Avalanche News
Good & Bad: Nichushkin Scores 2 in Avalanche Win
Valeri Nichushkin scored the only two goals for the Colorado Avalanche in the 2-1 shootout win over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Shots on goal were lopsided in favor of the Avalanche but both goaltenders had outstanding games. Alexandar Georgiev made 18 saves, while Adin Hill made 33.
“He was great. He’s played some good games for us, but I mean, whenever you can hold them to one and then do what he did in the shootout. I think it’s pretty impressive,” head coach Jared Bednar said after the win.
Jonathan Drouin Out Week-to-Week with Upper-Body Injury
The Avs had a slow start with sloppy play, disconnected passes and only two shots on goal with six minutes left in the period. The team flipped a switch and made a late push to add four more shots but it remained scoreless after the first 20 minutes.
The team continued that momentum in the second and was rewarded with an unassisted goal from Nichushkin at 6:18, just 33 seconds after Pavel Dorofeyev got the Golden Knights on the board.
Both teams played well defensively and kept it a scoreless third period and overtime.
Nichushkin was the fifth shooter in the shootout to win the game. Hill stopped shots from Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Casey Mittelstadt before the 29-year-old Russian beat him.
As expected, Nichushkin was awarded the Player of the Game big hat but did not speak to the media after the win.
Good: Defensive Play
Colorado had 28 blocked shots and held Vegas to 19 shots on goal. Smart defensive plays from Sam Girard and Sam Malinksi along with the rest of the defense, helped the Avs earn the win.
“It was hard finding ice to create scoring chances for both teams, and I thought both teams checked hard, skated hard. It had pretty good pace to the game …,” Bednar said. “Right from Nate (MacKinnon) all the way through our lineup, our guys checked hard, and they were determined on the offensive side of it, but I thought both goalies played really well.”
The Avs worked hard to keep the puck away from the Golden Knights and minimize their quality chances, which made Georgiev’s job a little easier.
“I would say mentally, it’s a little easier when the score is 0-0 or 1-1. It’s more fun a little bit. And you just try to stay sharp. I know I don’t face too many shots, but sometimes you’re sitting there cold, and they have some good chances, so trying to be ready every opportunity they get there,” Georgiev said.
Bad: Another Slow Start, Turnovers an Issue
The Avs only had two shots on goal with six minutes left in the first period and made a late push to tack on another four. The majority of the opening period was sloppy with disconnected passes.
Neither team got on the board but the Avs’ energy did not seem charged. The Avs had six giveaways and the Golden Knights had eight โ in the give-and-take period.
“There’s no question โ early in the game, some of our puck play wasn’t the best,” Bednar said. “But you got to give them credit for some of it too. They didn’t give us a lot of room to move.”
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Impressive win. Avs carried the play for the final two periods & overtime. Adin Hill was phenomenal & legit stole a point for his team. Georgiev was great in the shootout. And I get that Bednar has to be his hype man lol. But he didn’t have to do squat in regulation or overtime. I don’t believe he even faced a shot in the last 15 of regulation or OT. He’s been better the last few weeks. But I long for the day when everyone can watch this team healthy (healthy..ish). With a goaltender who isn’t the focal point of… Read more »
The book on the Avs is: put pressure on them early because they give up lots of goals in the 1st. Georgie managed to weather that well but the team needs to figure out how to flip the script. It was very fortuitous that Val scored quickly after the Vegas goal because the offense was snake bit much as it has been for most of the past five games (the fluky Florida game where Bob was awful being the outlier). If this is the way they’re going to play the rest of the season, pucker up because they’ll be lucky… Read more »
Dude, if this is the way the team is going to play the rest of the season they’re going to be contending for the President’s Trophy. They just dominated one of the four best teams in the league for two solid periods and the overtime plus shoot out – a team that had been one of the hotter teams in the NHL. If Hill wasn’t so sharp and the Avs got a little more puck luck with the posts they hit, this could have been a 5-1 blow out. I’ll take that kind of effort every day, every game. Obviously,… Read more »
Yeah only IF.
IF they literally play like they did last night except have a faster start in the 1st then I would say they are top cup contenders.
Right now they are mid cause they are so inconsistent and with a core like the avs and a seasoned coach they shouldn’t be inconsistent.
The key is if Georgiev or Annunen can handle the first 10 shots. Last night was an exception, but their “slow start” tends to be leaky goaltending not simply poor defensive play. By and large, at the start of the game, may give up more chances than they would like, but they tend to generate plenty of chances at the start of the game, too. Some teams need a goalie who thrives when facing many shots. Other teams need a goalie who can deal with only 20 or fewer shots a game with plenty of inaction. The Avs need their… Read more »
Look at Washington and panthers. Look at all breakaways caps got. Protas was literally in front of the net in behind the defense.
Those 2 games specifically avs Moser was literally saying they are just holding on for dear life. Luckily georgiev was good those games but you can’t expect to win everytime just laying back trying to hold a lead.
Their only “inconsistencies” come from the fact that they’ve had a litany of injuries. And arguably the worst goaltending in hockey. I’m convinced some of you guys either don’t watch the games. Or don’t comprehend what you’re watching.
The Avs definitely started slow, which is typical when returning home from a long road trip. Nice to see Georgiev make the first ten saves and get the Avs through the first 15 minutes while they found their legs. Hill had a great night only letting in one goal while the Avs had over 4 xGF.
One the the more exciting 2-1 games you’ll ever see. That was quality hockey from both sides. If Georgie can play like this the rest of the season, the Avs have hope. They still need a backup goalie as Annunen isn’t cutting it. Mac was snakebit hitting two crossbars. Vegas was jumping the passing lanes but the Avs finally adjusted in the third period by getting the passes out quicker. Nuke. No matter what you think of him personally, he is one helluva a hockey player. He has great hands with a deceptively quick and accurate shot. That shootout goal… Read more »
Would they avs trade Annunen considering nabokov is in the pipeline?
Well, Nabokov is still a year or two away from playing for the Avs. Juice’s salary cap hit is $837.5K with another year remaining on his contract. Annunen looks terrible to me in the last couple of starts and you’d have to find a replacement. I don’t think you could find a trading partner. Personally, I’d give Miner or Mandolese the opportunity to backup Georgie. When Annunen goes bad, he goes bad all the way. Too much Jekyll & Hyde for me. Juice is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. You can’t count… Read more »
I think they should try and get nabokov to play in the AHL next season and then gradually call him up so he can get adjusted to the north American rink.
Nice solid lockdown defensive effort. They are going to be a force to reckon with if they continue to play that way. Nice performance by Georgie as he made some pretty solid saves to offset Hillโs solid performance. It sure helps to keep the SOG down to 19 especially against a team like that. Sammy looks fantastic these days and was able to avoid the big thump from Kolesar in the 3rd. He seems fearless these days. I could tell watching Nuke in warmup that he is itching to start producing points and he took the opportunity last night to… Read more »