It was not a good time in Florida.
Already down Devon Toews and Mackenzie Blackwood, the Colorado Avalanche faced a tough task in a rematch with the Florida Panthers on short rest. Following their comeback win in Carolina last night the squad didn’t have enough gas and ultimately earned just their third regulation loss in a 2-1 defeat.
Gabriel Landeskog suffered an upper-body injury in the second period, and the Colorado Avalanche went on to fall 2–1 to the Florida Panthers on Sunday at Amerant Bank Arena.
Artturi Lehkonen scored Colorado’s only goal, with Josh Manson and Brock Nelson picking up assists. Scott Wedgewood stopped 23 of 25 shots in net, and the Avalanche penalty kill did its job, going a perfect 3-for-3.
The power play, however, continued to be an issue, as Colorado came up empty on all four of its chances. The loss snapped the Avs’ 10-game winning streak and marked just their third regulation loss of the season.
Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad scored for Florida, while Daniil Tarasov made 27 saves in relief of starter Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Game
Just under two minutes into the game, Jack Drury lunged at a loose rebound, but Panthers goaltender Daniil Tarasov was there to make the save. Less than a minute later, Brent Burns let a shot fly from the point, trying to set up Parker Kelly for a tip-in, but Tarasov’s reflexes were on point again.
About four minutes in, a scary moment shook things up when Mackie Samoskevich blasted a wrist shot that hit Wedgewood right in the mask, sending him crashing to the ice. After a quick check from the trainer, it was revealed the shot—clocked at around 83.9 mph—had actually cracked Wedgewood’s mask. He had to switch to his Nordiques mask, the same one he’d used in the last game against Carolina.
As the Avalanche were a bit sluggish out of the gate they gave up the game’s first goal to Sam Bennett. He stole the puck from Sam Malinski and drove the net. Scott Wedgewood did what he could in net playing in his second game in less than 24 hours.
Colorado responded quickly as Artturi Lehkonen crafted the equalizer several minutes later. Josh Manson ripped a point shot and Lehkonen was in the right place for a brilliant tip and past Tarasov.
Colorado came close to answering at 8:25 when Jeff Petry tried to beat Wedgewood top shelf, but his wrist shot glanced off the goalie’s glove and slammed off the crossbar.
Florida’s Uvis Balinskis then got called for interference on Lehkonen, giving the Avs a power play—but they couldn’t cash in. Soon after, Landeskog went to the box for roughing after accidentally catching former Avalanche forward Evan Rodrigues in the face with the end of his stick. Landeskog was initially frustrated, but after seeing the replay from the penalty box, he couldn’t help but laugh at himself.
Under a minute left in the period, former Av A.J. Greer drew an interference penalty, sending Manson to the box. He was furious on the bench, but the Avalanche penalty kill held strong to finish out the period and take the 1-1 tie into the first intermission.
The second period was defined by the Gabe Landeskog injury as he caught an edge and crashed into the net before hitting the boards. Landeskog required a lot of help to reach the dressing room but there was a bit of relief to hear it is an upper-body injury and not something related to his knees. Still, Jarred Bednar said he expects Landeskog to miss some time.
There was still a game to play and Florida created the go-ahead goal on a point shot from Aaron Ekblad which had eyes through a fabulous screen and went past Wedgewood who likely never saw the puck. Colorado received three power plays in the period, four in total, and were back to their fruitless efforts on the man advantage. At one point Florida’s Brad Marchand stole the puck on a rush and went in alone, forcing Wedgewood into a big save—though his stick ended up snapping in half during the play. Thus, the second period ended in Florida’s favor 2-1.
In the third period neither team had much going as the two teams combined for a collective 11 shots on goal and the mood was dampened by the news Landeskog wasn’t going to return to the game.
About seven minutes in, Sam Girard was sent off for slashing after catching Anton Lundell with his stick. The Avalanche penalty kill had to step up for the third time, and Wedgewood came up huge, stopping Petry’s one-timer with just 30 seconds left in the kill to set up an important defensive-zone faceoff.
With around 2:15 left, Wedgewood headed to the bench for the extra attacker. Moments later, MacKinnon fired a shot that hit Tarasov’s mask and bounced straight out of play—Tarasov basically used his mask like a soccer header, keeping Colorado from tying the game. Bednar called a timeout with 1:06 left, but the Avalanche couldn’t get the equalizer and fell 2–1, snapping their 10-game winning streak and suffering just their third regulation loss of the season.
Takeaways
If a back-to-back with less than 24 hours of rest after a hard fought comeback win isn’t enough to put Trent Miner in net then I’m not sure under what scenario he’s ever going to start for this team barring complete catastrophe. Colorado has an 11 point lead on the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild for first place in the league, there is no need to chase wins like they are going to be eliminated with a loss. The second half of the season is going to become largely about game management and there has to be some balance between staying sharp and focused for the playoffs and not subjecting their important players to needless wear and tear.
On that note, down Devon Toews to an upper-body injury there was no rest for Cale Makar as he played 29 minutes in regulation following nearly 25 minutes the night before. These are choices the coaching staff needs to start reflecting on if this is what is most important in preparing to win a Stanley Cup.
Upcoming
A much-needed day off at the beach and then a meeting with the surging Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, January 6th at 5 p.m. MT.
Category: General Sports
