Great teams are able to pull out comeback victories at will, and tonight was an example of that for the Colorado Avalanche.
Following the disappointing 1-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning a couple of nights ago, the Avs bounced back with a 6-3 victory against Matt Duchene and the Ottawa Senators, splitting their two-game home stand.
In a game that seemed to have it all, here are some of the top five observations that we were able to take away from the Avs epic comeback victory:
Unable to convert on early opportunities
Although they were able to complete the comeback as the game continued to wind down, the Avalanche struggled to be able to convert on early chances to grab an early lead. The Senators jumped on their opportunity to gain a 2-0 lead following the first period.
Even though the Senators are projected to be a weaker team, this is an area of the game that the Avalanche will look to get better at as the season rolls along. Being able to play a full 60 minutes is something that separates the contenders from the pretenders.
The best line in the NHL continues to be hot
Combining for ten points tonight, the top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen continues to be on an absolute roll to begin the season.
With three points in the game tonight, Rantanen takes over the NHL scoring race with 20 points, while MacKinnon sits in second with 18 points on the season while Landeskog is not far behind with 15 points on the season to fill in the fifth spot of the top seven scoring leaders in the NHL.
Girard snaps the defensive scoring curse
With the Avs desperate for a goal, Avs defenseman Samuel Girard was able to get the team on the scoreboard in the second period. That also gave the Avalanche defensemen their first goal of the regular season, snapping the early season defensive scoring drought.
Along with Girard having himself a night, Avs defenseman Tyson Barrie quietly tallied three assists in the victory.
While only time to tell, it will be interesting to see if the Avs defense will be able to find the back of the net on a consistent basis in the next few games. Tonight may have been what the struggling group needed.
Don’t poke the Russian bear
This should just be common sense by now.
With the Avalanche desperate for a source of energy after trailing 2-0 following the first period, Avs defensemen Nikita Zadarov took matters into his own hands. Zadarov enjoyed a couple of large hits to help put some energy back into the Avalanche sails to power the Avs to a large 6-3 comeback victory.
Matt Duchene is past the drama
On a night that held mixed reactions about his return to the Pepsi Center, Duchene was able to put on a show against his former team by recording two goals in the game to give the Senators an early edge.
