Derick Brassard, acquired from the ahead of Monday’s 1 p.m. trade deadline, helped the Avalanche earn a point against the Panthers on Monday night in a strange 12 hours for the veteran forward.
Brassard, 31, awoke at his Denver hotel as a member of the Panthers. But he was pulled off the ice shortly into Florida’s morning skate at the and was told to switch locker rooms. He would play his first game in an Avs sweater against the Panthers, scoring early in the third period to give Colorado a 3-2 lead.
The Avs went on to lose to Florida 4-3 in overtime, falling to a league-worst 1-12 when games go beyond regulation. Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad beat goalie Semyon Varlamov with a shot 26 seconds into OT.
“In the first period, it took me a few shifts to kind of get used to it and be comfortable out there,” Brassard said. “As far as the goal there, it was a great play by Graveys (defenseman Ryan Graves).”
He added: “It was a fun night. Always a good atmosphere. Coming for a visiting team it’s always a special place. I’m going to try to play well for the team, for the fans.”
Brassard is a pending unrestricted free agent who was expecting a trade. He served as a healthy scratch in Florida’s previous game Saturday against the , but he didn’t figure his day would unfold as it did.
The Avs dominated early, carrying a 2-0 lead into the last two minutes of the second period before everything changed. The Panthers scored twice in 1:09, beginning with Troy Brouwer’s goal at 18:26. On the ensuing faceoff, Colorado defenseman was whistled for interference, and Evgeni Dadonov scored 1:02 into the penalty, at 19:35.
“Breakdown in D-zone coverage. No talk, so there’s a duplication. They find a guy open. He scores,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of Brouwer’s goal. “And then right away we take a penalty off the faceoff. They have a lethal power play. We knew that coming in. But even after that we had another lead with about eight minutes to go.”
Florida tied it 3-3 with Mike Hoffman’s goal at 11:57 of the third period. Each team had one shot in OT.
“Kind of a weird game, but we have to find a way to get two points,” Avs forward Matt Calvert said. “Every point is going to matter down the stretch here.
and scored at 2:12 and 14:31 of the second period to give the Avalanche what seemed like a comfortable lead.
Brassard played left wing on Colorado’s third line against his former team. Following the trade, the Avs learned left winger will miss 6 to 8 weeks with a leg injury. Nieto was previously labeled “week to week.” Nieto blocked a shot Friday at Chicago and missed Saturday’s game at Nashville. The Avs had Sunday off and didn’t learn the full extent of Nieto’s injury until Monday afternoon, general manager said.
Sakic said he didn’t make more moves before Monday’s deadline because he believes in his team that had won its previous four games in dominant style.
Footnotes. Following Monday’s morning skate, the Avalanche reassigned forwards A.J. Greer and to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League. Those moves led to returning to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous 10 games. Colorado’s only healthy scratch was defenseman . In addition to Nieto, forward (upper-body) is on the injured list with defensemen (orbital bone) and Conor Timmins (head).
