The Colorado Avalanche collected a point in the standings, but fell 5-4 in a riveting shootout to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night at Ball Arena. Colorado is now 19-12-3 on the season and 6-2-1 in their last nine games. The Avalanche donned their Reverse Retro jerseys and are 2-0-1 in them.
For the Avalanche, J.T. Compher buried a power-play goal, while Andrew Cogliano, Cale Makar (1G, 2A) and Evan Rodrigues (1G, 1A) scored at even strength in regulation. Mikko Rantanen handed out two assists. In net, Alexandar Georgiev made 23 saves on 27 shots.
For the Kings, Viktor Arvidsson and Adrian Kempe scored in the shootout winner, Arvidsson also posted two assists in regulation. Gabriel Vilardi and Sean Walker also found the back of the net, while Philip Danault and Alex Iafallo (1G, 1A) both added power-play strikes in regulation. Between the pipes, Phoenix Copley made 23 saves on 27 shots.
GAME SUMMARY:
Colorado got off to a slow start – which has become a theme for the team this season as they rank 26th in the league (tied with Philadelphia and Minnesota) for goals scored in the first period – and surrendered the game’s first goal to the Kings.
The Avalanche trailed the Kings 1-0 heading into the first intermission and were also outshot 12-7 as both teams exchanged penalties with neither special teams unit able to capitalize.
Early in the game, Makar deked his way into the low slot and tossed a backhander just wide of Copley for a Grade-A chance for Colorado, but the Kings drew the game’s icebreaker at 8:56.
On a quick zone exit, Los Angeles defenseman Mikey Anderson fed Jaret Anderson-Dolan as he carried the puck into the Avalanche’s defensive zone. The winger skated into the lower right faceoff circle and dropped a pass back to Vilardi. The winger skated into the right faceoff circle and sniped the puck past Georgiev to give the Kings a 1-0 lead.
Colorado climbed out of its 1-0 deficit from the first period, with fiery four-goal effort – with a power-play goal from Compher and even-strength strikes from Cogliano and Makar – in the second period to position themselves with a 3-2 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
The Avalanche received their second power play of the game at 3:16 in the middle frame as Sean Walker was called for holding. Colorado’s power play (which is clicking at a 27.3% rate) executed a tic-tac-toe sequence as Rodrigues fed Mikko Rantanen on the doorstep, who one-touched the puck to the backdoor for Compher to tap it in and tie the score 1-1.
Late in the period, the Kings regained the lead to 2-1 as they converted on a power play of their own after Rantanen was whistled for slashing at 12:28. On the man advantage, Arvidsson threaded a pass to the backdoor and Danault popped his shot high and past Georgiev at 13:59.
Despite falling down by a goal, Colorado tilted the ice as they seized momentum and responded with three goals in the span of less than three minutes.
Cogliano sparked the scoring spurt as the veteran winger collected a pass from Makar in the neutral zone. Cogliano turned on the jets and skated down the right wall, before entering the right faceoff circle. With his gaze up seemingly searching for a pass, he – instead – wired a low wrist shot under Copley’s elbow to tie the score 2-2.
Just 45 seconds later, Makar intercepted an attempted zone clear by Anderson in the neutral zone. The defenseman shimmied up ice, skated into the high slot and zipped his shot past Copley to give Colorado its first lead of the game (3-2) at 16:43.
With the Kings under siege, the Avalanche further took advantage as they scored their fourth goal of the game and period on an identical play of Compher’s power-play goal. Makar led the charge as the defenseman beat two Kings players along the wall and then carried the puck behind the net. Makar curled around the post and sent the puck to Rantanen. The Finnish winger redirected the puck immediately to the backdoor for Rodrigues to tap it in at 18:47 and to give Colorado a 4-2 lead.
The Kings trimmed their deficit down 4-3 on an early power-play goal from Iafallo. Colorado was called for a fluky penalty as Cogliano chipped the puck towards the Avalanche bench and Brad Hunt deflected it with his stick. Hunt was subsequently called for interference at 26 seconds.
Los Angeles converted at 1:11 as they split Colorado’s penalty kill. From the lower left faceoff circle, Arvidsson centered the puck to the slot to Iafallo, who roofed his shot over Georgiev.
Late in the game, the Kings tied the score up 4-4 at 14:20. They countered up the ice as Blake Lizotte skated past two Avalanche skaters and dropped a pass towards the inside of the left faceoff circle for Walker. The Kings defenseman fired his shot past Georgiev’s blocker.
The game required overtime and neither team was able to convert so – for the fifth time this season and third time this month – the Avalanche went to a shootout.
In the shootout, Georgiev denied Vilardi, but was beat by Arvidsson’s backhander and a quick wrist shot by Kempe, while Copley denied Rodrigues and Rantanen.
NOTEWORTHY:
- Compher scored his sixth goal of the season and third goal on the power play. The centerman also extended his point streak to three games where he’s totaled four points (2G, 2A) in that span.
- Cogliano buried his fifth goal of the season.
- Makar (1G, 2A) tallied his ninth goal of the season and now has five points (2G, 3A) in his last two games.
- Rodrigues (1G, 1A) recorded his ninth goal of the season and now has goals in back-to-back games and is riding a three-game point streak (2G, 2A).
- Georgiev made his 25th start of the season, while his record fell to 15-7-3.
- Colorado finished the game 1-for-5 on the power play and 2-for-4 on the penalty kill.
- Valeri Nichushkin (lower body), Pavel Francouz (lower body) and Martin Kaut (week-to-week) were scratches for the Avalanche.
NEXT GAME:
The Avalanche continue their three-game homestand as they host Toronto on New Year’s Eve. The puck drops between the Avs and Maple Leafs at 5 p.m. MT.