Welcome to Sweden, NHL.
The Colorado Avalanche and the Ottawa Senators kicked off the NHL’s Global Series on Nov. 10, with a 12 p.m. MST game at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden in front of a sellout crowd. The Avalanche entered the game fourth in the Central division with 16 points, while Ottawa claimed third in the Atlantic division with 17 points.
The two teams also had a bit of recent history; a blockbuster trade involving center Matt Duchene going to the Senators, and a bevy of draft picks and players coming to the Avalanche.
In Duchene’s first game with his new club — and against his former — the Senators battled to claim the first victory of the NHL’s Global Series. A back-and-forth affair saw seven goals scored and an overtime period as the Senators beat the Avalanche to take the first game of the back-to-back series.
The Avalanche came out with early offensive momentum, dominating the shots on goal seven to three and earning a power play. As a result, Colorado struck first, a quick one-timer by Nail Yakupov at 8:16. Ottawa responded 20 seconds later on a slapshot by defenseman and Swedish-native Fredrik Claesson that whistled past Avs defenseman Erik Johnson and over the shoulder of goaltender Semyon Varlamov. The Senators took the lead at 15:10 in the first period, when winger Mark Stone deflected a Chris Wideman slapshot with his skate past Varlamov. Three big saves by Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson kept the Senators up as the first period expired.
Despite Ottawa having offensive control for a majority of the second period, Avs center Alex Kerfoot equalized the score, deflecting a slapshot by left winger Blake Comeau past Anderson at 9:41. The Senators regained the lead soon after, however, when center Chris DiDomenico retrieved his own rebound and put it past Varlamov at 13:21, making it a 3-2. Avs winger Matt Nieto had an opportunity to tie it back up on a penalty shot, but Anderson stood strong, deflecting the puck with his glove, and keeping the Senators up by one as the second period ended.
The third period started out with more Ottawa offensive dominance. Varlamov made several big saves to keep the score within one, including a stop on a breakaway by center Jean-Gabriel Pageau. The Avs capitalized on the great goaltending. A clearing error by the Senators allowed Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen to connect with Nathan MacKinnon, who willed the puck in the net on a follow-up shot after fanning his first attempt at 12:53, making it 3-3, and setting up overtime.
The overtime period lasted less than a minute. Stone scored on a one-timer at 0:59, beating Varlamov across the goal to give the Senators a 4-3 win. The Senators outshot the Avs 32 to 19. Both teams went scoreless on the power play, with the Avs and Senators both killing off two.
Duchene, in his first game with the Senators, went minus-one with two shots on goal and a blocked shot. He won seven face-offs and was on the ice for 16:44.
