DENVER — It was one of those games where the Avalanche needed a moment to take control. But once they did, they never relinquished it, and put together a tight defensive effort on Tuesday.
Colorado gave up the first goal on the first shot. But the depth forwards scored three straight goals to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 at Ball Arena.
Like the Avs did against the New Jersey Devils last week, they ended the longest active winning streak in the NHL, halting the Bolts’ run at five games. And just like he did against the Devils, Victor Olofsson had a multi-goal game.
Olofsson has five goals on the season, all of which came in a stretch of four periods against two of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference. Tack on his seven assists, and Colorado’s sixth winger option, who was signed late in the offseason, has 12 points in 14 games.
Not bad for a player making $1.575 million and averaging less than 14 minutes per game.
“He’s doing a great job with the ice time that he’s been given,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “We know this is a guy that can shoot, he can score. He knows how to score, and he seems like he’s getting a little confidence.”
Nikita Kucherov scored for the Lightning early, but after two penalties by Tampa Bay, the Avs’ power play once again would not be denied. Against the Devils, Colorado put up four goals on eight chances against (at the time) the top PK in the league.
This time, the Avs were 1-for-4 against a Jon Cooper-coached squad that came into tonight ranked No. 2 on the PK, killing off more than 90% of penalties.
On that PP goal, Olofsson found the rebound of a Nathan MacKinnon chance and put it past goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy at 13:51.
Olofsson’s second tally came early in the second. Gabe Landeskog fed Jack Drury in the slot, but he whiffed on a puck that found its way to Olofsson for the clean shot past the goalie.
The Avs added a third from Ross Colton just over a minute later before the Lightning got one back in the third period.
It wasn’t Cale Makar, Martin Necas, or MacKinnon leading the charge. It wasn’t even Valeri Nichushkin. It was two wingers who started the season on the third line, along with some nice feeds from Landeskog and Sam Malinski.
That’s the depth the team didn’t have early last season. Or in any of the last three seasons in general.
“All of our lines are playing to their identity,” Bednar said. “I think they’re playing as a connected group of three or five, depending on who’s on the ice. And we’re seeing good results.”
Scott Wedgewood got the nod in goal and made 22 saves. He sat last game to allow Mackenzie Blackwood to make his season debut.
Wedgewood leads the NHL in wins with eight.
What Worked
Olofsson’s fit on the PP
I know this wasn’t how he scored, but it’s nice to see Olofsson fitting in so nicely on the top PP unit. From the moment free agency started to die down in July, many vouched for Colorado to pick up Olofsson for this exact reason.
He’s got a dangerous shot, and he can slot in on the right side half wall as a left shooter. He can replace Mikko Rantanen in that regard. It took a while for the Avs to try it, but it’s working well.
Olofsson is the first guy I’ve seen line up there and take one-timers that’s felt like a threat since Rantanen was dealt.
What Didn’t
Too Many Men
I’m not sure how the game would’ve gone without this penalty. For all we know, the Avs still could’ve won in regulation. But the Tampa Bay Lightning took just about the most bone-headed too many men penalty I’ve ever seen, and it allowed the Avs to get back into a game they were trailing.
They had just killed off the Pontus Holmberg penalty by holding back a pretty solid two-minute attack from the Avs.
Then, with both teams changing up, on a nothing play, they had an extra guy jump on that led to a whistle from the official to blow the play dead. It was so clearly an unforced error that I didn’t initially recognize why the referee had stopped play.
The bad penalties are usually the hardest ones to kill, and Olofsson scored just 17 seconds into that PP.
