All it took was a tally 33 seconds in and an empty netter with 31 seconds remaining for the Detroit Red Wings to hand the Avalanche their first shutout loss of the season.
Marco Kasper scored on the opening shift, and it was the difference. John Gibson made 21 saves to help the Red Wings defeat the Avs 2-0 at Ball Arena.
This is Colorado’s first shutout loss of the season, its first since Feb. 4, 2025, and its first regulation loss to the Red Wings since 2017.
“It didn’t look like we had our full energy tonight,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s hard to create against a team like that. I give Detroit a lot of credit for that, because they checked really well.”
Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves for the Avs, who were outshot 25-21. Coming off a shutout in Detroit, Blackwood surrendered just one goal in his last two full games but still ended 1-1.
He fell to 15-5-1 on the season.
He was great. I mean, we love our goalies,” defenseman Devon Toews said. “He made a couple huge saves to keep us in and you’re not gonna win many games if you don’t score any goals. I can’t really fault him on anything tonight.”
The opening goal came on the first shift of the game. The play started deep in the Detroit zone, but an unnecessary pinch by Avs Toews sent the Wings back the other way on a two-on-one.
Lucas Raymond got the pass through Cale Makar and found Marco Kasper for the easy tap-in on a wide-open net. Kasper’s sixth of the season was the only tally to beat any of the two goalies.
“I make the play that I feel is right, and maybe it was wrong, so something I gotta go look at and move on from at the end of the day,” Toews said.
Both teams got their chances, but it was far from perfect. The Red Wings had the only penalty in the first when Mason Appleton mistakenly shot it over the glass from the d-zone. The Avs had both minors in the second, coming from Sam Malinski and Taylor Makar. Colorado successfully killed both. The Avs were 0-for-2 on the PP after getting one more look in the third.
Colorado had just 12 shots through two periods. When the second period began, the Avs were the ones pressing and creating, but most of their looks were shot wide of the net. Gibson made just four saves in the second.
The third period was more of the same. An early attack and seven of the first eight shots belonged to the Avs, but Gibson was up to the task. Colorado’s best opportunity came from Valeri Nichushkin. He had an open net to shoot at on the power play from the doorstep, but instead shot it into Gibson in the middle of the crease.
Bad: Lackadaisical Hockey
The hockey has not been at an elite level for most of the last few weeks. Aside from a game here and there, the Avalanche haven’t just lost games; they’ve done so by looking nowhere close to the team that dominated for three months.
It feels like the first couple of shifts could help identify which version of the Avalanche you’re going to get. In Toronto and Detroit, the Avs looked responsible from the opening faceoff. This was far from that.
Toews returned to boost the lineup, but the rust was very much apparent. He was the main reason Kasper scored early, and he had a few more turnovers in the early stages of the first period.
Nathan MacKinnon was moving well with the puck. But it felt like every time he started to dance around the Wings, he either eventually lost control of the puck, made an unnecessary pass, or shot it wide. MacKinnon had five giveaways through 40 minutes.
Good: Parker Kelly’s Eye For the Net
If there’s one positive to take from this game, aside from the goaltending, it’s that Parker Kelly continues to have an eye for the net. Kelly has enjoyed a career year already in terms of goals and it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down.
Kelly’s best shot missed the net wide. It was a common theme for Colorado. But, playing with center Jack Drury, he hasn’t had many bad nights for the Avalanche, even during this recent rough patch.
