Landeskog leads Avs past Ducks
Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog, just after failing to convert on a 2-on-1 rush, retrieved his own rebound, skated around the net and used a wrap-around shot to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Friday night at Honda Center.
Landeskog’s goal came 1:38 into overtime as Colorado improved to 2-1 on its four-game trip that concludes Sunday against Anaheim.
Avalanche rookie defenseman Bo Byram, 19, played a significant role in his second career NHL game. In the first period, Byram helped save a goal when the puck sneaked past goalie Philipp Grubauer near the goalline. And in the third, he made an impressive back-door pass to Mikko Rantanen, who tapped it in to give Colorado a 2-1 lead at 6:20.
That lead didn’t last long. The
Ducks’ Adam Henrique capped a 2-on-1 with Danton Heinen with a one-time shot over Grubauer’s shoulder at 7:42. Avs defenseman Ryan Graves was caught behind the play and Heinen, the former University of Denver standout, began a nice rush play with Henrique.
Shortly after the rush play, Colorado was given a penalty shot after an Anaheim player covered the puck with his hand in the
Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf works between Avs forwards Gabe Landeskog, left, and Valeri Nichushkin.
Ducks’ crease. But goalie John Gibson stoned MacKinnon on his forehand shot.
Colorado led 1-0 after the first period and it was tied 1-1 after two.
The Avs started strong, drawing a penalty 59 seconds into the game and scoring on the ensuing power play. Rantanen split two defenders and one of them, Hampus Lindholm, hooked him on the breakaway for the game’s first infraction.
The first power-play unit couldn’t get a puck past Gibson but the second unit did. Joonas Donskoi took a circle-to-circle pass from Sam Girard and his shot caromed in off the right post and the Avs led 1-0 — the fifth consecutive game they have 3 2 scored first.
Anaheim answered in the first minute of the second period when Lindholm beat Grubauer, who had the puck carom in off his glove.
Colorado mustered just three shots in the second period, part
ly because it had to kill two penalties during a stretch the Ducks had a 5-on-3 advantage.
The Ducks and Avs will meet on Sunday night to conclude their two-game series.
Footnotes. Graves appeared in his 100th NHL game. … The Avs recalled rookie forward Martin Kaut, 21, and the 2018 first-round draft pick (16th overall) played right wing on the fourth line. In a related move, Colorado reassigned defenseman Conor Timmins to the taxi squad to remain cap-compliant. The Avs are now just $583,126 under the $81.5 million salary cap. … MacKinnon extended his consecutive games with a shot to 225, second in club history behind Joe Sakic’s run of 227 from 1995-99.