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Avalanche Defeat Bruins 4-1 for Sixth Straight Win

  
Avalanche Defeat Bruins 4-1 for Sixth Straight Win
Photo courtesy of the Boston Globe

The Avs looked to stay perfect on this road trip Saturday in Boston after defeating the Maple Leafs and Canadiens earlier this week.  On their day off, some players went to the Boston College vs Boston University women’s hockey game to support the sister of Avs forward JT Compher.  Cale Makar visited his alma mater UMass as he was honored for winning the NCAA’s Hobey Baker Award for being named the best player in college hockey.

The Avs would continue to be short handed Saturday as it was announced that forward Nazim Kadri would be out of the lineup after suffering a lower-body injury against Montreal.  He is considered day-to-day.

First Period

The first 15 minutes of the first period were pretty uneventful besides both team’s top lines trading quality chances.  The Avs controlled the pace initially with the first handful of shots but the B’s answered back by getting on the board first.

With 6:46 left in the first period, forward Chris Wagner redirected a shot from the blue line by John Moore for the first goal of the night.  The Avs had a group of tired players on the ice as they just finished a long shift of their own in the Bruins zone.

Minutes later, Brett Ritchie sprung loose for a breakaway and missed the net, but Colorado goalie Philipp Grubauer looked to be injured on the play.  He stayed on the ice until eventually Val Nichushkin scored a goal to tie the game, but Grubauer came off right after slamming his stick in frustration.  The period included big hits from Nikita Zadorov, Vlad Kamenev, and Ian Cole when eventually the Bruins started taking shots of their own.

Just before the period ended, Nathan MacKinnon, Gabe Landeskog, and Mikko Rantanen got into a little cross-checking match with some of the Bruins including Zdeno Chara.  At the end of the period, Colorado led Boston in shots 9-4.

Second Period 

The second period continued with more chances for the Avalanche.  Mikko Rantanen found himself all alone in front of Jaro Halak but he ended up hitting the crossbar on a backhand shot.  About five minutes later, Cole took a nice slap shot from the left side and beat Halak glove side for his first goal of the season and put the Avs up 2-1.  This game was Cole’s 500th of his NHL career.

Towards the second half of the period, the Bruins had a few more very long shifts that continued to keep the Avs on the ice.  But at the end of one of those long shifts, Joonas Donskoi transitioned the puck out of the zone to Nathan MacKinnon but the puck somehow made its way to Andre Burakovsky’s stick in behind the Bruins defense.  Burakovsky put the puck right past Halak putting the Avs up 3-1 with under two minutes left in the period.

Third Period

There was a lot of pressure coming from the Bruins in the third period but the Avalanche continued to forecheck hard and keep pucks away from Pavel Francouz, who came in relief for Grubauer.  Nikita Zadorov had one of his best games defensively shutting down Bruins sharpshooter David Pastrnak all night.

The first penalty of the night came five minutes into the period when Avalanche defenseman Ryan Graves went off for a high sticking call.  Colorado killed the penalty and hit Graves with a pass as he was leaving the penalty box.  Graves drove the net but wasn’t able to score as he drew a hooking penalty on Bruins.  The Avs then went to 4-on-4 hockey when Donskoi went off for his own high sticking minor but there was no score after both teams returned to full strength.

Early into the third period, Avalanche rookie defenseman Cale Makar went off to the dressing room after he was hit awkwardly by Bruins Brad Marchand.

The Bruins had some more pressure late in the game with a 6 on 4 powerplay but Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog sealed the deal scoring an empty net goal putting Colorado up 4-1.

What’s Next

Colorado went 3-0-0 on this short road trip but had some key injuries as they head back home.  The Avs get to spend this week in Denver and will host the Flames, Flyers, and Devils on Monday Wednesday and Friday.  The Avs will most likely have to call up some more players from the Colorado Eagles depending on how injured Grubauer and Makar are.  It’s possible the Avs bring back young goaltender Adam Werner and top prospect Connor Timmins for the homestand.

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