The past two Stanley Cup champions are both missing key players but remain near the top of the NHL standings. When they met Wednesday night at Ball Arena, one certainly looked ready to make another deep playoff run.
Valeri Nichushkin scored a pair of power-play goals and the Colorado Avalanche cruised past the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3-0 victory that at times did not look as close as the scoreboard indicated. Alexandar Georgiev made 25 saves, and all of Colorado’s top offensive players had a strong night against the defending champions.
“When we play the best we can, we have an opportunity to win no matter who is in our lineup,” Avs forward Andrew Cogliano said. “We’ve lost guys, but our top guys are on another level. Those guys are playing so well right now that it forces other guys to play at another level as well.”
Vegas crushed Colorado in the first meeting between the clubs, but this was a very different game. The Avs have now won 11 of 15 games in the past month (11-3-1) and the past two — this one and a 4-3 shootout win against the Boston Bruins — were arguably the most impressive.
“We’re playing great defense right now,” Georgiev said. “Especially this game, we didn’t give them too many odd-man rushes in the zone. Everybody’s playing smart, and the forwards are coming back (to help) our ‘D’ now.”
Nichushkin gave the Avs the lead with 13.8 seconds left in the first period. He drew a penalty 10 seconds before the goal, then scored on a one-timer from Mikko Rantanen in front of the Vegas net.
Colorado’s second goal looked a lot like the first, with a little more panache. All five members of the top power-play unit touched the puck in rapid succession. Jonathan Drouin set up Nathan MacKinnon with a cross-ice pass for a one-timer.
After MacKinnon’s shot hit the side of the net, Rantanen backhanded a between-the-legs pass to Nichushkin, who was waiting in the same spot for another one-timer.
“I think there’s really good decision making by those guys right now,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “The execution is high. … The execution within the game plan and the recognition of what teams are giving us and what could be open is what’s really amped up from the players.”
With two more power-play goals, Nichushkin is second in the league with 13, one behind Florida’s Sam Reinhart. Eighteen of Nichushkin’s 22 goals have come in the high-danger area in front of the opposing goal crease, according to NHL Edge.
Nichushkin now has 22 goals this season, which is tied for the team lead with MacKinnon and three shy of his career high. The two are tied for eighth in the NHL, while Rantanen is one behind them. The Avs remain the only team in the league with three 20-plus goal scorers.
MacKinnon tied Joe Sakic’s franchise record by scoring at least one point in 23 consecutive home games. He has at least a point in every home game this season, and it’s now tied for the third-longest streak in NHL history.
This wasn’t a fully healthy Golden Knights team. Vegas is currently without defenseman Shea Theodore, forward William Karlsson and both of its top two goaltenders. The Golden Knights had to turn to No. 3 goalie Jiri Patera, and he was the biggest reason why Colorado did not turn this into a rout in the second period.
Colorado played a second straight game without both of its second-pairing defensemen (Bowen Byram and Josh Manson), and remained short two top-nine forwards (Artturi Lehkonen and Miles Wood). Manson and Wood should be back soon, while Lehkonen has progressed to taking contact in practice and will join the Avs on this upcoming five-game road trip.
Two games ago, the Avs lost 8-4 at home to Florida and both goaltenders struggled. Georgiev was good against Boston and great against Vegas.
His coach called it a perfect game. His home fans spent the final minute or so of the contest chanting his name.
“Really cool,” Georgiev said. “You try to appreciate it, but at the same time not give too much attention there because you still have the game to play. But I appreciate that a lot.”
Footnotes: Isaiah Saville, who played for the Colorado Thunderbirds during the 2016-17 season, was a late addition to Vegas’ lineup as the backup goalie.
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