Landeskog’s return not enough for Avs vs. Panthers
Bobrovsky has 30 saves for unbeaten Florida
SUNRISE, Fla. — The Avalanche was 0-2 without left wing and team captain Gabe Landeskog. In his return from suspension on Thursday night, Colorado played much better against a very good team but saw its losing streak climb to three games.
The Avs, whose longest regular-season losing streak last season was three games, fell 4-1 to the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena. In an evenly played game, the Panthers got a little better goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky (30 saves) than the Avs got from Jonas Johansson (34), the latter of whom was seeing his first action of the young season.
“He made some big stops at key times,” Landeskog said of Bobrovsky. “I thought we created enough scoring chances, honestly.”
Center Anton Lundell led the Panthers (4-0) with two points, including an empty-net goal with 1:03 left in regulation.
The road only gets more difficult. Stanley Cup preseason favorite Colorado (1-3) concludes its three-game road trip on Saturday at Tampa Bay, the two-time defending Cup champion.
“We got 78 games left, right? A lot of hockey,” Landeskog said of the 1-3 start. “Start with one — and obviously playing another tough opponent in a couple days. There’s no secret formula. We got to work. That’s what we’re doing, and that’s what we’re trying to do. But we’re not a very connected group at times, which is something we got to get better at. We got to fix it, obviously, and it’s a good chance to do it on Saturday.”
The Avalanche started strong and outshot the Panthers 11-6 in the first period. The teams traded goals and it stood 1-1 after 20 minutes. But Florida got the better of the Avs in the second period, despite Colorado possessing the puck more in the offensive zone. Forwards Sam Bennett (power play) and Carter Verhaeghe beat Johansson at 9:04 and 19:13, and it stood 3-1 Panthers after 40 minutes despite the Avalanche playing a solid game.
“Second period we created some really good scoring chances, both 5-on-4 and at even-strength and we didn’t capitalize on them. In fact, we missed the net on a handful of our best ones,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “They were disruptive and hard, long with their sticks, but we got into some really good scoring areas and we didn’t capitalize on any of them. So definitely a step in the right direction but still wasn’t good enough to win a hockey game.”
Mikko Rantanen scored Colorado’s goal late in the first period and he was in the penalty box for Bennett’s goal — penalized for interference on Bobrovsky, who was trying to pokecheck a loose puck in front of the crease.
“Overall, the feeling of my game was good,” Johansson said.