SEATTLE — If you would’ve thought sometime in early January that the Avalanche would be able to go on a three-game road trip that includes a back-to-back, not have Cale Makar the entire way and come away with a perfect 3-0-0 record, you would’ve likely felt a little overconfident.
That’s how most would’ve felt about the Avs, who were mired in a 1-6-1 stretch after the holiday break. But not coach Jared Bednar. His belief in his team’s ability never wavered. And when asked if he felt the team had what it takes to achieve success without Makar he simply responded, “yes.”
“I got a lot of belief in our team,” Bednar said. “I had the feeling that if we turned things around and really dug in on our game and did the right things, and we’re highly committed, that we can win on any given night.”
Colorado capped off the road trip Saturday with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Seattle Kraken. The victory at Climate Pledge Arena increases the Avs’ winning streak to a season-high five games. Colorado (25-17-3) is just one point back of the Minnesota Wild for third in the Central Division.
“It’s nice to go on a little bit of a run here. We needed to do it,” veteran defenseman Erk Johnson said. “It’s three more games to the break and then hopefully we’re sitting where we want to be.”
The lone shootout goal came from Nathan MacKinnon. And at the other end, goalie Pavel Francouz stopped all three Kraken shooters to secure the victory.
MacKinnon went one-on-one with former teammate Philipp Grubauer and pulled a new move out of his bag of tricks. He stick-handled his way toward the goal before sliding the puck through the goalie, beating him five-hole, to put the Avs ahead in the shootout.
“Usually he goes high glove,” Johnson said. “It was a great, patient move and opened Grubie up and it’s nice to see it slide in there.”
On Grubauer, Johnson added: “He knows our guys. I’m sure he’s expecting Nate to probably go glove or something like that. Nate’s got a whole bag of tricks and I haven’t seen him go five-hole too often. So that was a little bit of a surprise, but it’s good.”
Francouz was confident per usual in the shootout. It was just his fourth NHL shootout but he’s been literally perfect throughout his career. Francouz has stopped all 12 shooters in those games and won each of them. Against the Kraken, Francouz used a poke check twice — including the last shot from Daniel Sprong — to end the game with two points for Colorado.
Francouz’s patience in the shootout has been a strength he’s always had. Which makes his ability to pick when to poke the puck away all the more impressive
“It’s kind of the key for the goalie, and for the player,” he said. “We’re in a battle of whose going to stay patient for a longer time.”
Francouz even joked he would’ve stopped MacKinnon on a poke check if the slick five-hole move was tried against him.
Avalanche forward Alex Newhook got the scoring started nearly halfway through the second period. The Avs were starting to gain momentum, cycling the puck in the Seattle zone. Defenseman Jacob MacDonald put a shot on goal from the blue line, which was stopped by Grubauer. The rebound from Artturi Lehkonen was also stopped by Grubauer’s sprawling pad before Newhook jumped on the rebound and fired it top shelf.
Newhook’s tally was his 10th of the season and third during Colorado’s five-game run. He has five points in as many games, playing mostly at center after long stints on the wing over the last few months.
“He works really hard which is exactly what we need from everybody,” All-Star forward Mikko Rantanen said of Newhook. “When you work hard you usually earn some goals like he’s been doing lately.”
Both teams played at an exceptional pace throughout the night. In the first period, four minors were called — two aside — giving both teams an opportunity to capitalize on the power play. They came up empty-handed each time despite a number of good looks. Colorado is 12-for-13 on the penalty kill over the past five games.
Like regulation, the five-minute overtime was also played with a lot of pace. But also like the first 60 minutes, both teams were sloppy when they had good looks. And there were many. For the Avalanche, both MacKinnon and defenseman Samuel Girard had breakaways and were unable to score. For Seattle, a lengthy shift in the final moments was also unsuccessful after Johnson poked the puck away.
The Avs had a number of opportunities to add to their lead in the middle frame. Breaking in on a 2-on-1, Rantanen set up Newhook for a clean look, but Newhook elected to send a pass back to Rantanen, who whiffed on the ensuing shot. Later on forward Ben Meyers jumped on a rebound and fired a backhander through Grubauer, who was way out of his crease challenging the shooter. The puck trickled toward the goal before it was swiped away by Kraken forward Matty Beniers.
Seattle also had its fair share of unsuccessful golden opportunities. With the game still scoreless, Yanni Gourde received a pass as he exited the penalty box in the first period and went in on the breakaway. He shot the puck wide.
And later in the third, with the game knotted up at 1-1, the Kraken had a 2-on-1, and the puck was sent from circle to circle to John Hayden, who fired it wide of the net. Francouz was forced to go left to right and likely wouldn’t have gotten there in time.
The Kraken kept pressing and eventually hit the post on another opportunity from Jamie Oleksiak. The rebound trickled out near the open net before it was gloved away by defenseman Erik Johnson.
