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Avalanche drop to Penguins in OT, 2-1 |
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By Jordan Boutilier
Hockey is a game of inches, and split second decisions.
Sometimes these decisions and inches can decide a game, and we saw that last night with the Penguins against the Colorado Avalanche.
Colorado came out of the gate firing on all cylinders. Mackinnon was flying, Makar was everywhere, and it was refreshing to see Bo Byram and Valeri Nichushkin take to the ice again. Byram earned himself an assist on 1 goal the Avs scored, but as I said, a game of inches and split second decisions. Mackinnon would take a shot and rip it off the post earlier in the 1st, off a feed from Toews from the high slot, but would not be denied.
The first period was dominated by the Avs, and Pittsburgh was readily giving them all kinds of space on the ice to skate, as can be seen on Mackinnons 14th of the year. He wheeled around the zone, past the defending Marcus Petterson and Jeff Petry, and was allowed to walk into the slot and fire it home past Casey DeSmith. Mackinnon showed his elite level talent in the way of edge control as he came around the front of the net, and The Avs were on the board 1-0 on the 4-on-4 goal.
Mackinnons 4-on-4 Goal:
https://twitter.com/Avalanche/status/1623129419345809408?s=20&t=J46Yh5IQEWkRqNbVQLpLqQ
Colorado dominated the play essentially for 40 minutes of this game, and Mackinnon ended up with 8 shots on goal himself, while the team heavily outshot Pittsburgh for the majority of the first two periods. Casey Desmith had the answer nearly every time, making a few clutch saves and keeping his team in it, including a Forsberg-esque and surprising behind the back feed by Erik Johnson who came in on a 3 on 1 break with Compher and and Rodrigues. Alas, this was the night of DeSmith, as he stoned opportunity after opportunity the Avalanche threw at him.
Shifting into the third period, you could feel the wave of momentum shift heavily to Pittsburghs side. Coach Mike Sullivan had the team taking away space quickly from the Avs, leading to issues breaking the puck out and carrying it up ice with the ease that was seen earlier in the game. The shots started to even up, and would end up being 42-Colorado 38-Pittsburgh in the end. Mackinnon made some great defensive plays, blocking 2 shots and intercepting a pass in the final 10 minutes, but the pressure was on.
With the Penguins furious forecheck and movement around the zone, they started to swarm the Avalanche, and Pittsburgh game tying goal is a perfect example of split second decisions and hockey being a game of inches. Pittsburghs Jason Zucker took the puck around and broke to the front of the net by himself, and Pavel Francouz, the Avs goalie, make a decision to lunge for the puck to poke it away. Zucker took the puck and fired it through Francouz’s five hole, where it found Malkin behind the net. From there, the pass out front ping-ponged through Toews, off the foot of Bryan Rust, off the pad of Francouz and in. Tie game with 3:38 left in regulation.
Pittsburgh Ties it late in the 3rd:
https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1623147221465157633?s=20&t=J46Yh5IQEWkRqNbVQLpLqQ
As we move into overtime, where possession is key, the Avalanche started off without Mackinnon and Makar on the ice, but the Avalanche would face immediate adversity. Crosby made a great pass to Jake Guentzel, and Francouz dropped his stick and pulled the puck off the line with his blocker hand and we were maybe an inch from seeing this game end early in overtime.
Hockey is a game of inches.
Colorado would come back, and on a 4-on-3 powerplay in OT, Mackinnon would rip another shot from the high slot, and the resonating ping as the puck went off the post and out was disheartening to Avalanche fans everywhere.
Again, a game of inches.
As Pittsburgh came back up the ice from another Mackinnon chance that was saved by DeSmith, you could tell they were coming to press with Crosby, Malkin and Letang on the ice. After a few beautiful saves by Francouz, he was unable to cover the puck. It ended up behind the net, and Nova Scotian Sidney Crosby would send a pass out to Letang, who fired it by Pavel Francouz.
Letang wins it for the Penguins in Overtime:
https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1623153663052025857?s=20&t=J46Yh5IQEWkRqNbVQLpLqQ
The Penguins would take this game 2-1 in what was an exciting game to watch as we come out of the All Star Break.
Notes:
Nathan Mackinnon currently has 200 shots in 38 games this season, which puts him on pace for 432 shots over an 82 game season (Mackinnon was injuried earlier this year so he will not make 82 games). This would break his previous career high of 365 shots in the 2018-2019 season.
Cale Makar left the ice for awhile in the third period after what some might call a questionable blind side hit to the head from the Penguins Jeff Carter. While it may be hard to verify the intent, as Makar was moving to bat the puck into the corner, he did return and play after going through the NHL Concussion Protocol.
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