Not only is the Colorado Avalanche in the middle of its best stretch of hockey this season, a couple of key components that could have been nitpicked are now humming as well.
Members of the second line were top contributors for the second straight game Monday night, and the power play now has a consecutive goals streak that matches the best from anyone in the NHL this season. Ryan Johansen scored twice and Alexandar Georgiev made 37 saves in a 4-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Ball Arena.
The Avs have now won seven of eight games, and led the one loss with one minute to go in Nashville. Colorado is now 15-6-0 and has a four-point lead on Dallas and Winnipeg in the Central Division.
“I liked our game. We had a couple of big breakdowns that I didn’t like, but for the most part I feel like we were doing the right things and checking hard,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “They’ve got something to say about it, but I liked our game on both sides of the puck.”
Johansen got the Avs on the board first with his second goal on the rush in as many games. Tampa Bay star defenseman Victor Hedman fell down in the neutral zone, gifting Colorado a 2-on-1. Johansen carried the puck in and beat goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, playing in his second game of the season, with a wrist shot for the lone tally in the opening period.
He scored again early in the second after a frenetic sequence. The Lightning got away with a basketball-style screen in the offensive zone, but seconds later the puck came to Cale Makar — the player who was picked — and he led another 2-on-1 rush.
Makar’s first attempt to feed Tomas Tatar was blocked, but the second one got through. Vasilevskiy made a sprawling save, but was unable to recover when Johansen arrived as the trailer to clean up the rebound at 1:48 of the second.
Finding more consistent production from the second line has been a struggle at times this season. With Artturi Lehkonen out indefinitely and Valeri Nichushkin up on the top line, the Avs needed more from a line of Johansen, Jonathan Drouin and Tatar. They have delivered of late.
The power-play kept rolling less than two minutes later. Colorado has now scored in eight consecutive games with a man advantage, and the puck movement before this one was among the best of the season.
Even after zipping it around with several quick passes, the Avs scored with their go-to move on the power play: Makar’s shot from the top of the zone with a wrist shot aided by traffic from multiple teammates in front to give Colorado a three-goal advantage.
The power play was still only ranked 18th in the league entering the games Monday, and still hasn’t erupted in a way the talent available suggests is possible. That said, being able to bank on a goal per game with the man advantage is a big deal.
It’s even bigger when paired with Colorado’s excellent penalty killing. The Avs entered the night fifth in the NHL at killing off 87.5% of foe’s power-play chances.
Before the game, Bednar said Tampa Bay’s second-ranked power play was the best in the league. The Avs killed off all three of the Lightning’s chances, though Tampa Bay did generate seven shots on goal.
“It’s a huge part of winning,” Bednar said. “When you’re getting quality saves and quality starts from your goaltenders and when you’re checking hard and you’re producing enough offense, it often comes down to special teams. If we’re winning that battle, you’re going to give yourself a chance to win.”
Littleton native Mikey Eyssimont appeared to get Tampa Bay on the board, but the Avalanche successfully challenged for offsides. That decision loomed larger when Anthony Cirelli did score for the Lightning in the final minute of the second period.
Georgiev, who was sporting a new, much-shorter haircut, made several great saves but it never really felt like the Avs weren’t in control. Nichushkin added an empty-netter for his 10th goal of the season.
“I wish I got the breakaway goal, but overall I think we played good,” Georgiev said. “We played smart hockey. (The Lightning) got so many penalties because we were skating so well. I think that was the difference.”
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