Nathan MacKinnon had one of the Avalanche successes in the shootout. (Associated Press/LM Otero)
DALLAS — Well, when the team you cover is down 2-0 in the third period and it looks as if the result will be a significant setback in said team’s quest to make the playoffs, the story is already composed in large measure — with commensurate gloom, doom and sharp edges throughout.
The Avalanche had only eight shots through two periods Tuesday night and seemed headed to its seventh shutout loss of the season, a startling distinction for a team shut out only once the previous season … and in the 71st game.
And then the comeback happened, and Colorado ended up claiming the 3-2 win over Dallas with a 4-3 edge in an 11-round shootout.
So quick reconstruction happens with the story, both as the game gets to and goes through overtime for quick posting (yes, with the winner plugged in the second the shootout ends), and then is quickly touched up after interviews for the later edition and for reposting.
There was much left over.
I asked Patrick Roy his reaction during the game to the Nate Guenin gaffe that led to Dallas’ second goal late in the second period.
“Give him a tap in the back and say, ‘Hey, it’s OK. Let’s get going,'” Roy said. “Certainly encourage him. Everybody makes mistakes. You think I never made a mistake? I remember one in the playoffs in (2001 against the Devils). It’s part of the game and it’s how you bounce back. That’s what you want to see as a coach. We have a lot of confidence in our players and we’re certainly not going to punish them because they make a mistake. On the contrary, we’re going to help them and we’re going to put them back in and we’re going to say, ‘Let’s get going.’ … That’s exactly what our guys did. This is a team that sticks together. This is a team that supports each other and they proved it tonight.”
In addition to what Guenin said in the game story, he added: “You never want to make those plays, but it’s how you bounce back. If you sit here and sulk, it’s going to ruin your game, so you make a mistake, it’s like anything in life, you have to move on. Next shift, came out in the third and just tried to play my game.”
Maxime Talbot secured the win with his goal on Kari Lehtonen in the 11th round of the shootout. I asked Roy how far down had he plotted the shootout order.
“I think we had four D’s left and two or three forwards,” Roy said. “You know what, I was confident Max would do something good with it. He was a guy who had good offensive skill when he played junior (in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) and I was confident he could do something.”
Here’s Tyson Barrie on the comeback: “We talked after the second period, but we didn’t really say much because we know how big of a game this was. It was nice to see us come out and be resilient. It was a character win. That’s huge for us.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or twitter.com/TFrei
