Avalanche Clinch Playoff Spot With OT Win

The Colorado Avalanche were coming into last night’s game against the San Jose Sharks hoping for an easy win. Boy, were they wrong. What would turn into a struggle without defenseman Cale Makar and forward Darren Helm (both out with lower body injuries) the game would go into extra frames. No worries… the Avalanche, would clinch a playoff spot regardless if they won or not. 

First Period 

The Avalanche came out like gangbusters. Their puck possession through the period couldn’t be matched by the Sharks. The Avalanche would end up out shooting the Sharks 13-7 and score a couple of goals in the process. Jack Johnson would hammer home the opening goal past goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen, Johnson took the pass from Bowen Byram on the opposite point and just slammed it off of defenseman  Henry Thrun and in. The Sharks were having trouble clearing the puck out of the zone the entire sequence. About two minutes later, Colorado was cycling the puck on the boards. Mikko Rantanen got the puck to Nathan MacKinnon in the right circle. Evan Rodrigues went for a screen down low and tipped the shot from MacKinnon. The issue was that Tomas Hertl had the coverage on Rodrigues and really didn’t apply pressure on him. The Avalanche would leave the period up 2-0.

Second Period 

The Sharks started to gain a little momentum in the second but not much. Former Avalanche Jacob MacDonald would get a tripping call to start the period but Colorado could not convert. With about seven minutes left in the period, the Sharks got a rare chance. They got a two-on-one. MacKinnon took a shot that rebounded to the point. Unfortunately, it bounced over Devon Toews’ stick and he was not able to hold the blue line leading to Kevin Labanc getting a two-on-one goal. A faceoff that became one of the best in the period came with about two minutes left. J.T. Compher won the faceoff that got back to Toews at the point. He was able to get it to Rantanen on the hash marks to set up MacKinnon for the one-timer goal. The Avalanche took the lead 3-1.

Third Period 

The Sharks came out in the third with a fire lit under them. Once again, former Avalanche Nico Sturm was called for tripping early, but Colorado only was able to get one shot on net. Almost five minutes into the period, Kurtis MacDermid received the only Colorado penalty of the game and San Jose made them pay. They tossed the puck around the Avalanche zone starting with Logan Couture. He got it to Danil Gushchin behind the net. Jacob Peterson saw the chance and crashed the net and taped it past goaltender Alexandar Georgiev. A simple stick lift by Compher would have broken the play up completely. About seven minutes into the period San Jose would tie it up with a Noah Gregor shot. Gregor lost Byram behind the net and threw it off of Georgiev’s pads right to Leblanc in front for his second of the night.

Overtime

Things were not looking up for the Avalanche in the extra frame. The Sharks would dominate the possession game in the overtime period. In fact, the Avalanche would only get two shots on net to the Sharks four. But, it was one of those shots by MacKinnon that would be the best shot of his career. In an effort to dump the puck, Erik Karlsson chased it and turned for the pass. It went right onto Toews’ stick who sent it down ice for MacKinnon for a breakaway finish. The goal would become his 100th point of the season, a new career high for him.

Nathan MacKinnon buries the overtime breakaway for his 100th point of the season, winning it for the Avs!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/iFgLyGgkRp

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) April 5, 2023

Conclusion 

With the win the Colorado Avalanche clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth straight year and 28th time in franchise history. And this was all done with a flood of injuries to the team. They now sit at the first place position in the Central Division with a game in hand and 312 man games lost to injury. Just 76 of those games belong to their captain Gabriel Landeskog, who has been out with a lower body injury the whole season. The Avalanche will wrap up the season series with the Sharks on Thursday and then move onto the Kings on Saturday.