Avalanche just keep on surviving, keep control of own destiny in central
Apr 13, 2023, 10:30 PM
The Colorado Avalanche’s 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets Thursday night at Ball Arena felt way harder than expected. But then again, what exactly has been easy for the hometown hockey team this season?
“We gotta play better than we did today,” said Mikko Rantanen. “Today was kind of sleepy.”
Indeed, it took the vast majority of the game for the Avs to wake up.
It appeared the Jets had waved the proverbial white flag before the puck dropped Thursday night at Ball Arena. With nothing to gain or lose after securing their playoff spot, the Jets sat several of their best skaters and started back-up goalie David Rittich, who last played about a month ago.
Add into the fact the pre-game news about Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog choosing to announce he would miss the entire postseason, and it was easy to see why the air was seeping out of the balloon.
“No,” coach Jared Bednar emphatically said when asked if the Gabe news may have flattened the effort in the beginning.
“Okay, coach. We will take your word. But everything seemed off.
“Yeah, we found a way to win,” said defenseman Jack Johnson. “I don’t think we had a ton of jump. (It was) a little bit of a flat game.”
Artturi Lehkonen was back on the ice but placed on the second line. Meanwhile, Cale Makar and Josh Manson remain out and won’t play on Friday, although there are promises they will return for the playoffs. Andrew Cogliano and Denis Malgin would leave the game with injuries with no word on the severity.
The hits just keep coming!
In addition, the St. Louis Blues did the Avs no favors getting shut out by the Dallas Stars. Thanks a lot, Jordan Binnington!
Nothing has come easy this year and the Avs had to dig deep once again. It’s been a recurring theme, why stop for the last regular-season home game?
After allowing a short-handed goal late in the second period, to go down 2-1, the Avs had some serious soul-searching to do.
With the Central division on the line, it was time to figure out how bad this team that had been so resilient all year, truly wanted to finish.
SHHHWAAAPPPP!!!!!
Rantanen, from a knee, blasted home the game-tying goal on the same power play in which they allowed the shortie. It was sweet justice that this meaningful score would have historical significance. The Moose dropped what was his 55th of the year, passing Joe Sakic for the Avalanche’s all-time regular-season goal-scoring record.
“To be mentioned in the same sentence with him is an honor,” said the Moose of the Avs legend and his now boss. “I guess it’s a good thing, right?”
Yep. It’s a very good thing. It may be the best thing of this difficult year.
“It’s pretty impressive when you are comparing yourself with Joe on one of his big years,” said Bednar on Mikko’s huge accomplishment. “I know Joe’s happy for him. It’s a big year for Mikko. It’s highly impactful for our team.”
Rantanen remains two goals shy of Michel Goulet’s overall organization record going back to Québec. A hat trick tomorrow in Nashville would put him alone in first place.
The Avs got the message in the third period and came out on fire, dominating the play. Evan Rodrigues was quick to prove that not being in net for a long time could bite you. At 3:01 of the third period, ERod threw up what appeared to be a harmless shot from just inside the blue line. Rittich seemed to get crossed up. The puck ripped the twine, giving the Avs a 3-2 lead.
The rest of the game was relatively pedestrian, with one exception.
Lars Eller was hauled down on a breakaway, which created the first penalty shot opportunity of the season. Eller was denied by Rittich.
Par for the course.
The Jets played the third period as if they were missing their Bennie. It apparently dawned on them that they had not tried hard enough, as they put up just 20 shots on goal for the game, including zero dangerous chances in the final period.
In the end, the Avs finished things off with a Lehkonen empty net goal, on a night he returned from a month’s long injury.
Yet, it felt that something was missing.
A win is never something to be upset about. However, losing a critical teammate for the playoffs is a different matter.
“We’ve had a lot of guys step up in his absence,” Bo Byram said, wise beyond his years. “At the end of the day, Gabe’s kind of a unicorn around the league. Yeah, it’s sad. You feel for him. When you miss that much time, it can be really tough.”
Now, there are other injury worries, with Cogliano and Malgin being question marks.
Bednar had no word on the severity of either injury. It’s another “hold your breath” moment for the status of two critical players.
While the Avs were getting their mojo back, the Stars were aligning. Despite two scoreless periods, Dallas eventually took the lead over St. Louis, securing an important regulation win. They finished the season with one point ahead of the Avs. If the Avs want home ice for the first two rounds of the playoffs, they need to beat the Predators on Friday night.
What loomed large in a bustling locker room as the Avs raced to catch a plane was ultimately the realization that they will have to try to repeat as Cup champs without their captain.
“Yeah, it’s a huge blow,” said Bednar. “He’s our captain. He’s one of the top players in the world. But we’ve been without him. You can’t have him until he’s feeling good.”
“He didn’t decide today,” groused Nathan MacKinnon. “He didn’t wake up today and decide he would be done for the year. Yeah, it’s unfortunate.”
The most real statement of the night that summed up the game, a year without Gabe, and an injury-riddled defending championship season came from MacK.
“Yeah, it kills us for sure. Hopefully, we can survive without him. It sucks. It will be nice to get some guys back here…eventually.”
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