It was a no-show for the Avalanche on Wednesday, as they sleepwalked through a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.
Colorado lost 5-2 after giving up two empty netters, posting just 17 shots on goal and eight through the first two periods. The Avs fell to 35-7-9 on the season as they continue to limp into the Olympic break. They are 2-3-2 in their last seven games.
Parker Kelly and Valeri Nichushkin scored for the Avs, while Mackenzie Blackwood made 18 saves. The Avalanche didn’t get a power play all night but were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. They looked uninspired, lacked urgency, and the offense was mostly nonexistent.
And they’ll have less than 24 hours to bounceback in Montreal.
The scoring started early in the second period. Forward Nick Cousins got behind the Avs defense, received a pass from Artem Zub and beat Blackwood to make it 1-0 at 3:21. By the time it was halfway through the game, the Avalanche had just five shots on goal and not much going for them.
But suddenly, it was Kelly who found the back of the net. His 11th of the season, at 14:05, knotted things up at 1-1. It gave the Avs life, and an opportunity to erase a poor start. But it took just 17 seconds for the Senators to respond.
Tyler Kleven shot the puck in off the end boards and Ridley Greig got behind Keaton Middleton to beat him to the loose puck. He fired it past Blackwood to make it 2-1. The Senators carried that lead into the third and Claude Giroux scored at 2:06 to make it 3-1. The Avalanche answered back at 3:30 to pull within a goal. Nichushkin’s 12th of the season beat goalie James Reimer on the backhand.
Ottawa got empty-net goals from Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle.
Bad: No Power Plays? Hard to Believe
The Avalanche didn’t do much to earn power plays. There’s no denying that. But they should’ve had at least one, if not two, with some of the plays that the Sens were making. And on top of the calls they were getting whistled for.
There was one play where Tkachuk hit Sam Malinski with what looked like an elbow making contact up high. The referees didn’t call a penalty.
Good: Sens Played No-Event Hockey
For Ottawa, this was the only way you were going to beat the Avs. In Denver, the Avalanche scored eight goals and were all over the Senators. Ottawa found a way to play a low-event hockey game, keeping Reimer from facing much, if any, high-danger opportunities.
The Senators have struggled with goaltending all year. But you don’t have to worry about goaltending when you’re giving up eight shots in two periods, and 17 in a full 60-minute game against the Avs.
