Avs score 4 in 2nd, give up 5 in 3rd

CA LG A RY, A LB E RTA » Time off during the NHL season is nice, but there’s no question it can affect a team in detrimental ways.

Case in point: the Avalanche on Thursday night.

As befitting a team that hadn’t played in four days, the Avalanche took some time to warm up to the challenge in the form of the Calgary Flames. At one point, the Avs sizzled. But in the end, they were badly burned.

Despite scoring four times in the second period, Colorado allowed five goals in the third period and lost to the Flames 65 at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The Avs now head to Vancouver for the second half of a backtoback set Friday night.

“It was a backandforth game. We knew that they came back in some of their previous games on the road. We were trying to get ready to go and they wouldn’t stop. We couldn’t stop the bleeding, and it’s unfortunate,” said Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon.

The early part of Thursday’s first period saw few good chances at either end, with play in the neutral zone dominating. But the second 10minute segment was highlighted by some stellar netminding, in particular on the part of Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov, who showed catlike quickness on more than one occasion.

Varlamov came into the game sporting the top save percentage in the NHL (.950), and he did his best to keep the Avs in the game. The Flames outshot the flat footed Avs 134 in the first frame.

It didn’t take the Avs long to figure out that a better effort was required. At the 3:22 mark of the second period, with just nine seconds left on a Calgary power play, center Vladislav Kamenev skated down the left side and took a long shot that eluded Calgary netminder Mike Smith. It was Kamenev’s first NHL goal.

Less than two minutes later, after a frantic goalmouth scramble, rookie Sheldon Dries made it 20 for Colorado on just the team’s eighth shot of the game.

And the goals continued to come. Standing unimpeded in the slot, Mikael Backlund accepted a behindthenet feed from Matthew Tkachuk and slotted it past Varlamov, who had little chance.

The Avs’ speed created their next scoring play, turning a dumpin into a twoonone, Dries finding Colin Wilson at Smith’s doorstep for the club’s third goal.

Colorado made it a threegoal lead at the 16:41 mark, Carl Soderberg taking a long shot that trickled in under Smith.

Frustration mounted for the Flames. Just a dozen seconds after that goal, Sam Bennett took exception to an openice hit by Ian Cole on Mark Jankowski, and the two dropped their gloves.

But whatever the Avs had going in the second period seemed to dissipate in the third. Early on, with Calgary still on the power play from the secondperiod melee, Elias Lindholm scored on a shot from the point to make it 42.

Then, at 5:21, Sean Monahan’s sixth goal of the season made it a onegoal deficit and collars were tight. Five minutes later, a giveaway in the Colorado end resulted in a James Neal tally and, quick as a wink, the game was tied.

Taking advantage of a truly demoralized Avalanche squad, Calgary captain Mark Giordano put the Flames ahead 54 — and yet another gift in the Avs’ zone led to Michael Frolik’s apparent clincher. But a powerplay goal from Gabe Landeskog in the final minute made Frolik’s goal the eventual winner.