It wasn’t quite the game we expected. It was better.
At least, for 2 ½ periods Wednesday in Denver it was a great game as the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche, possessing some of the most talented, offensively-gifted players in the National Hockey League, played a fierce, greasy game before the home team scored against the run of play in the third period and pulled away to a 5-2 victory.
The loss was the Canucks’ third in four games and was a disappointing start to a three-game road trip over four nights.
J.T. Miller’s exceptional one-on-one goal lifted Vancouver into a 2-2 tie through two periods, and the Canucks had more of the puck and the play in the third. But Colorado callup Riley Tufte was credited with a deflection goal at 1:24 – the puck bounced through Thatcher Demko after the Avalanche forward pushed Canuck defenceman Ian Cole back into his own goaltender – before superstar Cale Makar clinched the win on a breakaway at 12:38.
Makar took the puck from Miller, whose turnover on an attempted reverse inside the Avalanche blue line caught Canuck defencemen going the wrong way, and shot glove-and in against Demko. The Vancouver goalie was beaten four times on 24 shots.
Mikko Rantanen added an empty-netter for the Avalanche at 16:38 after Canucks coach Rick Tocchet chose to swap Demko for an extra attacker with 3:57 remaining.
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With Miller, Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes in the Vancouver lineup, opposite Makar, Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon for Colorado, the game was far from a shootout. There was a lot of intense net-front play and some contentious, dangerous incidents in the second period. But by the end, Makar was the brightest star, finishing with a goal and assist and boosting his scoring totals during an eight-game points streak to an incredible two goals and 16 assists.
Hughes drew an assist on the tying goal by Miller, who lowered his shoulder while challenging Colorado defenceman Devon Toews one-on-one and flung a shot over goalie Alex Georgiev’s shoulder at 9:04 of the second period to make it 2-2.
It was Hughes’ NHL-leading 31st point (in Game 20), although Makar closed slightly on him to 29 points (in 18 games) as this season’s most dynamic and dominant defencemen went head-to-head.
SECOND PERIOD MAYHEM
There were two controversial incidents in the second period that cost each team one defenceman.
Upon a referees’ review, Avalanche blue-liner Josh Manson was assessed a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 8:33 for lumbering Canuck Brock Boeser in the face. Manson tried to embarrass Boeser in the penalty box, pantomiming that the Canuck had exaggerated contact, but looked pretty silly himself when the major penalty was confirmed.
Boeser, who rarely loses his temper, went back at Manson in front of the net during a Vancouver power play a few seconds after the Avalanche player had hooked the Canuck’s skate out from under him on a zone entry, causing Boeser to fall hard on his back at the blue line. Boeser received a cross-checking minor on the exchange.
Remarkably, instead of a three-minute power play, Vancouver did not get a second on the man-advantage because Canucks Anthony Beauvillier and Tyler Myers were assessed soft minors at 10:25 and 11:42.
The other incident occurred without penalty at 14:47 when Canuck defenceman Mark Friedman sustained a head injury in a frightening fall to the ice after tangling with Valeri Nichushkin during a boxout. As Nichushkin turned towards an incoming point shot, he appeared to cross-check Friedman in the face as he was bowling over the Canuck, who had no way to brace himself for the landing on the ice.
The Canuck defence was further thinned in the third period when Tyler Myers left the game after blocking a shot with his hand or wrist. Vancouver is carrying only one extra defenceman, Akito Hirose, and with Guillaume Brisebois (concussion) and Carson Soucy (ankle) already out, could be missing four players on the back end for Friday’s game in Seattle.
SNAPSHOT
A third-period battle between Pettersson and Makar, two of the most talented players in the sport, was indicative of the competitiveness. Pettersson appeared to surprise Makar with a stiff check that caused a turnover behind the Colorado net. When the Canuck tried to go the other way with the puck, Makar shouldered him strongly into the boards, then made a similar takeout a few seconds later.
Pettersson went pointless for a second straight game for the first time this season.
POWER PLAY COOLING?
Having been nearly as consistent this season as it has been dangerous, the Canuck power play finished 0-for-3 and is now in a 0-for-10 mini-slump that stretches 11 periods. All three advantages Wednesday, which included a 17-second five-on-three, came in the second period.
The Canucks generated five shots, but on the first two advantages lacked the dynamic movement and player interchange that has become the power play’s trademark. Boeser seemed to get “stuck” in the bumper, with Miller trying to set him up down low. There was better movement on the third power play, but it was Anthony Beauvillier and the second unit who had the best scoring chance.
The Avalanche power play finished 1-for-4, tying the game 1-1 at 17:37 of the first period when Canuck defenceman Filip Hronek poorly defended the seam in front of Demko and Rantanen fed Nichushkin for a tap-in.
HOG WILD
It was an impressive return for fourth-liner Nils Hoglander, who collected his own rebound off the post to open scoring at 16:23, one game after the Canuck received a game misconduct (and $2,800 fine) for slew-footing Kevin Leblanc in Monday’s 3-1 win against the San Jose Sharks.
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Hoglander played another direct, physically-engaged game, as did most of the other bottom-six forwards. Sam Lafferty and Beauvillier made strong plays on the puck to set up Hoglander’s goal. For the second straight game, Beauvillier impressed Tocchet enough to get several shifts higher up the lineup.
GOOD STAT, BAD STAT
Ian Cole had a team-leading six blocks (among 25 shots the Canucks’ blocked) and shots were 11-5 for Vancouver when the defenceman was on the ice five-on-five. Andrei Kuzmenko registered just one shot on target during 14:33 of ice time – his even-strength TOI of 10:55 ranked 10th among 12 forwards – and finished minus-three.
QUOTEBOOK
Canucks coach Rick Tocchet: “The third goal. . . that was the one you’ve got to play good defence and we gave them that one. Guys played hard. A lot of guys emptied the tank. We had some really good moments. A lot of penalties there. For the most part, these are the type of games that are going to happen for the rest of the year. This is where you’ve got to (pay attention to) your details, stop in the slot defensively, things like that. We’ve got to keep working on it.”
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