Future first-round picks don’t score overtime goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but Nicolas Roy did Tuesday night.
Roy scored 7:44 into overtime, five minutes before midnight, and the Colorado Avalanche eked out Game 2 of this opening-round series. He pounced on the rebound of a Josh Manson shot to give the Avs a 2-1 win Tuesday night at Ball Arena.
Colorado leads the best-of-seven series 2-0. Game 3 is Thursday night in Los Angeles.
“(If) you look at the stats, my guess is probably a lot of those goals scored in overtimes are right there in net front,” said Roy, who was acquired before the trade deadline from Toronto for a first-round pick in 2027 and a 2026 fifth-round selection. “So we made a couple nice plays, and got a couple shots on net. Obviously was lucky to get one. But again, I like to be in this area, and a lot of those goals are scored there. So I try to be there as much as I can.”
This game had a little bit of everything for 53 minutes, but no goals. A pair of them got this contest to overtime, but one of them was not without controversy.
Martin Necas set up Gabe Landeskog on the doorstep with a perfect pass from the right corner with 3:35 remaining to even the score.
Keeler: Avalanche, Nicolas Roy overcome blind refs, shattered glass, take 2-0 series lead over Kings
Devon Toews sent the puck towards the net from the left point and Landeskog got a piece of it. It went wide, and Necas was there for a silky pass that went through Anton Forsberg to get to the Colorado captain near the left post.
"It was just kind of at the right spot at the right time and Marty made a great play," Landeskog said. "That one felt good.
"Always big in the regular season to be able to come from behind, but I think ones like this ... to get a big win here at home, that can fuel a group. So important win for us, for sure."
Artemi Panarin scored with 6:58 remaining to give the Kings the lead. Manson threw the puck towards the Los Angeles end, but it hit a linesman and then went into the Avs bench. The Avs lobbied for the faceoff to be outside the Colorado zone.
It was not. The Kings won the faceoff and 26 seconds later Panarin scored through traffic. It was the Kings' second goal of the series -- Panarin, who was added from the New York Rangers in a Feb. 5 trade, has them both.
Colorado had the league's best penalty kill during the regular season at 84.6%, but Panarin and the Kings are 2-for-9 in the series.
For the second straight game, the first period did not include any goals. This one did include a significant uptick in vitriol.
The message before Game 2 from Kings coach D.J. Smith was his team needed to be more physical with the Avs. Manson fired the first bullet, planting Scott Laughton with an open-ice hit.
Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson bloodied Necas with an open-ice hit near center ice on the next shift, and chaos ensued. Five of the seven penalties called in the period came in a four-minute stretch after Anderson's hit.
It got even weirder early in the second period. The Avs went on the power play, but Cale Makar was unable to hold the puck in the offensive zone. Quentin Byfield collected it and got behind him for a shorthanded breakaway. Makar lifted his stick just before he attempted to shoot, but the official awarded Byfield a penalty shot at 3:12 of the period.
Scott Wedgewood, who made 24 saves and has allowed two goals in his first two NHL playoff starts, denied Byfield with a glove save. During the ensuing, celebration fans were pushing on the glass behind the Los Angeles bench and the pane directly behind Smith shattered, dumping pieces of glass onto him and several Kings players around him.
"I've never really seen the glass shatter behind the bench," Avs coach Jared Bednar said. "Usually it's on the ice, and it can take a while. That's a different one, but, I mean, stuff happens. Fans get excited. Our guys were excited, competing hard. There was a bunch of melees on the ice today. It was felt like playoff hockey, which is the way you want it to feel. It tests your team. It's why it's so fun."
The quirks kept coming on the first shift of the third period. Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski thought he scored on a shot from the left point just nine seconds into the period, but after the arena erupted the officials realized the puck was actually stuck in the netting on the outside of the goal, not inside it.
Colorado won a similarly low-scoring affair in Game 1. It wasn't at this level of wonky, but it was choppy at times as well before the Avs got goals from Artturi Lehkonen and Logan O'Connor in a 2-1 victory.
"Long game, first of all," Landeskog said. "Second period felt like it was three hours long. But yeah, it's tight. That's the way it's going to be. That's the way both teams like it.
"It's the way you're gonna have to manage it. Both goalies play great again, and it's just neither team wants to give up anything, so it's tight."
