Seeing the Colorado Avalanche up close and in person for the first time this season, it’s easy to see how and why they’re in a league of their own this season. Opening a six-game road trip on Monday afternoon against the Avs at Denver’s Ball Arena, the Caps hung in gamely for much of the contest, but the Avalanche turned on the jets late and skated off with a 5-2 victory.
Colorado plays with pace and connection, and its lineup is loaded with speed and skill, even on an afternoon in which they were missing a few key pieces. The Caps were never able to play with a lead on Monday, but they were a goal away from the class of the NHL for most of the afternoon.
“I thought we were right there,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “I didn't mind our game through 40 [minutes], hanging in there against … the best team in the NHL. They're going to give you issues in all sorts of ways. They have some world class players.
“So, we're right there. We're hanging in it. We're down a goal going into the third period, but I thought we did some good things. And it gets away from us late in the game there. We just didn't do enough to make a final push there in the third period, to try to generate a little bit more to get ourselves over the hump and have a few better looks to get that game to 3-3.”
Colorado drew first blood in Monday’s matinee match. Just ahead of the six-minute mark of the first period, Parker Kelly tipped a Cale Makar center point shot past Caps goalie Charlie Lindgren to stake the Avs to a 1-0 lead.
Less than three minutes later, the Caps answered back on their second power play opportunity of the afternoon. Ryan Leonard made a clean entry into Colorado ice, and he fed Ethen Frank along the right half wall. Frank turned it back to Dylan Strome at the right point, and Strome went to Jakob Chychrun at center point. From there, Chychrun fired a low, hard wrist shot through a strong screen in front, squaring the score at 1-1 at 7:27 of the first frame.
“Just playing with a little more pace,” says Frank when asked about the Caps’ power play against Colorado’ daunting penalty kill. “I feel like we were pretty connected and kind of knew where each other were going to be at and didn't really have a problem holding onto pucks and looking for plays.”
Washington wasn’t able to grab the lead with a third power play opportunity late in the first.
The game took a turn early in the second when Chychrun was boxed for a double-minor for hi-sticking Colorado’s Ross Colton. The Caps were able to kill off the front end of the double-minor, but Nathan MacKinnon restored the Colorado lead with a clean entry and a snipe of a shot from the right circle, making it a 2-1 contest at 7:03.
Late in the middle stanza, the Avs increased their lead to 3-1. Five seconds after Colorado won an offensive zone draw, Victor Olofsson deposited the rebound of a Josh Manson shot past a sprawling Lindgren, who nearly made the stop.
Washington swiftly answered back just 17 seconds later when Alex Ovechkin made a nifty feed to Frank from behind the Colorado cage, and Frank beat Scott Wedgewood from the slot to make it 3-2 at 16:15.
In the third, Lindgren and the Caps hung in and kept the game even through a fair bit of adversity. Chychrun put a puck over the glass early in the frame, putting the Caps back on the penalty kill. Then Anthony Beauvillier was whistled for as weak a hooking call as you will see in any league, putting Colorado on a 5-on-3 of 86 seconds in duration.
Fortunately for the Caps, they were able to draw a call in their own end, turning the 5-on-3 into a 4-on-3 before the Avalanche could pounce on them.
Just ahead of the midpoint of the third, a Martin Necas turnover resulted in an Ovechkin one-timer opportunity for the tying tally, but Wedgewood made the stop on perhaps Washington’s best chance to pull even.
Less than two minutes later, Makar scored to make it 4-2. Carbery wisely challenged the call, alleging goaltender interference by Necas, and the stripes saw it the same way. Suddenly, with 8:56 left, the Caps were still down just one puck.
But before the Caps had an opportunity to grab momentum and try to cobble together an equalizer, Artturi Lehkonen scored in transition at 12:32. And with 3:30 left, MacKinnon netted his second of the game and 38th goal of the season to account for the 5-2 final.
“They’re a good team; they play super fast,” says Strome of the Avs. “I thought we held our own, but we ultimately gave them too many chances. They’re a good team and tough to play against. We probably needed a few more on the power play.”
Lindgren battled in typical fashion, keeping his team close for most of the afternoon. He deserved a better fate and a better stat line.
“I thought he was excellent,” says Carbery of his goaltender. “Nothing on Chuck. I feel bad that he’s got to look at his stat line like it was, but anybody that was in the building or watched this game knows that he was outstanding.”
