The Avalanche halted a semi-free fall down the standings with some flair on Friday night, dominating the visiting New York Rangers 6-1 at Pepsi Center.
After weeks of struggling to open the game with the same intensity in which they ended it, the Avs got off to an exceptional start and maintained the effort throughout the night for a much-needed victory.
“We talked about it after last game. We need everybody for 60 minutes. We need to stick to the system,” Avs goaltender Philipp Grubauer said. “I think that was the perfect way to get out of this slump a little bit.”
When the final buzzer mercifully saved New York from the Avalanche onslaught, forwards Mikko Rantanen (two goals and one assist), Nathan MacKinnon (one goal and two assists) and Gabe Landeskog (one goal and one assist), and defenseman Tyson Barrie (three assists), each had multi-point affairs. And Ryan Graves, who was acquired from the Rangers in a trade on Feb. 26, netted his first career marker.
It turns out the one thing the club was missing was former forward Cody McLeod.
The once-alternate captain jump-started Colorado’s offense when he received a five-minute major penalty for boarding Avs defenseman Sam Girard just 2:29 into the game. Girard returned to the contest injury free, and Colorado was happy to take a 2-0 lead during the ensuing man-advantage.
“It was actually fun to see the guys play and go on the power play and get a couple goals because we’ve been always trailing,” Grubauer said. “So today we made a push first.”
MacKinnon scored first after receiving a pass from Tyson Barrie at the faceoff circle and burying it behind Rangers backup Alexandar Georgiev for his team-leading (tied) 25th tally of the season.
Mikko Rantanen pushed the lead to a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 a mere 2:13 later when his cross-crease pass was deflected into the net by Rangers rear guard Neal Pionk.
Despite not scoring for the remainder of the frame, the Avs stifled everything New York could muster, holding the visiting club to just three shots on goal through the first 20 minutes of play while the Rangers took five penalties.
“The first period there we get the man advantage right away and they’re difference makers right then and there for us,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “It was huge for us because we haven’t been getting rewarded for our work lately.”
Landeskog pushed the contest out of reach halfway through the middle frame, after the Rangers took another four penalties.
Colorado added three more goals, one each from Alexander Kerfoot, Rantanen, and Graves to put an end to any comeback chance the Rangers could dream up.
Grubauer was exceptional for the duration of the game, turning aside everything except a Ryan Strome breakaway halfway through the final period. This included a late game penalty shot awarded to Jimmy Vesey after he was hauled down on what would have been a breakaway. Grubauer finished with 24 saves.
Notes. Barrie’s three-assist night made him the highest point-scoring defenseman (278) in franchise history. He passed former rear guard John-Michael Liles (275) for the honor. The Avs improved to 5-0-0 when MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Landeskog all score a goal in the same game. Colorado begins a season-long five-game stretch at Winnipeg on Tuesday.
