Colorado’s depth was on display and Cale Makar made more history.
The Colorado Avalanche snowed in the Ottawa Senators on their own ice Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
Brock Nelson scored his first and second goals in an Avalanche uniform, while Nathan MacKinnon and Joel Kiviranta each added insurance to help the Avalanche defeat the Senators 5-1. It was a complete effort from a team that continues to bond and get stronger down the stretch of the regular season.
Cale Makar recorded two points, including a goal, and Jonathan Drouin and Ross Colton also had two points on the night. Scott Wedgewood had an easy night in the net, as he stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced. With the victory, the Avalanche improved to 42-25-3. They remain third in the Central Division, three points shy of the second-place Dallas Stars.
First Period
From the onset, we knew it would be a physical altercation. Former teammates Brady Tkachuk and Parker Kelly exchanged pleasantries against the boards early on in the opening period and that energy carried on. Kelly found himself in the middle of another scrum until Keaton Middleton came to the rescue and gave Tyler Kleven a few hard shoves to the jaw.
At 10:29, MacKinnon scored with a quick wrister to put Colorado on the board first after Drouin delivered a perfect backhand feed. Less than a minute later, Brock Nelson scored his first goal in an Avalanche sweater after Sam Malinski, who has been playing his best hockey since the deadline, fed him a pass just in the nick of time as Nelson struck gold with a beautiful snapshot that hit the top shelf.
Colorado wasn’t done scoring. After Ridly Greig was sent to the box for tripping, Makar scored on the power play when he ripped a shot for a goal as Ullmark was screened by his own defender. After Kiviranta scored to make it a 4-0 game, Sens head coach Travis Vernon Green had seen enough and yanked Ullmark for Anton Forsberg.
Late in the first, Dylan Cozens blasted Jack Drury in the center of the ice and was whistled for interference, but not before Logan O’Connor went after him for the dirty play.
Second Period
That poor decision resulted in another power play goal for the Avalanche. And it was Nelson again for his second of the night to make it 5-0 after he re-directed a shot from Lehkonen, who entered Thursday night’s matchup with a four-game pointless streak.
At 13:04 of the second, Malinski and David Perron were each sentenced to two minutes in the box for roughing, resulting in some 4-on-4 action.
With 2:25 left in the frame, Shane Pinto attempted to snatch the puck away from Makar. Not only did he miss, but he also managed to clip him up high with his stick. As a result, Pinto put Colorado on their third power play of the game. Someone on Ottawa’s staff clearly wanted to entertain themselves during the delay, as the signature Law & Order ‘dun-dun’ sound played on the speakers for their own player being sent to the box.
Third Period
Less than two minutes into the third period, Marty Necas got control of the puck and attempted to carry it down the ice. However, he didn’t make it very far after Perron took a swipe with his stick and sent Necas down, earning him a tripping penalty, his second of the night, and Colorado went on their fourth power play of the evening.
After the Sens killed the penalty, both teams fought on even terms. But with 11:34 remaining, the Avs went on their first penalty kill of the game after Drury high-sticked Pinto. Following a series of impressive saves from Wedgewood, Colorado escaped the penalty kill unscathed.
With 4:49 left in the game, the Avs gave the Sens another opportunity when Middleton was busted for interference. Unfortunately, this blew Wedgewood’s shutout attempt when Ottawa finally punched one in. Tim Stützle and Jake Sanderson played some tic-tac-toe before Cozens rifled a wrister that hit top shelf from the left circle for his 14th of the season. But it wasn’t enough to change the outcome of the game as Colorado rolled to a 5-1 victory.
Takeaways
Following a close loss to Toronto on Wednesday, the Avalanche responded with a terrific performance against a very solid team. The Senators are no slouch. They sit fourth in the Eastern Conference and have won seven of their last 10 games. But that goes to show you just how good this team is. On the other hand, the Avs-Leafs game also exemplified just how many good teams there are in the league. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that this is some of the best hockey that the league has ever seen.
With his assist on the opening goal, Makar recorded the third 80-point season of his career, tying him with Brian Leetch and Phil Housley for the sixth most among defensemen in NHL history. Can Makar get to 100 points? Only six defenseman have done it in history: Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, Denis Potvin, Al MacInnis, Leetch, and Erik Karlsson. Don’t count him out.
Next Game
The Avalanche (42-25-3) continue their Tour De Canada on Saturday when they take on the Montreal Canadiens (33-27-7) at Bell Centre. Puck drop is at 5 p.m. local time.