The Colorado Avalanche went into the final preseason contest against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night. The Avalanche iced a full NHL roster, with a few exceptions. Captain Gabriel Landeskog will be out until at least the start of the playoffs after having knee surgery. Andrew Cogliano is taking steps to work his way back from the neck injury suffered in the playoff against the Seattle Kraken. They list Mikko Rantanen and Josh Manson as day-to-day with injuries, but could be in the lineup soon.
First period
The Avalanche started the game off with an aggressive push towards the Vegas net. The referee penalized Alex Pietrangelo just under two minutes into the game, and the Avalanche capitalized on the opportunity. Ryan Johansen won the face-off back to Jonathan Drouin and then Cale Makar. The defenseman took the shot and Johansen had worked his way in front of goaltender Logan Thompson to tip it in to make it 1–0.
Later in the first period, during 4-on-4 play, Bowen Byram rushed up the center of the ice and threw the puck over to the wing to Samuel Girard. The French-Canadian whipped it on net and Valeri Nichushkin was waiting for the rebound to tap in.
All aboard 🚂#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/gFkVuMCiTJ
— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 6, 2023
Second period
The middle frame started out with a bit of a defensive battle forming. About six minutes into the period, Keegan Kolesar went to the sin bin, and the Avalanche did not waste any time. Makar and Drouin were able to connect to set Nathan MacKinnon up for a slap shot in his office and the 3–0 lead.
We let the Dogg out 👏#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/6xFzDx7jkR
— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) October 6, 2023
After MacKinnon’s goal, an inexperienced Sam Malinski panicked in the Avalanche zone. He threw the puck down the wall, drawing Johansen and Jack Johnson out of position, therefore opening the back door.
That was a 10/10, #10 🙌 pic.twitter.com/4870Cg3lKG
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 6, 2023
Third period
The Golden Knights outright dominated the period, scoring three unanswered goals to come back to take the lead late in the frame. They were able to nail one on a face-off win and then later Jonathan Marchessault tipped the puck past Alexandar Georgiev. Paul Cotter hit Byram late in the period, taking him out of the play. Mark Stone stole the puck and made a perfect setup, resulting in the last goal of the night and the 4–3 victory for the Golden Knights.
WAY TO GO, PAUL! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/3MZW5wwjSh
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 6, 2023
Analysis
The start of the game, the Avalanche looked fantastic. They could push the play in both directions and control the puck. As the game wore on, it was obvious conditioning became a factor. Players were dragging a little more and not getting into defensive positions as quickly as they should have. The final 20 minutes of the game killed the team and they need to work on playing the full 60 minutes. But hey, the preseason is finally done and we have some real hockey to look forward to next week!