Avs Sharpen Defensive Play to Complete Comeback

A couple unlucky bounces that didn't go the team's way and some lackluster defensive play put the Colorado Avalanche in a hole against the Anaheim Ducks after the first period, but the squad refocused at the intermission and came back for the second frame with better puck management and finished more of its scoring chances.
The Avs tallied six unanswered in the final 40 minutes of regulation on Tuesday night and defeated the Ducks 8-4 at Ball Arena to record their fourth victory in a row, a new season high. The eight goals were tied for their most in a contest this season--an 8-0 win in its second game of the campaign on Jan. 15 versus the St. Louis Blues.

"I liked the response," said head coach Jared Bednar. "I thought we played hard for the final 40 minutes. I liked what we were doing offensively in the first period too, but we have a high standard set for our team and we want to be a potent offensive team and we want to make sure that we're one of the top defending teams in the league as well. I just didn't like some of our habits in the first period when it came to defending… I just don't think that is acceptable. We had a chat after the first and our guys responded."
Offensively, the Avs hit at least four posts in the opening frame and outshot the Ducks 10-7 in the period. Defensively, the club was out of position on several of Anaheim's goals and was at times lackadaisical with the puck in its own end.
That was what happened during an Avalanche power play late in the first period. A turnover resulted in a breakaway the other way for Anaheim, which forced the Avs to trip up Derek Grant, creating a penalty-shot opportunity that the Ducks converted on to make it a 4-2 score.
"Our top guys are in a position to help keep us in a game or get us back in the game early on the power play and we just didn't do the job," Bednar said of the play that resulted in the penalty shot. "We put fuel on the fire on their end of it. It was an area that we needed to be better, and we were as the game wore on."
The Avs cleaned up their play in the offensive zone in the second stanza and began the rally with Mikko Rantanen's marker from behind the goal line at 11:25. Nazem Kadri then tipped in a shot with 1:34 left in the frame to knot the contest at 4-4 heading into the second break.

"We got a bit of unluckiness in the first," Kadri said. "We hit a couple posts, that could have been a lot different. But we felt like we had a couple defensive hiccups that we needed to straighten out. Had a little chat in the first intermission and came out a lot better."
The Avalanche scored four of its goals in the third, the fourth time it has tallied that many in a period and the third such instance in the final 20 minutes.
Colorado's second line was a big part of the comeback, as Kadri had a season-high four points (two goals and two assists) for his seventh multi-point performance of the year and his second in as many games. His two linemates, Andre Burakovsky and Brandon Saad, contributed a goal and an assist each in the contest as well.
The trio has now combined for five goals in the past two games.
"Just playing the right way. You know, try and be calm and patient out there," Kadri said of his line. "I think we work pretty well as a line together. We're always talking, communicating, and I think that's a big key in order to just know where each other is out on the ice. We've definitely been playing well, and I think we have been pretty solid for the most part of the year and we're going to look to continue that down the stretch."
While it might get lost with the team's six straight tallies, the Avs' two-goal comeback marks its second of the season. Colorado also rallied from down 2-0 to win 3-2 in overtime against the Ducks on March 5.

GOALIE EXCHANGE

Philipp Grubauer made his first relief appearance of the season and stopped all 15 shots faced to register his 16th victory of the year.
It was his 52nd as a member of the Avalanche, moving him past Craig Anderson for ninth place all-time on the franchise list and fifth in Colorado history (since 1995-96).
Grubauer replaced starter Hunter Miska at the start of the second period, but head coach Jared Bednar didn't put the fault all on Miska for the team's poor opening stanza.
"I made the decision to put him in tonight because I knew to battle back in that game that we were going to have to get some big saves," Bednar said. "After we sort of hung Hunter out to dry in the first, we needed Grubi to come in to help us get the job done.
"I think if you look at it, Hunter would like to mix in another save or two in the first period, but we hung him out to dry. It's not something that you want to do with a young goaltender coming in that's trying to build some confidence. You know if we would have played the way we did against the Kings, they wouldn't have had as many chances."

CLOSE TO RETURNING

Forward J.T. Compher and defensemen Bowen Byram and Cale Makar were all full participants at morning skate earlier in the day and they all could be available for the club's next game on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. All three are out with upper-body injuries.
Bednar said that Compher and Byram will be cleared medically to be available for Thursday, while Makar's exact status for a return is not yet known.
"Makar is making progress. You see him out there now, he's in a black [regular practice jersey], not a red [non-contact jersey]," Bednar said. "He's getting close too, but I don't necessarily have a firm timeline on his return."
The Avs have now lost 126 man games this year due to injury and illness, with Conor Timmins (upper body), Erik Johnson (upper body) and Pavel Francouz (upper body) also currently out of the lineup. Johnson and Francouz are considered out long term.

MORE POSTGAME NOTES

Colorado is 6-1-1 in its last eight contests and is 5-1-1 on its current homestand. The team is 10-4-1 in home games this season, tied for the fourth-most home wins in the NHL.
Andre Burakovsky's goal 1:01 into the contest was Colorado's fastest goal to start a game this season. Nathan MacKinnon also scored 1:01 into the third period, the fastest goal to start the third period by the Avalanche this campaign.
Colorado held Anaheim to 22 shots on goal, the 17th consecutive game the Avs have held their opponent to less than 30 shots. Colorado is outshooting its opponent by an average of 9.3 shots per game this season, first in the NHL. In the month of March, the Avs have outshot their opponent by an average of 15.6 shots per game, also tops in the league in that span (Philadelphia ranks second at 8.1).
The Avalanche finished 2-for-3 on the power play, the fourth time this season that Colorado has scored multiple man-advantage markers in a game and first since Jan. 30 at Minnesota.
Samuel Girard registered his fifth goal of the season, establishing a new career high. Girard previously had scored four goals in each of his first three campaigns. He leads all Avs blueliners in goals, assists (16) and points (21) this year.
Nazem Kadri finished with a season-high four points (two goals, two assists), the fifth time in his career he has tallied four or more points and the first since Jan. 23, 2019 vs. Washington.
Devon Toews matched a career best with a plus-3 rating, the fourth time in his career he has finished plus-3 in a game (last: Feb. 11, 2020 vs. Philadelphia). His plus-13 rating this season leads the Avalanche and is tied for fourth among NHL defensemen. Toews finished with a career-best three assists, equaling his personal high in points (also: Jan. 18, 2020 vs. Washington).
Mikko Rantanen scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season and finished with two points, extending his point streak to three games. He has tallied five points (two goals, three assists) in that span.
Nathan MacKinnon extended his goal streak to three games and notched his first game-winning goal of the season and 40th of his career.