LAS VEGAS — Three weeks ago the Colorado Avalanche were sailing into the stretch run with the look and feel of a potential Stanley Cup champion.
Recently, there have been extreme lurches in different directions, vacillating between dominant and confounding performances from game to game. The Avs went a step further Sunday, putting their newfound Jekyll-and-Hyde persona on display inside the same contest.
For two periods, it looked like the Avs were authoring the type of authoritative outing they needed to shake off an embarrassing one from the day before. In the end, there were only more questions and despair.
One day after getting booed off the ice at Ball Arena, the Avs went to the home of the defending champions Sunday and blew a three-goal lead against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena, losing 4-3 in overtime.
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Avs defenseman Cale Makar said. “We’ve got to just go watch it because … yeah. I don’t know. Tough decisions, and a lot of factors have to go into that.
“Starting the game probably the best we have all year, which is nice. Just can’t seem to figure ways to put it all together right now unfortunately. We’ve got a week to solve the problem.”
Tomas Hertl tipped home a Jack Eichel shot during a 4-on-3 power play in overtime after Josh Manson had been sent to the penalty box with 11 seconds left in regulation. Colorado took a 3-0 lead into the second intermission, but Vegas roared back with a trio of tallies in the third.
Manson took three penalties in the second half of the game, including two in the third. Vegas converted both power plays to help propel the comeback.
“Penalties. That’s what went differently,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “I think we stopped pushing a little bit to try and continue to create offense. Played with a really nice conscience on the defensive side of things, but when you get in a game when the other team makes a push, you’ve got to continue to push back.
“We didn’t push back hard enough, but at the end of the day you can’t take dumb penalties in a tight game. You just can’t. That’s the difference in the hockey game for me.”
Alexandar Georgiev made 17 saves through two periods, including a couple of huge ones to protect the lead late in the second. The defense in front of Georgiev looked significantly better for 40 minutes than it was in a 7-0 dismantling Saturday by the Winnipeg Jets.
Then Ivan Barbashev scored on a wraparound early in the third. And William Karlsson struck on the power play. Karlsson added another off the rush with 3:37 left in regulation. Three goals on seven shots and the lead was gone.
Everything about the team’s performance looked shakier after Vegas finally got on the board.
“I thought he played a good hockey game, but he’s got to come up with a save,” Bednar said. “He’s got to come up with a save if we have a breakdown, on the penalty kill. He’s got to come up with a big save for the guys. They hit a couple posts and scored some goals. We’re going to need a big save from time to time in order to win hockey games like that.”
The point gives Colorado a slim hope of finishing in second place in the Central Division, but it’s overwhelmingly likely the Avs will travel to Winnipeg to start the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs instead of welcoming the Jets back to Denver.
Ross Colton put Colorado on the board 7:26 into the first period. It was a solid team transition maneuver, starting with Makar and Miles Wood.
Makar made it a 2-0 lead a little more than three minutes later. Nathan MacKinnon lost a defender in the right corner with a cutback move and then sent the puck out to the left point for Makar.
It was Makar’s 21st goal of the season, which is second among NHL defensemen. His two points extended his franchise record at the position to 89 and left him two shy of the league lead in that category as well. MacKinnon’s assist was point No. 138, one shy of the franchise record set by Peter Stastny in 1981-82.
Mikko Rantanen, in his second game back from a concussion, scored his 41st goal of the season for the new-look second line to give Colorado a three-goal advantage in the second period.
For two periods, this looked like another “they’ve still got it” performance after some seriously shaky outings in the past month. Colorado is now 3-5-2 in its past 10 games, but how the Avalanche has looked has often felt as important as the result — in both directions.
The only certainty about the Avs right now is they have one game left in the regular season. They’ll likely only play one game in the next six or seven days, so there will be time to work on the issues that continue to plague them.
That championship-caliber team is still in there, but whether or not the Avs can find it in time feels pretty uncertain right now.
“Coming into today, our main thing was we didn’t want to focus on results,” Makar said. “We wanted to play a good game. We started off like that. Guys had confidence and a lot of energy. Yeah, it just seemed like as the game went on …
“I’m not sure if it’s a little bit of nerves or what, or just getting uncomfortable and not following the systems. For us, the results don’t mean anything anymore. We have to make sure we’re dialing in these little things come (next) week.”
