Recap: Colorado Avalanche go to work for gritty 2-1 win over Washington Capitals

It wasn’t pretty but the Avalanche got their revenge.

The Colorado Avalanche fell in frustrating fashion to the Washington Capitals a mere two games ago. They went into the nation’s capital looking to settle the score as the teams wrapped up their season series early. Revenge is exactly what the Avalanche got in a 2-1 win that was a grind at times.

The Game

Given that the last time the Avalanche and Capitals faced off was less than a week ago the first period of this game likely felt similar to anyone who had watched the previous meeting. The Capitals play a tight neutral zone game which takes away a lot of the East-West passing the Avalanche like to do. It was a struggle for the Avalanche to adjust and the game was a bit of a slog. Artturi Lehkonen had a nice chance late in the period but it would come back towards the Avs end immediately. Trevor van Riemsdyk and Tom Wilson went to work in the corner and fed Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was abandoned by Jonathan Drouin in front of the net. Dubois potted the pass from Tom Wilson to break the ice and the Capitals were up one after the first period, much like last time.

The first period was slow but would you believe me if I said the second period started even slower? About halfway through the middle frame, both teams combined for a whopping five shots on goal. This sloth of a game somehow took a step in the slower direction when the corner glass at the Avs bench was broken and in need of replacement. A long delay for broken glass? Cue the Eric Gelinas flashbacks.

Somehow this delay may have given the Avs what they needed as they would start to really control play through the end of the period. They were cycling the puck well and when you cycle the puck well good things are going to happen. Colorado drew a penalty for a second shot at the man advantage after a pretty putrid first attempt earlier in the game. Jonathan Drouin made a nice play to force a turnover to Mikko Rantanen on the powerplay. After many, including myself, criticized the Avalanche for their overpassing they would shut us all up when Rantanen’s blind pass through the slot went off a Capital skate.

The Avalanche cracked the code and found ways to produce offense against a rigid Capitals team pretty consistently from this point on. The defense was a bit more suspect though. To put more pressure on Washington, the Avalanche defenders were pinching along the boards regularly, leading to a few chances for the Caps. Connor McMichael got two back-to-back breakaways late in the second, both thwarted by Georgiev, the second with a dazzling poke-check.

These big plays from Georgiev were a staple in the third when he was constantly bailing out his skaters to keep it tied. The Avalanche still had the upper hand on Washington though. Their fourth line, who put up both goals in last Friday’s matchup between the two clubs, was one of Colorado’s best on the cycle tonight. The trio of Nikolai Kovalenko, Parker Kelly, and Miles Wood played a major role in the Avs getting their cycle going so it was only just when Wood tipped home a Cale Makar shot to break the deadlock.

I compared the first half of this game to a sloth so I’ll compare the second half to a cheetah on adrenaline. It was a constant back and forth in the third period with both teams exchanging blows with nothing to show for it. Each team even got a powerplay chance with minimal results. The Avalanche did a pretty nice job of holding the lead. It wasn’t until around the five-minute mark that the Capitals finally pushed, hard.

It’s hard to be happy with how the Avalanche performed in the dying moments of the third. There were lots of defensive zone turnovers and breakdowns but Alexandar Georgiev did his job and bailed his skaters out. something that’s been a pockmark of his game this past season or so. It wasn’t tonight, outside of a misplayed puck behind the net, as he stood tall and helped the Avalanche grind out the 2-1 win.

Takeaways

This was a game the Avalanche needed. They got solid games out of almost everyone in their lineup and had to get down and dirty for a win against a quality opponent. One that doesn’t match up against their style of play very favorably.

Cale Makar and Oliver Kylington were some of the Avs’s better performers on the blue line. Both controlled the puck well and helped fuel the Avs cycle once that became more of a staple.

The Sam Girard-Josh Manson pairing was the opposite side of that coin. This pairing just does not work together for whatever reason and Jared Bednar needs to do a better job acknowledging that and making an adjustment.

All four forward lines had quality moments tonight once they found the key to cracking the Capitals’ system. They all played to their identity well and could’ve easily had the Avs with a comfortable victory if it weren’t for some bad luck and excellent goaltending from Logan Thompson.

Speaking of excellent goaltending it was wildly impressive for Alexandar Georgiev to come back from injury and play so well. We have given him a lot of flack so far this season but his last few games have been exactly what you want from him and more. Hopefully, this is the start of a turnaround for him.

Upcoming

The Colorado Avalanche continue their east coast road trip on Saturday, November 23rd with a game against the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. It should be a fun one. Take note, puck drop is at 4 p.m. MT and Mile High Hockey will have you covered.