Penalties Hurt Avs In Global Series Conclusion

STOCKHOLM--After starting the third period with a lead, the Colorado Avalanche fell 4-3 to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday to conclude the 2017 SAP NHL Global Series in Sweden.
Colorado took seven penalties in the contest and allowed Ottawa to score two power-play goals, one of those tallies being the game-winning goal.

Four of Colorado's penalties came in the third period and cost the Avalanche the lead, and eventually the game.
"I thought our penalty kill did a fantastic job really, at the end of the day," Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said. "They scored on the last one where we break up the play and it kind of deflects back out to their shooter [Mike] Hoffman coming down the flank.
"The problem was, we were getting outworked in a lot of areas and took a bunch of penalties--reaching penalties, stick penalties. You know, we didn't use our legs to check so we were reaching a lot and we got called for them. We got called for some in the offensive zone, a couple in the neutral zone on some turnovers and then D-zone as well."
The amount of penalties the club took deterred Colorado from continuing the rhythm they had developed in the first and second periods.
"Yeah it definitely hurts," Alex Kerfoot said after the game. "Guys are sitting on the bench at times and it ruined the flow of the game, and its obviously hard to create anything when you're down a man."
Gabriel Landeskog, a Stockholm, Sweden, native, said he believes the number of penalties the team took cost them the game.
"Obviously, it's tough that we end up just kicking ourselves and making mistakes and time and time again they get odd man rushes and time in our zone," said Avalanche captain Landeskog. "You can't give up that many power plays to a good team like this."
However, the penalty-kill unit did get Colorado on the scoreboard first with a short-handed goal by Blake Comeau in the first period. He stripped Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson of the puck for a breakaway chance and found the back of the net.
It marked his second short-handed goal of the season and the eighth of his career.
Although the Avs had the lead at the end of the first period, they were outshot 16-7 in the frame, a theme that carried over from the previous night.
In the middle of the second frame, Colorado had a 3-2 lead after Sven Andrighetto scored Colorado's third tally on the team's 11th shot. Ottawa pulled goaltender Mike Condon from the net at 10:36 of the second period and replaced him with Craig Anderson, who played the entire contest between the two teams on Friday.
Even though Colorado wrapped up the trip to Sweden with one of four possible points, the club did enjoy seeing how the initiative of the NHL to grow the game is being utilized through this program.

"[Growing the game globally], that is a big part of it," said Kerfoot. "It was a great experience coming over here, I think that we all had a great time. It was unfortunate how the games ended up, but we had a great experience over here."
"I mean, everything non-hockey related was fantastic," Bednar said after the contest. "The hospitality, the set-up, coming over here to play, the fan support. I think the whole week was great. The problem is we were here to play two hockey games, and we only got one point out of the four.
"It's not good enough. You know, a win tonight makes it a successful road trip for us. And losing tonight the way we did kind of stings a little bit and it hurts, so now we got to get back to work here. We have a couple days off because of the travel home and then we have to get back at it."
For Landeskog, the outcome of the games was not good enough in regards to the objective of the trip. Nevertheless, playing regular-season NHL games in his hometown was incredible.
"Based on the whole experience of the whole week it has been unbelievable," he said on Saturday evening. "I have had a blast every single day. The support from the hockey fans here in Sweden and also the fans that came from North America, both Ottawa and Colorado, it's been great. I think it's something that down the road and once we are a few years removed it is going to be something that we can look back at and really enjoy those memories"
The team will head back to Denver on Sunday and get some needed rest before its next game at Pepsi Center on Thursday against the Washington Capitals.

KERFOOT LEADS TEAM

Rookie center Alexander Kerfoot found the back of the net and registered an assists on Saturday to extend his current point streak to four games.
The Vancouver, British Columbia, native also has a three-game, multi-point streak going.
He leads the team in goals and has eight points (four goals, four assists) over his last six games (Oct. 28 to Nov. 11). The 23-year-old is tied for third in points with Mikko Rantanen. Forward Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Tyson Barrie take the first and second place on the team in scoring, respectively.

MIKKO'S 100th NHL GAME

Right wing Mikko Rantanen skated in his 100th NHL game on Saturday. He has played in all 16 of Colorado's contests and has 13 points (five goals, eight assists). The 21-year-old scored four of his tallies over the course of three games, from Oct. 28 to Nov. 4.
Overall, he has registered 51 points, including 25 goals and 26 assists. He skated in nine games in 2015-16 and appeared in 75 games in the 2016-17 campaign after starting the year with the San Antonio Rampage. Despite missing seven games last season, Rantanen led the team with 20 goals.