After coming back home to Ball Arena for a game following a weekend back-to-back trip to Vegas and San Jose, the Colorado Avalanche took on the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, and ultimately won by a final score of 3-2.
Let’s take a look at all the action from tonight!
First Period
Tampa Bay would be the ones to ultimately start the scoring in this game, as Nikita Kuchurov got the Lightning on the board first. On this play, Kucherov would take the puck for a trip around the back ot the Colorado net, and just surprised
Wedgewood by sneaking the puck right by the post.
The Avs would be able to respond and get on the board themselves before the period ended though, as Victor Olofsson put the puck home on the power play, as he cleaned up on the doorstep of the Tampa Bay net.
Second Period
Victor Olofsson scored his second goal of the night to put the Avalanche up 2-1, as Gabe Landeskog would find him in the slot, and set him up for a really high-quality chance right in front of the Ligtning net, and Olofsson would not miss.
Ross Colton would then score what woul be the game-winning goal in this game, as he put the Avs up 3-1, as Sam Malinski sprung him on a breakaway with a beautiful stretch pass.
Third Period
Brayden Point would bring the Bolts within one in this period, as he put his skill on full display, and score off of a backhand shot that went over Scott Wedgewood’s shoulder, and bar-down into the back of the Colorado net.
After that, Tampa Bay would have some quality looks, but they were unable to convert before the end of regulation. Once the Bolts pulled their goalie, the Avs put on a defensive clinic, as they all sold out and bought in to block shots and not let anything get to the front of the net, and they were able to close the game out from there for the 3-2 victory.
Takeaways
After coming off of an OT loss against the San Jose Sharks, this was a pretty good win for the Avs, all things considered. That defensive clinic they put on at the end of the game when Tampa Bay had their goalie pulled was absolutely incredible to watch. Obviously the most ideal scenario is that you don’t get to that situation at all, but knowing that you have a team who can defend like that when their opponent decides to throw everything at the net should provide some level of confidence in their close-out abilities in games like this one.
Despite not scoring a goal tonight, Gabe Landeskog was incredibly noticable as well, and certainly had a massive impact on this game, starting from his fight in the first period, which sparked the Avs. It hasn’t exactly been a secret that the captain’s presense has been missed on the ice the past few years, and tonight showed how much of an impact he can truly have on games, even if he’s not on the score sheet.
Upcoming
The Avs hit the road again, as they head up north to Canada for another weekend back-to-back, this time against the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. They’ll face off against the Oilers first on Saturday, November 8th. Puck drop will be at 8:00 p.m. MT.
