When the other team’s shooting percentage looks like it belongs in a basketball box score, it becomes pretty tough to win a hockey game.
Whether it was substandard goaltending, poor defending, great play from the opponent, bad luck or a hearty mixture of all the above, the Colorado Avalanche had its worst night of the season Monday night at Ball Arena. Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist, a vintage performance with Sidney Crosby out of the lineup, and the Pittsburgh Penguins rolled past the Avs in a 7-2 shocker.
“The disappointing part for me is you’re down 4-2 (after the first period), you like what you’re doing offensively and you should come out in the second with a push,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Our game went completely the opposite way. (Four) shots (in the second), no push, one and done on every entry. It just looked like we wanted to try and skill our way through it.
“They just played the right way the whole game, and the score ends up where it ends up.”
While Colorado carried the play in the first period, this one got away from the home side in the middle frame. Erik Karlsson scored on a harmless-looking shot from the right wing midway through the period to give the visitors a 5-2 lead. When the Avalanche turned a 3-on-2 shorthanded break into a turnover and a Bryan Rust breakaway goal at the other end with 3:40 left in the second, the Penguins had six goals on just 14 shots.
When Noel Acciari made it a 7-2 game midway through the final period, there was a mass exodus of burgundy-and-blue clad fans — something that hasn’t happened here this season.
“A couple too many … just felt like plays where we gave them easy looks,” Brock Nelson said. “I’m sure people will say goaltending or something like that but there’s none of them that are on them. We have to be better in front of them, sharper execution and just get to our game.”
MacKinnon notches 110th point
Malkin took a penalty during his first shift after serving a five-game suspension for hitting Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin with his stick. He came out of the box after the first fruitless Avalanche power play of the night and scored 13 seconds later with a backhanded shot that appeared to surprise Scott Wedgewood at 3:01 of the first.
Nathan MacKinnon got that one back 67 seconds later. Martin Necas set him up in the high slot, and after faking a slap shot, MacKinnon rifled a wrister past Pittsburgh goalie Arturs Silovs. It was his league-leading 45th goal of the season.
That was also MacKinnon’s 110th point of the season. He is the first player with four consecutive seasons of 110 or more points since Wayne Gretzky finished a run of 13 straight years in 1991-92. Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov will match the feat with four more points.
Anthony Mantha scored 15 seconds later, getting behind the Avs defense and putting one past Wedgewood before the MacKinnon goal announcement was complete. When Egor Chinakhov got between Josh Manson and Nick Blankenburg to corral a bouncing puck on an offensive rush, he found Malkin alone in front of the net for his second goal of the night and a 3-1 lead at 13:00.
That was the end of Wedgewood’s night after three goals on five shots allowed.
“The goals and chances that we’re giving up are just blatant — guys getting beat, guys getting out competed, just not digging in enough,” Bednar said. “We’re giving up easy chances. That start is not on (Wedgewood) at all. Like, what’s he going to do?”
Mackenzie Blackwood replaced him and didn’t fare much better.
Elmer Soderblom scored 43 seconds later. He collected his first goal since joining the Penguins before the trade deadline when he deposited the rebound of the first shot Blackwood faced just inside the left post. At that point, Pittsburgh led 4-1 despite only seven shots on goal.
Brent Burns got one back 38 seconds later. His shot from the right point went in off a Pittsburgh stick at 14:21 of the first. It was his 10th goal of the season. Burns became only the second defenseman in NHL history to score double-digit goals in a season after turning 40 years old. Nicklas Lidstrom did it at 40 and 41 for the Detroit Red Wings at the end of his career.
At that point, this was a wild back-and-forth affair and Colorado had carried the play for much of it. The Avs finished the first period down two goals but up 17-7 on the shot clock.
Instead of another comeback, the home team’s play deteriorated in the final two periods and left the Avs with a game on the short list for worst of the season.
And left Colorado with a day to stew about it before the Dallas Stars come to Denver for the latest, biggest showdown of the season between the NHL’s two best clubs.
“Every game is crucial right now,” Nelson said. “I know everyone is talking about Wednesday, but this one was equally as big. We have to find a way to bounce back.”
