DENVER — The Avalanche needed not to fall behind, and they needed their power play to step up. Some depth scoring may be sprinkled in, too. All of those would help them get through their winless streak.
And all of them did. Even though the Devils found life in the second period, it wasn’t enough to overcome Colorado’s lethal attack. The Avs won 8-4 at Ball Arena on Tuesday to end a four-game slide on the back of a Victor Olofsson hat trick and five-point effort.
Olofsson had not scored this season before this game.
“I’ve been putting a lot of pucks on the net, unfortunately, not a lot in the net,” Olofsson said. “Usually it does come when you keep shooting.”
Nathan MacKinnon pitched in with two goals and an assist, and Cale Makar had four helpers. The power play was dominant against a team that doesn’t usually let in PP goals, scoring four times on six chances.
“It looked like tonight, everyone wanted to shoot it,” head coach Jared Bednar said of the power play. “It wasn’t skate around, look for the perfect play. It was Marty hammering it right away. Cale hammering it right away. MacK hammering it right away. And then we got one, and then they just kept doing it. Olli, same thing. Everyone wanted to shoot the puck tonight.”
Colorado improved to 6-1-4 on the season, and 3-0-2 on home ice. It heads back on the road for a back to back starting Friday against both Vegas and San Jose in two more early afternoon games.
The Avs got a PP opportunity right away after goalie Jacob Markstrom, in his first game in more than two weeks, shot the puck over the glass just 18 seconds in. Colorado’s top unit got set up and wasted little time taking advantage.
The tally came from Martin Necas, his seventh of the season. Just over two minutes later, Zakhar Bardakov found open ice, took a pass from Parker Kelly, and wired it past Markstrom for his first NHL goal.
“Best game he’s played, for sure,” Bednar said of the rookie centerman.
Colorado rode that momentum into the second period and added three more goals in just over six minutes. That included the first of three for Olofsson, who entered the game with five points and doubled that production in one night.
But then things got a little dicey. The Devils scored once. Then they got a second. Goals three and four followed shortly after. Suddenly it was a one-goal game after that 4:04 stretch.
“I give everything I have no matter what the situation is,” Avs goalie Scott Wedgwood said. “Some nights it’s going to be high scoring and that’s just the game of hockey.”
Wedgewood improved to 6-1-2. He made 26 saves.
The Avs quickly drew another penalty and scored again. MacKinnon’s second on the man advantage tied him for the league lead with nine goals.
Entering the third period, rather than letting the Devils climb back from a very manageable two-goal deficit, the Avs outshot New Jersey 12-3 and scored two more times.
Olofsson got another PP tally early and capped the night off with his third on Markstrom to complete the hat trick.
What Worked
The Power Play Finally Breaks the Dam
There are good days, and then there’s another level up.
That’s what the Avalanche had on the man advantage. And they did it against a penalty kill that entered the game operating at a whopping 93.6 percent success rate.
The Avs had four power-play goals in 10 games. They scored four against New Jersey.
The Devils had let in only two power-play goals in their first nine games. They let in four on six tries to the Avs.
Bednar was spot on with his breakdown. They all wanted to shoot the puck. This was the first time all year when it felt like a traditional power play with two one-timer weapons on either side. I can see why Olofsson was their target late in the offseason, and I understand why everyone kept reiterating that he was snake bit.
That top unit with him and Valeri Nichushkin as the extra two forwards with the usual big three looks like the perfect combination. Let’s see if they can ride this wave into a stretch of dominance on the man advantage.
What Didn’t
Second-period scare
After the game, Makar, who had four assists and was the primary set up man on three PP goals, held a media scrum at his locker stall.
He spent more time talking about how the four New Jersey goals in 4:04 can’t happen than he did celebrating the power play, the goals, or the win. That’s the type of stuff you want to see from your leaders.
That feeling of not settling for anything less than perfection is what separates him from most. The Avs did an excellent job shutting things down after that hiccup. It’s easier to ignore those stretches in October when you still win a game.
Regardless, Makar still wanted to make sure it was a topic of discussion.
“We geared down when we scored that fifth goal in the second, and that can’t happen. So definitely a learning curve for us on that, but that can’t happen,” he said.
So what exactly happened?
“I think we just got comfortable. We sat back. … I don’t know if we just thought the night was over, we wanted to pack up and go home. But just unacceptable, can’t happen again, and we know that.”
