They lead the NHL with 10 power-play goals, but the Avalanche have struggled to score at even-strength in 2021.
Colorado hit a post or crossbar around goalie John Gibson three times and went 0-for-4 on the power play as the Anaheim Ducks — despite being outshot 33-15 — split their two-games against the Avs with a 3-1 victory Sunday at Honda Center.
The Avalanche, the proverbial Stanley Cup favorite, stand 3-3 and are tied for fourth in the West Division — partly because of their lack of scoring outside of the power play.
The Avs’ seven 5-on-5 goals rank 24th in the league, and three of the teams below them, Florida, Dallas and Carolina, have played three or fewer games.
“I’m not sensing from our guys that we’re frustrated,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of his team’s lack of even-strength production.
Colorado’s top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabe Landeskog continued to lead the offensive charge, combining for 11 shots (plus two off iron). Rantanen scored the Avalanche’s lone goal to extend his career-high goal-scoring streak to five games. MacKinnon assisted on the goal, which came with 5:14 remaining in the third period.
But the late comeback attempt was quickly halted. The Ducks drew a penalty to kill off two minutes from what remained in the third and eventually added an empty-netter.
The empty-net goal was the only shot Anaheim had in the final frame. Avs goalie Philipp Grubauer allowed two goals on 14 shots.
“As the game went on we were getting a little frustrated but we kept on working, kept on creating chances,” Bednar said. “We’ve been a little bit disconnected in some games. We’ve looked really good in large periods of games creating offense. But we haven’t scored.”
Bednar shook up his bottom three lines in an attempt to spark the offense. Center Nazem Kadri was pushed down to the third line and replaced by J.T. Compher, who played alongside a returning Andre Burakovsky and Brandon Saad.
The switch did not pay dividends, at least not right away.
Compher lost a clean faceoff in the defensive zone to Adam Henrique, and Jakub Silfverberg quickly stepped into the loose puck and fired a shot past Grubauer to put the Ducks ahead 1-0. It was the first time Colorado surrendered the first goal this season.
The Avs started to take over offensively, at one point outshooting Anaheim 10-3. But defenseman Cale Makar, MacKinnon, and Rantanen each hit the post in the first period and Gibson made numerous big stops to keep the Avs off the scoresheet.
Colorado continued its push early in the second but once again was unable to solve Gibson. The Ducks eventually extended their lead to two goals thanks to a nice feed from Ryan Getzlaf to Rickard Rackell.
Kadri and Saad’s poor 5-on-5 play continued in the loss. The pair were both once again on the ice for goals from the opposition and saw their team-worst ratings fall to a minus-8.
The Avs failed to score with the man-advantage for the first time this season. But Bednar says his team is not yet panicking.
“If we continue to do what we did tonight, we’ll score some goals,” Bednar said. “I think we competed throughout our lineup. The top line created the bulk of the scoring chances but we had some good looks from some other lines.”
Footnotes: Defenseman Ryan Graves was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. Bednar says Graves has not been the same player as last year. Graves, who led the NHL with a plus-40 rating last season, is minus-5 in five games. … Defenseman Sam Girard played his 226th consecutive game with the Avs, tying him with the late Karlis Skrastins for second-most by a Colorado defenseman (Martin Skoula, 285). … Winger Joonas Donskoi, who was demoted to the fourth line, played a team-low 9:05.
