Following the same win-loss pattern of late, the Colorado Avalanche bounced back from a recent road loss in Los Angeles to completely dismantle the Coyotes in Arizona, 6-2.
Semyon Varlamov stonewalled Arizona with 32 saves in all, good for a .941 save percentage. Following a rough first half of the second period, the Coyotes were forced to switch out Scott Wedgewood (six saves, three goals allowed) with Antti Raanta, who didn’t fare much better in the end (16 saves, three goals allowed).
Things could have gone the other way for the Avs had Varlamov not been on-point, as the Coyotes out-shot Colorado 34-28.
Throughout the game, 12 Avs got on the board with at least one point, as they shared the puck nicely among them in the big win. After all, Christmastime is the season for sharing.
After an uneventful first period in which neither team got on the board, the Avs entered the second period and began applying pressure.
Ten minutes in, Carl Soderberg scored the first goal of the game, and the Avs piled on over the following three minutes and 46 seconds with the help of J.T. Compher, Nail Yakupov and Matt Nieto. But before the scoring, there was a major melee on the ice. At the 8:52 mark Arizona’s Zac Rinaldo and Josh Archibald were both issued 10-minute misconduct penalties, as was Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon. All three, along with Erik Johnson, were booked five minutes for fighting. Johnson was also charged with roughing.
Already down 4-0, Arizona’s Derek Stepan broke the shutout four minutes later. He struck again early in the third period, but that wouldn’t matter. The Avs, thanks to Sven Andrighetto and Soderberg’s second, matched his efforts with two more goals to draw the final score to 6-2.
With the win, the Avs rose to 17-15-3; the Coyotes fell to 8-25-5. The Avs return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 27 in a rematch with Arizona, puck drop is 7 p.m. MST at Pepsi Center.
