It turns out the Colorado Avalanche won’t go 82-0 this season. After starting the regular season 2-0 and coming off a perfect preseason, Colorado took its first loss of the 2016-17 campaign, a 3-0 result in Washington.
The Avs mustered just 18 shots on backup netminder Philipp Grubauer, who earned his first NHL shutout, while T.J. Oshie scored in each of the game’s final two periods. Alexander Ovechikin had a goal and an assist for Washington, who moves to 2-0-1 on the young season. Colorado is now 2-1-0, trailing undefeated St. Louis in the Central Division.
Washington outshot Colorado by a greater than 2-to-1 margin as Semyon Varlamov was forced to make 37 saves on 40 shots.
“We didn’t match their compete and their battle level,” Avs center Matt Duchene said postgame. “We basically just chased the game all night.”
The stiff competition continues for Colorado. After unseating the defending Stanley Cup Champs on Monday and falling to the Presidents’ Trophy Winners on Tuesday, they face Tampa Bay on Thursday. The Lightning are 3-0 to start the season after making the Eastern Conference Finals last season and the Stanley Cup Finals the year prior.
