The Colorado Avalanche has not been the same team since the All-Star break, but welcoming the club atop the NHL standings to Ball Arena provided an opportunity to remind everyone of its title-contending credentials.
Ryan Johansen scored a pair of goals to snap a long drought, and the Avalanche produced one of its best team-oriented defensive efforts of the season in a 3-1 win Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
“Just trying to do more, because that’s what it takes at this time of year. It was nice to get rewarded and contribute,” Johansen said. “It always feels great to contribute and impact games.”
Between the Avs losing five of their past seven games, the Canucks yielding 10 goals Monday in Minnesota and the stretch run of the NHL regular season beckoning, there was plenty of motivation to produce a strong performance on both sides. And this was about as close to a playoff type of contest as there is going to be in late February.
There was not a lot of open ice or time for two of the most talented teams in the league to make a lot of fancy plays. There was an uptick in the physical battles and attention to defensive detail from both sides. During one sequence in the third period after Colorado had grabbed the lead, Vancouver had a trio of great chances in scrambled situations.
Samuel Girard swept the puck out of danger to prevent a sure goal, then Alexandar Georgiev made a backhanded save while lying on the ice to snare the rebound. Georgiev was down again on the next shift and couldn’t find the puck, but Artturi Lehkonen got in the way of a slap shot from Filip Hronek, and the subsequent roar from the crowd after the puck exited the Avs’ zone was the loudest for a non-goal all season.
“It just gets us back on track,” Avs defenseman Jack Johnson said. “We always knew we could do it. For whatever reason we were going through a funk. Every teams goes through it during a season. You’d rather go through it in February than April.”
Georgiev made 24 saves, and Nathan MacKinnon assisted on an empty-net goal to extend his home point streak to 27 games, the second-longest to start a season in NHL history. The penalty kill, which had yielded five power-play goals in the past five games, was excellent.
J.T. Miller put the Canucks on the board first midway through the first period. The Avalanche’s top line lost control of the puck trying to enter the offensive zone, and a few of Vancouver’s best players quickly counterattacked.
Quinn Hughes found Brock Boeser in the neutral zone and he connected with Miller, who got behind Johnson and Jonathan Drouin on the right wing before collecting his 28th goal of the season.
The first few minutes of the opening period were great for the Avalanche, but the rest of it was more of a struggle to create any offensive pressure. The pace of this game was significantly higher than the one two nights prior, and the Canucks did a much better job of disrupting what the Avs wanted to do when they had the puck.
Colorado found a way to dictate the terms a little better in the second period. Johansen also collected his first goal in 2024 to even the score.
Johnson’s shot from the top of the zone missed the net but caromed off the end boards and back in front, where Johansen was waiting to backhand it past Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko.
It was the 12th of the season for Johansen but his first in 21 games, dating back to Dec. 29. He spoke to The Denver Post recently about needing to feel better about his game as the postseason approaches. Avs coach Jared Bednar said Tuesday morning that he had noticed an uptick in Johansen’s play over the past few games.
Johansen added his second goal of the night early in the third period. After 40 minutes of tight-checking and strong goaltending at both ends, his wrist shot from the right point found a hole. Zach Parise sent the puck from the left corner to Johansen, and his shot fooled Demko with Joel Kiviranta and Canucks defenseman Ian Cole battling in front of him.
“You’ve got to try and find ways to do as much as you can,” Johansen said. “I definitely wasn’t happy with my game there for a minute. I’ve been focusing on trying to do more, and it feels good to contribute with a win here tonight, and hopefully keep it rolling.”
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