The Colorado Avalanche took the ice Friday evening at Pepsi Center and beat the Anaheim Ducks by the score of 3-1. The win was Colorado’s third in a row, something the Avs haven’t accomplished since March of the 2015-16 season. In his second start of the season goaltender Jonathan Bernier stopped 17 of 18 shots against his former team.
The Avalanche had a strong start, dominating most of the offensive play, but had a hard time beating Ducks goaltender John Gibson early in the first period.
On Colorado’s second power-play opportunity of the game — at 11:58 in to the first — off a pass from Mikko Rantanen, Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog pounded the puck home from in front of the net and got one past Gibson in true power-forward fashion.
The Avalanche stayed out of the box in the first period while the Ducks took five separate minor penalties, yet the Avs only capitalized on one. Colorado outshot Anaheim 19-4 in the first period. The 19 shots marked a season-high for shots in a period by the Avalanche.
It wasn’t all good news for Colorado in the first period, however, as Nathan MacKinnon took a stick to the eye and left the game. He did not return.
Postgame, head coach Jared Bednar said MacKinnon “looks like he’s going to be OK. He took a stick in the eye and then he had some vision problems immediately after. And now things have settled down a little bit and it looks like he should be good to go for [Saturday at Dallas].”
To start the second period, a hand injury forced Anaheim to replace Gibson with former Avalanche goalie Reto Berra. The Avalanche quickly scored on Berra, but for the second consecutive game, a review of the goal concluded that there was goaltender interference and the call on the ice of no goal stood.
The second period ended without much offensive action, but entertaining nonetheless as the physicality from both sides picked up. The physical play came at a cost for the Avs as both Mikko Rantanen and Sven Andrighetto were injured, but would later return to the game. The period ended with the shot count at 30-8 in favor of Colorado and the Avalanche lead remained 1-0.
As the Avalanche continued to pile up power-play opportunities, Brandon Montour of the Ducks was able to even the score at one with a shorthanded goal. Montour’s goal early in the third period is the second shorthanded goal Colorado has allowed this season.
At 8:34 in to the third yet another goal was taken away from the Avalanche and, once again, for goaltender interference. Alex Kerfoot made contact with Reto Berra after being pushed by an Anaheim defenseman and J.T. Compher’s goal was immediately called off.
Shortly after, the power play proved to be effective once more as Tyson Barrie scores the game-winner off a slap shot from the point that was deflected by one of the Ducks penalty killers. The Avalanche finished the night two-for-nine on the power play, with both Rantanen and Andrighetto recording assists on each goal.
The Avalanche then scored their fifth empty-net goal of the season to close the game out. The goal was credited to Nikita Zadorov, his first in an Avalanche sweater.
The Avalanche play again Saturday evening facing the Dallas Stars from the American Airlines Center at 6 PM MST.
3 Stars of the Game:
3. Sven Andrighetto
2. Reto Berra
- Tyson Barrie
