first. In total, there were six shots on goal. Two top-flight teams that didn’t want to let the other side get the opening strike.
Second Period
Period two was a little more open, and certainly contained a lot more scoring chances.
New York’s best chance of the period came off a great stretch pass by their goaltender, Igor Shesterkin. He stopped a dump-in and hit Artremi Panarin, who was waiting at the far blueline. Panarin gathered the puck but Alexandar Georgiev was up to the task, stopping him with his blocker. Georgiev made another fantastic stop later in the period on Chris Kreider, this time with his stick, as the Rangers winger was left all alone in the slot.
At the other end, Shesterkin was up to the task on pretty much everything. Colorado came close to a tap-in goal from Mikko Rantanen, but it looked like Adam Fox tied his stick up at the last second, leaving the game scoreless.
Not for long, though. With under a minute left in the period, the Avalanche broke the tie. Brandon Duhaime made a great play on the zone entry to hold off Miller, and fed Casey Mittelstadt. The center walked in and shot the puck, something he should definitely do more of. That shot beat Shesterkin on the blocker side, giving the Avalanche the lead heading into the intermission.
Third Period
Early in the third, the Rangers were able to even things up. Josh Manson broke up a two-on-one, but tried to make a pass between his legs, giving it back to the Rangers. The puck bounced around a little bit and came to Kakko behind the net, who banked it off Georgiev’s back and in.
A few minutes later, Zach Parise hooked Artemi Panarin when he cut to the middle, giving the Rangers their second powerplay of the game. It didn’t take long for New York to take advantage, as a point shot from Trocheck’s glove, bouncing to Kreider, who deposited the puck into a wide open net. Jared Bednar challenged the goal, as it looked to pretty clearly hit Trocheck’s glove, but the goal was allowed to stand. After the game, the league sent out a memo stating that the puck hit Trocheck’s cuff, which is why it was allowed to count. Bednar wasn’t happy with that after the game, but not much can be done about it now.
The Avalanche tied things up three minutes later on a goal that will probably continue to be reviewed for hours to come. Nathan MacKinnon fed Devon Toews at center point for a shot, which created a rebound in front of the net. It appeared that Mikko Rantanen backhanded the puck in, but replays showed that Lindgren pushed it into his own net. Colorado had tied the game up, but more people seemed concerned about the scoring on the goal to see if MacKinnon’s point streak would continue.
After a long break, the goal was credited to Devon Toews…unassisted. Because Lindgren hit it into the net, no assists were given. Colorado had tied the game up, but the point streak was no more.
Overtime/Shootout
Colorado dominated overtime, but none of that mattered because Shesterkin was locked in. He stopped all five shots the Avalanche sent his way, including some big ones in front of the net, sending the game to a shootout, where he was unbeatable. Colorado’s attempts weren’t the greatest, as both Mittelstadt and Rantanen’s shots were easily stopped, while Panarin and Trocheck beat Georgiev to give the Rangers the 3-2 victory.
The Avalanche will close out their five-game homestand on Saturday against the scorching hot Nashville Predators. That game starts at 4 PM MST.
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