7 hours Ago By Evan Rawal [email protected]
MINNEAPOLIS - A point is a point at this time of year, but some are a little uglier than others. This was one of them. The Avalanche, who were delayed getting to Minnesota until the early hours of the morning, battled on the second half of a back-to-back to earn a point in their 2-1 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild.
A late tying goal by Joel Kiviranta forced overtime and eventually a shootout to secure that all-important point for Colorado. Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy scored in the shootout to give the Wild the win. There wasn't a ton of room on the ice for either team, which is what the Avalanche expected.
"This time of the year, things are tightening up," Jared Bednar said after the loss. "I liked our team's game tonight. A lot, actually.
I thought we did a really nice job with our checking game ...
I'm pretty happy with the way they played, especially getting in when we did last night." Monday night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks was a low event and that carried over into Tuesday. As Bednar said, this is the type of hockey you can expect to see more of down the stretch.
The Avalanche generated plenty of time in the offensive zone but nothing got through to the net. At the other end, they didn't allow a whole lot, which Bednar probably didn't hate. By the time the buzzer sounded to end the first period, both teams had combined for just 11 shots and zero goals.
Period two was a different story. A few minutes in, Brock Nelson thought he had picked up his first goal in an Avalanche uniform on the team's first power play of the night. He one-timed a Martin Necas pass toward the net and thought it snuck in, but it only hit the crossbar, so the game stayed 0-0.
From that point on, the Avalanche got a little sloppy with the puck in their end. They didn't give up too many great scoring chances, but their passing was a little off, leading to them chasing a bit more than they would like. One egregious turnover changed everything, though.
A little over halfway through the period, Necas had plenty of time to cleanly exit the zone. Instead of skating, he backhanded a pass to no one in particular in the slot, giving Mats Zuccarello a clean mini-breakaway. Zuccarello didn't miss, beating Mackenzie Blackwood over the glove and giving the Wild the only goal of the period.
In the third period, Colorado looked like a team playing on the second half of a back-to-back that didn't get in until late. They got stuck in their end a bit more as the Wild tried to wear them down, but with under six minutes left in the period, one of the team's unsung heroes made a play. Kiviranta, who is having the best season of his career, got things started by carrying the puck through the neutral zone and outworking a defender for the puck in the corner.
He sent a pass up high to Sam Malinski, who shot it over to his defensive partner Sam Girard. The 26-year-old defenseman pulled off one of his patented spin moves and floated a backhand toward the net that hit Kiviranta's stick and beat Filip Gustavsson, tying the score at 1 and sending the game to overtime. Overtime might have been one of the worst extra periods you'll ever see because the majority of it was spent in the neutral zone.
Neither team found the back of the net so the game went to a shootout, which the Wild eventually won, beating Blackwood twice. Colorado will stay overnight in Minnesota before traveling to Calgary on Wednesday. Wild 2, Avalanche 1 What happened: Colorado battled to earn a point in a game in which there just wasn't a lot of room available on the ice.
What went right: The Avalanche didn't give up much in terms of scoring chances or even shot attempts. Minnesota generated just 39 shot attempts in 54 minutes of even-strength time, which is not a lot. Colorado did a good job keeping things to the outside.
What went wrong: It was a tough night for Martin Necas. He passed up a few too many shots to look for the extra pass, but his ugly turnover gave the Wild an easy goal to break the ice in the second. He was moved to the second line in the third period, as Bednar looked for anything to spark the offense.
"The one we did give up, obviously it's a bad turnover by (Necas)," Bednar said afterwards. "Throws it into no-mans land. It's kind of our mistake and he wasn't really under a lot of pressure either.
Sometimes, those things happen. Players are going to make mistakes. You've got to bounce back as a team and our team stuck with it through the third period.
" Avalanche goal scorers: Kiviranta (15) Wild goal scorers: Zuccarello (15) Between the pipes: Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 22 of the 23 shots but gave up two goals on two shootout attempts. Good thing there are no shootouts in the playoffs. What's next: The Avalanche will play the Calgary Flames in Calgary on Friday at 7 p.
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