After performing apparently everything wrong in the previous six home matches, the Avalanche merged up its own lines Monday night and finally discovered a winning recipe facing a near-sellout audience of 17,808 at the Pepsi Center.
The Avs, who’d been outscored 28-9 throughout their six-game losing streak in front of faces, got plenty of scoring, perfect punishment killing and superb goaltending in a 3-0 victory on the playoff-bound Vegas Golden Knights, the defending Western Conference champions.
Forwards Tyson Jost, Andrew Agozzino and Matt Calvert made Colorado’s goals and netminder Semyon Varlamov looked like the Varlamov of older, making several showy saves at crucial times. The Avs’ forwards lines were unlike they had been all season, with Carl Soderberg and Matt Nieto being the only duo to stay intact. They played with star winger Mikko Rantanen on a lineup that made eight of Colorado’s 38 shots.
Agozzino’s goal was the first of his NHL career, and it had been aided by left wing along with staff captain Gabe Landeskog due to his 400th career stage — making him just the fourth Colorado-drafted participant to accomplish the milestone. Landeskog had a team-high six shots and prior linemate Nathan MacKinnon had four while centering Alex Kerfoot and Sven Andrighetto, the latter of whom had been playing over the fourth line.
“It worked,” Landeskog stated of the new lines. “There’therefore a motive behind it. When you re not receiving results, things have to be changed and you will need to locate solutions. I enjoyed tonight to the combinations and it ended up working out. ”
Jost scored also Agozzino doubled the to the second as the Avs took a 2-0 lead.
Jost’s goal. He caused a turnover between the circles in the offensive zone and defeat Malcolm Subban using a low shot. Agozzino also scored from between the groups, one-timing a feed from Landeskog due to his first career NHL goal in his own 470th sport for a pro (11th in the NHL).
“It’so tough to describe,” Agozzino said of his own first-career NHL goal. “It’s been a long road that led to the one. ”
Agozzino, 28, played 48 of his 459 American Hockey League matches this season, resulting in the Colorado Eagles in scoring with 50 points (22 goals) and ranking fourth in the league.
Landeskog joined Tampa Bay right winger Nikita Kucherov since the second participant by the 2011 draft course to achieve 400 points. Landeskog also joined Alex Tanguay, Paul Stastny and Matt Duchene since the fourth Avs-drafted participant to reach 400.
“To be honest, it doesn’t mean a lot,” Landeskog said of this milestone. “If anything, it s fine to get it over and done with. I’ve been looking at 400 for a few months . Hopefully I have a good deal more to come. ”
Associated Articles
Andrew Agozzino, the Colorado Eagles’ top scorer, has his shot using the Avalanche
Avalanche podcast: Struggles continue for Colorado, upcoming NHL trade deadline along with more
Avs Mailbag: Goaltending woes, Tyson Jost resets with Eagles, Connor Timmins update and more
Calvert’s goal was a tap off a rally from Matt Nieto. Video replay confirmed the puck has been “powered” in by the shaft of Calvert’therefore stick, though it could have touched his glove.
Footnotes. Varlamov made his seventh straight start and 14th . … Forward Colin Wilson (upper body) remains out with injury but is skating with the team and ought to come back to the lineup Wednesday against the visiting Winnipeg Jets. Defenseman Ian Cole (broken orbital bone) remains out indefinitely.
Buy Tickets for every event – Sports, Concerts, Festivals and more buytickets.com