In a highly anticipated dress rehearsal before the Stanley Cup Qualifiers really kick off this weekend, division rivals Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild reunited for their only exhibition match. Although this game didn’t count, it served as a much-needed tune-up as Avalanche received a lot of work from special teams and took it upon himself to maintain a one-goal lead in the third period, which they successfully managed to win 3-2.
Before the game, the two teams came together during the anthem in unity. In particular, Nazem Kadri, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Matt Dumba and Jordan Greenway, the four colored players in the game, locked their arms in a powerful display.
The game
Joonas Donskoi landed the avalanche on the board first from a shot by Vlad Namestnikov for a rebound just over a minute into the game to produce that much-needed quick start.
Minnesota responded at 3:05 when they received the game’s first power play and then some subsequent penalties gave them a 4-on-3 lead that Matt Dumba benefited from by posting a cross pass on the net.
The highlight of the game was when Nathan MacKinnon headed for the team’s second goal. With his trademark burst of speed through the neutral zone, MacKinnon made time stand still until he deposited the puck behind Wild netminder Alex Stalock at 4:47. It’s a shame that such an exhibit wasn’t in primetime, but there will be plenty of opportunities for that. MacKinnon can savor the Cup.
The first frame ended in a 2-2 draw when the Wild found the equalizer once again in suspicious coverage of the defensive zone, plus a fun rebound in the backboards allowed Eric Staal to bounce Philipp Grubauer’s puck at 14 : 06.
To start the second period, the Avalanche took the lead at 4:31 on a five-on-three once the players in white decided to shoot. Gabe Landeskog rebounded home for the game’s eventual winning goal.
The theme of the special teams battle continued for the third period with five more penalties, including a high-level minor double call against Conor Timmins. Pavel Francouz was up to the task and frustrated all of Wild’s advances. He was a perfect 14 for 14 in save attempts after entering the middle of the second period. Francouz looked very calm, sharp and in control while Avalanche had the advantage of a goal to ensure victory.
Takeaway
The game lacked a lot of flow due to the parade of penalties from both teams. The avalanche takes a lot of special team practice, so it was a benefit of how the game played out. Officially, the Wild were 1/8 in the power play and Avalanche 1/5 with both goals against three defenders, so there is still work to be done on the offensive side. Avalanche’s power play seemed to want to implement more movement but within the same typical structure, so the jury has yet to upgrade the unit.
A strong defense was never expected on an exhibition stage, but Sam Girard’s absence was certainly felt. He is said to be healthy, but to be kept as a precaution, which is great because the team’s defense and puck move through him. Erik Johnson seemed to have found a step during the break, but overall it was a disjointed unit. Cale Makar exhibited some rust and the aforementioned Timmins had some good times in the offensive zone and with their club work, but were also overwhelmed in the defensive zone.
While the avalanche scored enough to win, they missed some good opportunities looking to pass too often. Johnson led the team in shooting attempts with five with uniform strength, proving that forwards need to get more involved in the offense to have sustained success in the future.
Overall, it seemed like Avalanche hockey was back.
Next
The first of three round-robin games for the Avalanche beginning with the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, August 2 at 4:30 pm MT.
