Giving up four goals in fewer than five minutes is not a recipe for success on most nights in the NHL.
It’s a little more excusable when the home arena ends the night playing “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”
Powered by a Victor Olofsson hat trick and two goals from Nathan MacKinnon, the Avalanche prevailed, 8-4, against the New Jersey Devils on a firewagon hockey night at Ball Arena. Colorado’s struggling power play busted out in a big way, scoring four times after having that many in the first 10 games of the season.
“This is a lot of the reason why we got him,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of Olofsson. “He’s an elite shooter. You look at those goals tonight, and they’re great shots.”
Cale Makar assisted on each of the four extra-man strikes, and the Avs ended a four-game losing streak. It was Olofsson’s first career hat trick. He also had his first career five-point game.
The two teams combined for 71 shots on goal. Scott Wedgwood had a solid night outside the chaotic stretch when Colorado nearly blew a 5-0 advantage, finishing with 26 saves.
The second period featured eight goals, including four straight by the visitors at one point.
“Obviously a weird game,” Makar said. “Power play won us that game for sure, and it’s a good stepping stone for the power play. At the same time, we definitely geared down when we scored that fifth goal and that can’t happen. Definitely a learning curve for us on that.”
Olofsson collected his first goal with the Avalanche when he snapped a wrist shot into the far corner during a rush down the right wing at 2:31 of the second period. That made it 3-0.
A few minutes later, this one looked like a laugher. MacKinnon scored on a one-timer during a 5-on-3 at 7:11 to make it 4-0. Then Parker Kelly got behind the New Jersey defense and tucked a backhanded shot past Jacob Markstrom at 8:39.
Colorado was rolling … and then it wasn’t. New Jersey scored four times in a 4:04 span, and the party at Ball Arena got pretty quiet in a hurry. There was a Brent Burns giveaway that led to a Stefan Noesen goal. Then Dougie Hamilton made a nifty play to bat a rebound out of mid-air to himself 1:40 later. Then Dawson Mercer scored on a give-and-go with Nico Hischier 54 seconds after that.
When Jack Hughes finished off a 4-on-2 rush with a one-timer, it was a 5-4 game and there was still 6:12 left in the second period.
“It’s commitment. It’s not getting comfortable,” Bednar said. “It’s the first time this year we’ve had a really big lead. Seemed like maybe it was going to go easy for us, but they’re a dangerous team.
The Devils could not stay out of the penalty box, and that was their undoing.
MacKinnon scored his second of the night from almost the same spot, but this one was a 5-on-4 goal, and it was a howitzer just under the crossbar.
Olofsson had been playing well, including 26 shots on goal in his first 10 games with Colorado. This night was the breakthrough. He added his second of the night just 3:10 into the third period after a feed from MacKinnon, and the Avs had matched their output with the extra man from the start of the season.
“They were hitting good one-timers,” Makar said. “I was trying to put them in the sweet spot for them and they were doing well. It made my night easy.”
The Avs led 2-0 after the first period. It wasn’t a great 20 minutes for the home side, but two goals on the first four shots forged an early advantage. Markstrom made his first start for the Devils in net since Oct. 13, and it did not start well for him.
Markstrom put the puck into the crowd 18 seconds in, and the Avs took advantage with the first power-play goal of the night at 1:24. It was a crisp-looking power play with multiple chances created before a quick passing sequence led to Martin Necas blasting a one-timer past Markstrom.
Zakhar Bardakov, traded to Colorado by New Jersey for Kurtis MacDermid on March 1, 2024, scored his first NHL goal against the club that drafted him. There was a scrum in front of the Avs net, but they transitioned the other way quickly and Kelly fed Bardakov on the ensuing rush. Gavin Brindley, who made a nice play to get it started, also collected his first NHL assist.
The power play came through. The fourth line scored a pair of goals. But the biggest breakout of the night belonged to Olofsson, who was a late addition in the offseason to provide more offensive punch and some depth up front. He did that in a big way Tuesday night.
Shortly after his third goal set off the procession of hats to the ice and made it an 8-4 game, the song from “Frozen” filled the arena and added insult to Markstrom’s long night at the office.
“It felt great,” Olofsson said. “I’ve been putting a lot of pucks on the net. Unfortunately, not a lot in the net. Usually it does come when you keep shooting. It came in bunches tonight. It was nice.”
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