DENVER — Sunday’s exciting third-period comeback mirrored last year’s team. The Avalanche trailed by as many as three goals and fought all the way back to force overtime before defeating the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 at Ball Arena.
“We have a lot of belief in this room,” said center J.T. Compher, who recorded a whopping four points. “No matter the score no matter who we’re playing. We got rewarded for not giving up tonight.”
Colorado (31-19-5, 67 points) trailed 3-0, 4-2, and 5-3 in the third period, but scored twice in the final 10 minutes of regulation to force overtime. It was a dominating extra frame for the home team, as the Avs outshot Edmonton 8-3 in overtime before Mikko Rantanen put home the game-winner with 22 seconds remaining. The Avs are now just two points back of Winnipeg for second in the Central Division. They face the Jets on Friday.
The Avalanche also had goals from Nathan MacKinnon, Valeri Nichushkin, Logan O’Connor, Artturi Lehkonen and Compher.
Trailing by three, Colorado finally got on the board thanks to a tally from Compher, who had a MacKinnon shot bounce in off his foot and beat goalie Jack Campbell five-hole. The Avs continued to press, eventually getting another fortunate bounce, this time off Oilers defenseman Cody Ceci’s skate. The goal was credited to Nichushkin.
Following a late second-period tally from Edmonton’s Tyson Barrie, the Avalanche pulled back within one thanks to MacKinnon just 26 seconds into the third period. But after Edmonton regained their two-goal lead, again, the Avs made it 5-4 and tied it up with 4:12 remaining in regulation.
It was the third consecutive win for Colorado and a successful 2-0 in its second of three consecutive sets of back-to-backs.
“We had some resilience no question,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s just one of those nights where that wasn’t anywhere near our best and I didn’t think it was not from lack of want, but I felt like we lacked energy.”
Cale Makar was absent from the lineup. The superstar defenseman absorbed another hit to the head Saturday in St. Louis after returning from a four-game absence. Makar was out after taking a hit to the head from Pittsburgh’s Jeff Carter on Feb. 7. He later returned in that game before suffering from concussion symptoms the following day.
Makar returned against the Blues after his second hit to the head in less than two weeks.
Bednar said his injury is not head-related “at this time.”
Alexandar Georgiev got the nod in goal for Colorado. The goalie made 35 saves as the Avs outshot Edmonton 43-40. Georgiev is sixth in the NHL in wins (23).
Takeaways
Multi-point Nate
MacKinnon has been lights out for the Avalanche since the All-Star break. Following another multi-point night — his fifth in as many games — MacKinnon climbed to second in the NHL in points-per-game (1.52) trailing only Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (1.79).
He’s feasted on assists the entire season, but he’s also found his goal-scoring touch since the break. In the seven games since returning from the lengthy time off, the Avs have scored 19 goals. MacKinnon has six of those tallies and is just one back from reaching the 20-goal mark for the eighth time in his career.
Last season MacKinnon had just three goals in the first 19 games before ending the year with 29 in the final 44 games. Picking up his goal-scoring down the stretch seems to be a trend he’s well accustomed to.
Girard regains his offensive strength
Defenseman Samuel Girard has regained his offensive strength. Over his last 19 games, the 24-year-old has two goals, and 16 points after recording two helpers against Edmonton.
Girard had perhaps his most well-rounded year with the Avs in the shortened 2021 season. He posted a career-high in goals (five) and recorded 32 points in just 48 games. But his numbers have since taken a dip.
Last year Girard had just 28 points in 67 games, in a season where seemingly all of Colorado’s top talent was posting career-high totals. Following a broken sternum injury in the playoffs, Girard’s 2022-23 also started slow offensively. He had just two goals and seven points in his first 30 games before this recent stretch that began on Jan. 5.
Home woes
The Avalanche’s record at Ball Arena this season is somewhat of a surprise. Despite the victory, Colorado is just 13-9-4 at home, where it was a dominating 32-5-4 last year. The Avs have won two of their last four games at home (2-1-1) and are 3-1-1 on the road during that same stretch.
Bednar said on Monday the team isn’t too concerned with securing home-ice advantage for the postseason.
“The most important thing is getting in and then getting in healthy with the team that you feel can compete for the Cup,” he said.
The Avs lost just once on the road during their successful Stanley Cup run last year. It might be one of those stats that don’t necessarily matter, but it’s still worth mentioning.