The Colorado Avalanche dropped a pivotal matchup with the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday. Former Avalanche forward David Jones led the way for the Flames with one goal and one assist.
The Avalanche were unable to convert on three power play opportunities while outshooting the Flames 27-26.
“They deserve credit for the thing they’ve done,” Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy said. “At the same time, we feel that we deserved better tonight.”
Jones opened the scoring when he finished a 2-on-1 break on a pretty set up by Lance Bouma at 6:18 of the first period.
Alex Tanguay – who the Avalanche reacquired in exchange for Jones – provided the answer 10 minutes later.
Calgary retook the lead two minutes later when Dennis Wideman dropped a bomb from the point that Jiri Hudler redirected past Semyon Varlamov.
The Flames extended their lead to two goals when Lance Bouma redirected T.J. Brodie’s point shot midway through the third period.
Colorado pulled back within a goal when Gabriel Landeskog buried a wide angle shot two minutes later but it wouldn’t prove to be enough to complete the comeback. The scorching hot Avalanche captain registered two points in the losing effort.
“It’s more than just this year.” Roy said. “We want good habits. We want to make sure that it will prepare us for next year. It’s a learning process for our team and I think that we’ll grow from this experience.”
The Avalanche will look to get things back on track when they visit the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.
Nathan is a staff writer for Mile High Sports. He can be reached on Twitter at @TheRealNatron.