Captain Gabe Landeskog helped the Avalanche do something they struggled with mightily last season.
Win in overtime.
Landeskog picked up his own rebound and scored on the wrap-around to give Colorado a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday at the Honda Center.
Moments before scoring, Landeskog’s initial chance — a 2-on-1 opportunity with Cale Makar — was stopped by a sprawling John Gibson. The goaltender tried to poke the rebound away but was beaten to the puck by Landeskog.
“I definitely wasn’t happy with my first shot. I have to be able to raise the puck there,” Landeskog said of the initial save from Gibson. “But I was able to stay with it and I saw Gibson was out of his crease a little bit, so I just tried to stuff it as fast as I could. Good feeling to score an OT winner, no doubt.”
The Avalanche took a 2-1 lead early in the third period thanks to a spectacular play by 19-year-old rookie Bowen Byram. The first defenseman selected in the 2019 draft (fourth overall) who was playing in his second NHL game, carried the puck deep in the Anaheim zone along the left wall and sent a pass through the opposition for an easy tap-in by Mikko Rantanen.
Byram played 14:24, recorded four shots and led the team with a plus-2.
“I saw Mikko on the backside and tried to get it to him,” Byram said. “He put it in the net so it was good. It was a big goal in a tight game.”
Just 1:21 after that go-ahead goal, the Ducks tied it on an odd-man rush from Adam Henrique. And 49 seconds later, Colorado’s most gifted player, Nathan MacKinnon, had a chance to put the Avs back on top but failed to capitalize on a penalty shot. MacKinnon was chosen to take the shot after Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm covered the puck with his glove in the crease.
Philipp Grubauer started in goal for the Avs and made 36 saves, including 18 in the first period. The Avalanche were then outshot 9-3 in the second period and took consecutive penalties but Grubauer stood strong to keep the game even heading into the second intermission.
“Obviously we don’t want to give up that many shots,” Grubauer said.
MacKinnon, who recorded seven points over his previous three games, was held without a point. The centerman continued to play on a line with Landeskog and Rantanen and finished with four shots on goal and four more than were blocked.
“Every time they were on the ice they were playing smart,” Bednar said of the top line. “They spent almost the whole entire time with their shifts in the offensive zone and creating scoring chances and then they finally get rewarded on an unbelievable from Byram to Mikko to give us the goal-ahead goal. They played a huge factor and really elevated their game in the third period.”
Footnotes: Rantanen has scored in four consecutive games for the first time in his career. … The Avalanche went back to a traditional 12 forwards and six defensemen roster. They added Martin Kaut from the taxi squad, making his season debut on the fourth line alongside Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tyson Jost. Defenseman Conor Timmins was sent to the taxi squad in his place in order for the Avs to remain cap compliant. … Defenseman Erik Johnson was scratched for the second consecutive game. Bednar said Johnson was not expected to play during this road trip at all after “doing nothing” for 15 days in quarantine. But the veteran was forced into the lineup Tuesday after the Avalanche traded defenseman Ian Cole hours before that game began.