It was a long night.
The Vancouver Canucks were the comeback kids the other night against the Dallas Stars, but there were no avenues for a rally Thursday night at Ball Arena, as they easily defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-1.
Devon Toews scored the lone goal for Colorado, while Charlie Coyle and Cale Makar each recorded an assist. Nathan MacKinnon sat out for this game to rest what the team is calling a minor injury.
First Period
The opening frame was scoreless while both teams were evenly-matched for a majority of the period.
With 15:38 remaining, Martin Nečas, who returned to the lineup after missing a handful of games due to injury, high-sticked Kiefer Sherwood to put the Canucks on the power play.
After Colorado killed one penalty, they got one immediately after when Sam Girard was penalized for cross-checking Nils Höglander.
With just over four minutes to go in the first, Toews ripped a slapshot, but Nucks netminder Kevin Lankinen, who stopped 31 of 32 shots, came up with the big glove save.
Second Period
Girard’s return from injury was a welcome presence in the second frame as he took early command of the puck. He snapped a shot from the blue line, but it was deflected into the netting.
Parker Kelly nearly scored on a rebound with 17:15 remaining in the period. Erik Johnson fired a slap shot from the point, which Lankinen saved, but the latter temporarily lost sight of the puck, allowing Kelly to nearly give Colorado the first goal of the matchup.
Instead of the Avalanche taking the lead, Vancouver scored when Sherwood set up a beautiful pass from the left circle for Jake DeBrusk, who deflected it over Avs’ goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, who stopped 26 of 29 shots.
With 12:09 left in the period, Sherwood continued to put on a show with his 19th goal of the season. Vancouver penetrated Colorado’s defensive zone and Sherwood snapped a wrister from the right circle by Blackwood to make 2-0 Canucks.
Toews made it a 2-1 game with 3:24 left in the second when he redirected a shot from Coyle from the slot that snuck by Lankinen.
Less than a minute later, Colorado went on their first power play of the game when Drew O’Connor high-sticked Girard in the mouth behind the Vancouver net. The Avalanche failed to convert, but it wasn’t due to a lack of opportunities. Makar ripped a one-timer that missed wide. The Canucks also nearly snagged a shorthanded goal when Pius Suter’s attempted tip-in clanged off the post.
Third Period
Then 2:02 into the final period, Höglander got away with one when he high-sticked Makar in the lips behind his own net. Meanwhile, Makar shook it off and kept skating. Johnson also got another opportunity when he unleashed a shot from the point, but Lankinen once again made the save.
Makar’s bad luck continued when he blocked a shot where the sun doesn’t shine. The refs immediately called the play dead as Makar made his way slowly to the bench.
Dakota Joshua made it a two-goal advantage for Vancouver when he punched in a rebound. The sequence came together when Marcus Pettersson teed up a slapshot from the point, which Blackwood saved, but the puck tricked away from his pads, and Joshua jumped on the loose puck.
With 10:26 left in the game, Logan O’Connor took exception to a hard check from Elias Petterson and immediately fought the bigger man, connecting with a series of right hands to the head and some hair-pulling before Petterson ultimately took him down to the ice. As a result, both men spent five minutes in the penalty box for fighting.
An empty-net goal from Höglander was the coup de grâce as Colorado fell to the Canucks 4-1.
Takeaways
No one wants to go out a loser in their home finale, but there’s a larger mission ahead: the playoffs. Yes, the Avalanche didn’t do a great job of clearing the puck out of their zone tonight, but overanalyzing a game that means very little in the grand scheme of things, isn’t very productive.
It’s time to finish out the regular season and shoot for another Stanley Cup.
Next Game
The Avalanche (48-28-4) take on Darcy Kuemper and the Los Angeles Kings (44-24-9) on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena. Puck drop is at 2 p.m. local time.