Avalanche shut out by Golden Knights following forced 10-day layoff
Feb 15, 2021, 9:18 AM
Still short three players due to a COVID-19 protocol that had the Avalanche sidelined for 10 days, the Avalanche nevertheless looked sharp in a narrow, 1-0 loss to the Golden Knights in Las Vegas.
While team captain Gabriel Landeskog, defenseman Samuel Girard and forward Tyson Jost still ineligible to play due to league protocols surrounding the coronavirus, the Avalanche happily welcomed back superstar Nathan MacKinnon, defenseman Devon Toews and penalty-killer Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who would have missed many, if not all of the four postponed games during their forced layoff with lower-body injuries.
Despite MacKinnon’s return, the Avalanche couldn’t generate enough offense to slip the puck past Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who shut them out by stopping all 30 of Colorado’s shots. The Golden Knights gave the Avalanche’s top scorer plenty of respect, smothering MacKinnon with more than one defender on almost every shift. The rest of the team’s rejiggered lines couldn’t pick up the slack, something that coach Jared Bednar attributed to their time away from the ice.
“I think our minds were in the right place, I think we’re trying to do the right things. We just didn’t execute the way we’re capable of — that last ten percent of execution that we needed to create the scoring chances,” the head coach said.
Despite the loss, the Avalanche’s better-than-expected performance bodes well for the rest of the important four-game series against Vegas, with an outdoor game at Lake Tahoe scheduled for this weekend.
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NEXT UP: Avalanche (7-4-1, 15 pts) at. Golden Knights (10-2-1, 21 pts) | Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 8:00 p.m.
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TEAM NOTES
• The Avalanche’s penalty kill continued to impress. After finishing 3-for-3 on the kill in Las Vegas Sunday, Colorado remains the league’s top unit (38-for-42, 90.5%).
• Sunday’s game was the Avalanche’s first since Feb. 3. Colorado had four games postponed due to COVID-19 protocols, and three players remain ineligible (Samuel Girard, Tyson Jost and Gabriel Landeskog).
• Their forced 10-day break had a silver lining for the Avalanche; Nathan MacKinnon, Devon Toews and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare were all able to return from lower-body injuries during that span.
• The Avalanche made sure that goaltender Philipp Grubauer had plenty of help, blocking a season-high 19 shots. Blueliners Bowen Byram, Ryan Graves and Devon Toews blocked a team-leading three each.
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PLAYER NOTES
• Philipp Grubauer looked sharp after the long layoff, stopping 23-of-24 (95.8%) shots on Sunday, including four while the Avalanche was short-handed.
• Nathan MacKinnon only missed one game due to the Avalanche’s 10 days away. It’s likely he would have missed five were it not for the COVID-19 delay. The Golden Knights swarmed MacKinnon on Sunday, holding him scoreless on four shots.
• Bowen Byram had career-highs in hits (five) and blocked shots (three). Byram has quickly become half of the Avalanche’s top defensive pair, skating with Devon Toews on Sunday.
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THE FINAL WORD
“We were missing our legs a little bit; you could tell even just with talking with the guys during the game and postgame. We didn’t have the extra pop in our legs that we needed to create a few more chances.” — Head coach Jared Bednar
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INJURY WATCH
• Samuel Girard (COVID-19 protocol) was added to the list on Feb. 7.
• Gabriel Landeskog (COVID-19 protocol) was added to the list on Feb. 5.
• Tyson Jost (COVID-19 protocol) was added to the list on Feb. 5.
• Erik Johnson (upper-body injury) left the Jan. 30 game and is week-to-week.
• Matt Calvert (concussion symptoms) has not played since Jan. 24. On Jan. 28, coach Jared Bednar said he will be cautious regarding his timetable for return.
• Pavel Francouz (lower-body injury) has yet to play this season and remains on injured reserve.
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LAST NIGHT’S LINES
FORWARDS:
Top Line: C Nathan MacKinnon, F Mikko Rantanen, F Brandon Saad
Second Line: C Nazem Kadri, F Joonas Donskoi, F Andre Burakovsky
Third Line: C Sheldon Dries, F J.T. Compher, F Jayson Megna
Fourth Line: C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, F Logan O’Connor, F Valeri Nichushkin
DEFENSEMEN:
Top Pair: Bowen Byram, Devon Toews
Second Pair: Dennis Gilbert, Conor Timmins
Third Pair: Ryan Graves, Jacob McDonald
GOALTENDERS:
Starter: Philipp Grubauer
