The emblem was on the ice Tuesday night
Erik Johnson’s signing of a seven-year, $42-million contract extension was the big news of the night, but the Avalanche also opened its exhibition season with a 5-4 win in overtime over the Anaheim Ducks at the Pepsi Center.
Alex Tanguay got the game-ending goal 1:18 into the three-on-three overtime and Connor Bleackley, Mikko Rantanen, Jack Skille and Nick Holden had the other Colorado goals.
Semyon Varlamov played the first two periods, allowing two goals on 17 shots.
The , typical for the early part of the exhibition season, was a real mix, and the veterans not in uniform Tuesday likely will be in the lineup Thursday against Calgary.
One of the takeaways from the game was that the new three-on-three overtime format will, as the NHL hopes, greatly diminish the number of shootouts.
“I think it’s going to be quite something,” said Avalanche coach Patrick Roy, who noted that the overtime included “a breakaway on one side, two-on one (and) three-on-one on the other. Obviously, it’s going to take a little time for everyone to adjust to it. They don’t want to see games going into shootouts, and I think it’s a nice way of doing it…It’s going to be entertaining for our fans, that’s for sure. It will be pretty to watch. For coaches, it might be ugly.”
Asked who had impressed him in the game, Roy mentioned the Avalanche’s last two first-round draft choices — Bleakley (2014) and Rantanen (2015). He also brought up Skille (goal and an assist) and Nikita Zadorov (two assists).
He said Skille, 28, who has played with Chicago, Florida, and Columbus “is pushing on our guys.”
Tanguay said of the overtime format: “I didn’t like the shootouts, because I think it’s a coin toss. Seventy-five percent of the time the team that scores first, with only three shooters, wins the game. . . I truly feel that this gives an opportunity for the fans to make it very exciting. There’s going to be some two-on-ones, there’s going to be some three-on-ones. As you saw, we had a three-on-one, they had a breakaway on the other side and then we came back and scored. It’s going to be exciting and with the skill level we have, it should be a real good fit for this team.”
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or @tfrei
