Nathan MacKinnon is officially back, and he appears to have brought the Avalanche power play back to life as well.
The Avs, who had been in a large slump on the power play on the road, picked up all five of their goals with the man advantage on their way to an important victory over the Vancouver Canucks. They were led by Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Barrie, who combined for nine points. The latter, Barrie, was involved in all five of the Avs goals and played over 29 minutes in the absence of Erik Johnson.
The first 20 minutes were certainly not a sign of things to come. While the teams combined for 21 shots on goal, neither team was able to put one behind either goalie. The second period, however, could not have been more different. The two teams combined for seven goals in the second period, in what may have been the most bizarre period of the season for the Avalanche.
Darren Archibald and Tyson Jost exchanged goals early in the period, but soon after, it appeared the game was about to slip away from the Avs. Nikolay Goldobin, Brandon Sutter, and Bo Horvat all scored in a 2:41 span for the Canucks, putting the Avs down 4-1 and in dire need of a spark. That’s when the power play kicked it up a notch. Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog scored huge power play goals in the final three minutes of the second period to cut the Canucks lead to one heading into a very important third.
The Avs continued their push in the third period, hitting the post twice in their pursuit to tie the game. A steal in the neutral zone by Tyson Jost allowed him to draw a penalty in the final five minutes of the period, leading to another power play for the Avs. It didn’t take long for them to tie the game up, as Tyson Barrie sent a bomb through traffic, allowing the Avs to tie the game and send it into overtime.
The Canucks had chances to end the game early in the extra period, but Semyon Varlamov came up huge on three separate occasions. Another drawn penalty by Tyson Jost put the Avs back onto the power play, and that’s when their superstar went to work. With 1:24 remaining in OT, Tyson Barrie set up Nathan MacKinnon for a one-timer, and the Avs top scorer would make no mistake, blistering the puck over Anders Nilsson‘s right shoulder to give the Avs a huge 5-4 win.
The Avalanche have two more games before the February 26th trade deadline, and how they perform in those games may change how Joe Sakic approaches the day. They are in Edmonton on Thursday night to take on the Oilers, and Calgary on Saturday afternoon to take on the Flames.
Five Observations:
- Tyson Jost is on a roll, and Jared Bednar is going to have to start playing him a little bit more. He’s now scored four goals in his last eight games and drew two huge penalties tonight. He’s starting to flash that skill that made him a first-round draft pick.
- Duncan Siemens and David Warsofsky got into the lineup with the injuries to Erik Johnson and Anton Lindholm, and both showed well in limited ice. Siemens found himself on the top penalty kill unit and broke up a few close plays in the third period.
- The Avalanche really relied on their top two defensive pairs, and that is not likely to change unless Erik Johnson returns. Barrie led the way with a season-high 29:44.
- Semyon Varlamov got bumped into in the third period, and likely gave all Avs fans a scare as he was slow to get up. He would be okay and was huge in overtime to help the Avs get the win.
- Andrew Hammond is back up with the Avs, and it’ll be interesting to see if he ever gets a game in. To date, Bednar has shown no inclination to put him in and will continue to ride Varlamov for now.