Takeaways from Avalanche win against Arizona

It wasn’t the 1,235th Avalanche game against the Arizona Coyotes this season. It only seemed like it.

Hey, it’s still hockey and I’m glad we have it. But, yeah, the vibes were a bit stale for this one. Nonetheless, the Avs did what they needed to do, and got another W at Ball Arena. Final was 4-2 in front of 4,050 fans, who made a commendable job of filling the place with noise.

The Avs were actually outshot pretty badly in the game, and for a while I didn’t think that painted an accurate portrait of how the game was being played. Most of the Coyotes’ shots were from the perimeter, not all that dangerous. Then came a scary final 10 minutes of the game. It was as if the game was a ride on the teacups for a long time, then suddenly it was on a 100-foot, 45-degree angle rollercoaster.

Hang on!

A 3-0 game halfway through a sleepy third suddenly was 3-2 with about six minutes left. Arizona had a couple more real good looks to tie it, too, but Philipp Grubauer stood tall and said “no more.” Mikko Rantanen’s empty-netter with 1:56 left sealed it. Just like the last time these two teams played, there were some shenanigans at the end, with a pigpile that involved Rantanen, Gabe Landeskog and a few Coyotes.