It felt like a “take care of business and move on” kind of Saturday night for the Colorado Avalanche, but who scored was as significant as how and when.
One key player broke a scoring drought. Another continued to cement his place on the top power-play unit. And another collected a goal for a recently formed line that the club needs more production from.
The end result was a 3-1 victory against the Calgary Flames, and that scoreline was flattering for the visiting team. Ivan Prosvetov made 29 saves to win for the second time in three starts with the Avalanche. He wasn’t tested with many quality chances until later in this contest, but he certainly outplayed his adversary at the other end of the ice.
“I thought (Prosvetov) was outstanding,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “It wasn’t a ton of work at times, but then there were some flurries and I thought he was outstanding. He looked really quick and strong and covers a lot of the net as a big guy.”
Colorado won its first six games of the season, but the Avalanche is currently in the midst of its best stretch of hockey during this campaign. The Avs are one bad minute in Nashville from seven consecutive victories, but more importantly they have found a more consistently high level of play — particularly without the puck.
This team is going to score lots of goals. The Avs were third in the league in goals per game before the Saturday results. They had 30 goals in the six previous games.
A noticeable improvement is better defensive work. They had allowed 24 shots on goal per contest in the previous six games, second-best in the NHL during that span and well below the 29.2 per night the Avalanche yielded in its first 13 games.
“We’re not giving up as much,” Bednar said. “We’re playing a better overall team game for 200 feet right now, so I feel good about it. I think there are still other levels that we’re going to need to get to, but now I feel comfortable with where we are at. We’re winning games, and it just seems like more of a mature game from our group.”
The Flames collected more chances in the third period as they chased the game, but the Avs built a two-goal lead through 40 minutes that felt like it could have easily been double.
Jonathan Drouin got things started for the Avalanche on the power play. He made a solid defensive play, helping to break up a 2-on-1 the other way with sound defensive positioning and an active stick. Colorado collected the puck and countered quickly.
Nathan MacKinnon entered the zone with speed and found Mikko Rantanen along the right halfwall. Rantanen fed Drouin, who deked past a defender before scoring his third goal of the season.
Drouin’s production has ticked up a bit after a slow start, but Bednar has been hoping to see him inject a little more creativity into PP1. Check.
The guy who Drouin replaces when he plays on the top power play is Ryan Johansen, but those two are also linemates now. Colorado has been trying to coax more impact out of the second line, even with Artturi Lehkonen out of the lineup indefinitely with a neck injury.
Johansen knocked the puck out of the defensive zone near the left point, springing himself on a rush the other way. He considered a tight-angle backhanded shot, but instead fooled Calgary goalie Dan Vladar with an old-school wraparound move for his seventh goal.
Impact from the second line? Check.
“We feel like we’ve been working hard and doing a lot of things, but haven’t been rewarded,” Johansen said. “(Drouin) has really, really stepped up his game. He’s been taking charge with skating and his work ethic, which is leading to more opportunities for us.”
MacKinnon added Colorado’s third goal, ending a stretch of eight games without one for the club’s top center. It was a bit of a fluky one, a wrist shot from the blue line that deflected off a defenseman’s stick and fluttered past Vladar.
And it’s not like MacKinnon was scuffling — he now has 26 points in 20 games. It has been a while since one of the team’s two best goal-scorers celebrated scoring a goal, so that’s another check.
A few offensive contributions from players or lines that could use it, plus a generally solid defensive effort in front of a goalie trying to prove he can handle the work when he’s needed?
“I was in a rhythm the whole game,” said Prosvetov, who started for the first time since Nov. 9. “I just tried to not overthink it. Third period, second period, to me it doesn’t matter. My job doesn’t change, and my game plan doesn’t change.”
Job done for the Avs, who are now 14-6-0 to start the season and back on pace to finish near the top of the NHL standings.
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