DENVER — The defending Stanley Cup champs were no match for the Avalanche.
Coming off an impressive performance against the Presidents’ Trophy winners two nights prior, the Avs managed to again elevate their play at both ends of the ice on Wednesday en route to a 3-0 shutout over the Vegas Golden Knights at Ball Arena.
Colorado had two power-play goals from Valeri Nuchushkin and 25 saves from goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who earned his second shutout of the season and first since the home opener. Georgiev was excellent all throughout, especially on the penalty kill where he made several big stops.
“Perfect game for me,” head coach Jared Bednar said of Georgiev’s play. “You’re never gonna go through the game with zero scoring chances against. Against good teams, they’re going to earn a couple of grade-A chances.”
Ever since suffering a beatdown to the Florida Panthers over the weekend, the Avalanche have taken their game to a whole new level. And before that loss, Colorado was on a 6-0-1 run. But the untimely turnovers, inconsistent goaltending and lack of depth scoring at times have been a cause for concern. At least that’s been the case for a team that holds itself to such a high standard.
Perhaps the losses of Bowen Byram and Josh Manson (both lower-body injuries) — the team’s No. 2 defense pairing — and forward Miles Wood (illness) were enough to elevate the rest of the team.
“We have great defenseman and great forwards,” Georgiev said. “Everybody’s contributing and believing in each other so it’s great for us that we play as a team no matter who’s in the lineup.”
Nichushkin’s tallies were both set up by Mikko Rantanen. On both goals, Rantanen found Nichushkin from behind the net with the rugged winger crashing the net front, where he’s scored ample goals this season. Nichushkin’s 21st and 22nd of the season put him in a tie with superstar center Nathan MacKinnon for the team lead.
Nichushkin has 21 goals, 15 assists and 36 points over his last 30 games. He’s scored 13 of his goals on the man advantage, which trails only Florida’s Sam Reinhart (14) for most in the NHL.
It’s insane,” Logan O’Connor said, describing the top power-play unit. “That five-man unit right now, I mean, they’re clicking pretty good. I’d love to see where they’re at the last 10-15 games and percentage wise. It’s remarkable. [The opposition] take away one thing and they adjust for something else, and it ends up in the back of the net so it’s awesome to see.”
MacKinnon also had the secondary assist on Nichushkin’s second goal, increasing his home point streak to 23 games. MacKinnon has a point in every game at Ball Arena this season (18-5-0).
Colorado’s third goal came from O’Connor in the third period. He fired a shot that deflected in off Vegas’ Nicolas Hague.