Landeskog nets overtime winner as Avalanche topple Coyotes

Bolstered by the return of Nathan MacKinnon, the Colorado Avalanche started Wednesday’s game outshooting the visiting Arizona Coyotes 27-5. But it was line-mate Gabriel Landeskog’s final shot past Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta that provided the exclamation point in the Avs’ much-needed, 2-1 overtime win.

“I’m impressed by the way we played tonight,” Landeskog said. “I thought we had really good jump, and all four lines were rolling and creating offense — and really taking care of things in the defensive zone. I liked a lot of our game.”

The Avs’ defense has been extraordinary, at one point going through 23:30 of game time without allowing a single shot to the Coyotes, who finished with 14 on the night for the second consecutive game. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer nevertheless saved the game or not just once, but twice in the third period, smothering a pair of breakaways from Arizona’s Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz that would have otherwise sent the Avalanche home with a loss instead of a trip to overtime.

Head coach Jared Bednar praised the blueliners’ effort following the game, saying, “I thought it was great. Great commitment, great effort. Good reads, closing quick.”

Grubauer and the Avalanche were rewarded in the overtime period when Landeskog ended the game with a wrister that soared into the upper right corner of the Coyotes’ net, where Raanta had already stopped 44 shots on the evening.

“In overtime, you want to play with possession and really pick your spots,” Landeskog said. “When I came around the second time, they were a little bit lower and was able to fire one through a screen.”

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NEXT UP: Avalanche (14-8–2, 30 pts) vs. Kings (11-8-6, 28 pts) | Friday, Mar. 12 at 7:00 p.m. (TV: ESPN+)

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TEAM NOTES

• The Avalanche put a season-high 46 shots on net Wednesday. Their plus-32 shot differential (46-to-14) marked both the highest in the NHL season and set a new franchise record. The Avalanche outshot the Sharks 57-to-26 (plus-31) back in March of 1996.

• Despite missing Cale Makar and Bowen Bryam, the Avalanche defense is on a roll. After allowing a paltry 14 shots on goal for the second straight game, Colorado extended their streak of allowing 30 or fewer shots to 14 games. If they do it again against the Kings on Friday, they’ll set a new franchise record.

• The Avalanche have incentive to score early. After scoring the game’s first goal in the first few minutes Wednesday and claiming the victory, Colorado has a record of 12-3-1 when notching the game’s first goal… which also means that they’re 2-5-1 when they don’t.

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PLAYER NOTES

• Nathan MacKinnon returned to the ice on Wednesday, granting a boon to the Avalanche and a major milestone for himself. MacKinnon, who took 10 shots but did not register a point on Wednesday, played in his 545th game wearing an Avs sweater, passing team legend Peter Forsberg for ninth on Colorado’s all-time list.

• Philipp Grubauer, like most goaltenders, tends to prefer more steady work throughout the game. Happily, his stingy defense isn’t letting him have it. Bouncing back from a poor performance in Monday’s loss to Arizona, Grubauer was sharp when he needed to be, despite only stopping 13 shots. In the third period alone, Grubauer stuffed both Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz on separate breakaways; either goal could have easily been the game-winner for Coyotes.

• Brandon Saad scored the game’s first goal at only 1:23 into the opening period. Saad, an offseason addition from Chicago, has 15 points in 23 games this season (0.65 per game). His career-best scoring output came in the 2015-16 season — when he was with Columbus — he had 53 points in 78 games (0.68 per game), but he’s shooting at a 25.7 percent clip, almost double the 13.3 percent rate in that 2015-16 season.

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THE FINAL WORD

“He was dominating every time he was on the ice. It’s good to have him back.” — Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, on teammate Nathan MacKinnon’s return to the ice on Wednesday.

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INJURY WATCH

• Conor Timmins (upper-body injury) missed the Mar. 8 game.
• J.T. Compher (upper-body injury) missed the Mar. 6 game and has not played since.
• Bowen Byram (upper-body injury) was placed on injured reserve on Mar. 6.
• Cale Makar (upper-body injury) missed the Feb. 27 game and has not played since.
• Dennis Gilbert (facial injury, COVID-19 protocol) was placed on injured reserve on Feb. 20. He is expected to be out until at least late March.
• Erik Johnson (upper-body injury) left the Jan. 30 game and is week-to-week.
• 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: LW Gabriel Landeskog, C Nathan MacKinnon, RW Mikko Rantanen
Second Line: LW Brandon Saad, C Nazem Kadri, RW Andre Burakovsky
Third Line:, LW Valeri Nichushkin, C Tyson Jost, RW Joonas Donskoi
Fourth Line: LW Matt Calvert, C Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, RW Logan O’Connor

DEFENSEMEN:
Top Pair: LD Ryan Graves, RD Devon Toews
Second Pair: LD Jacob MacDonald, RD Samuel Girard
Third Pair: LD Dan Renouf, RD Greg Pateryn

GOALTENDERS:
Starter: Philipp Grubauer

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