Colorado lets early lead slip away at Wild
ST. PAUL , MINN . » Road weariness may have struck at the worst possible time for the Avalanche here Saturday night.
Playing their second game in their second arena in a second time zone in less than 24 hours, the Avs saw an early lead slip away in a 32 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
The Avs had arrived in Minnesota about 3 a.m. local time Saturday but didn’t look rusty from the journey in the opening two periods. They took an early lead on a Mark Barberio goal but saw the advantage slip away as Mikael Granlund scored the tying goal in the second period and set up Eric Staal’s powerplay winner in the third.
“I’ve got to give our guys credit. Loved our effort, great first period. Fiveonfive, I thought we were really good,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “To me, it’s tough scheduling for us coming in here. They’re rested; we’re coming in after a hardfought emotional game last night that we had to scratch and claw to get back on top and win.”
Wild defender Jonas Brodin added a lengthoftherink, shorthanded, emptynet goal on a late power play, but Gabe Landeskog got one back on a scramble in front of the Wild net with 41.1 seconds left as the Avs lost in regulation for just the third time this season. It was the teamleading 10th goal of the season for Landeskog.
Barberio, playing in just his third game of the season, opened the scoring with a seeingeye wrist shot from the top of the right circle that found its way through a crowd in front of Devan Dubnyk and hit the back of the net before the goalie could react.
“Honestly we only care about the two points,” Barberio said. “I’m not a goal scorer, so if they come, great, but at the end of the day, this is a rival team in the same division. We had a chance to separate ourselves from them, and now they’re closer to us in the standings, so that’s all that matters.”
The Avs were without center Tyson Jost for the first time this season after he suffered a head injury in Friday’s home win over Ottawa. Gabriel Bourque, who had been a healthy scratch Friday, was back in the lineup to take Jost’s place Saturday.
Semyon Valamov finished with 25 saves for the Avs, while Dubnyk turned aside 30 Colorado shots for the Wild. After netting a pair of powerplay goals in Friday’s 63 home win over Ottawa, the Avs were 0for6 with the man advantage Saturday.