In Ottawa, the senators blew a 4-2 lead n the middle frame on Tuesday night to the Colorado Avalanche. 
The Avs scored once in the second to trim the deficit to 4-3 headed to third, and then struck four times in the third period for a 7-4 win.
Justus Annunen made 36 saves for the win in his first match of the season. He was called up from the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League on Sunday.
“I got more confidence [as the game went on],” Annunen said. “There were a couple of goals that I didn’t like, but the game is a lot different up here, so I had to get used to the tempo. The shots are a lot better.”
The Avs improved to 28-13-3.
“We weren’t great going through the first 20 minutes, 40 minutes,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “We were giving up too much, looking like we were lacking some energy, for sure. We had bursts offensively, but when you’re a little tired, you’re kind of getting a little complacent, loose defensively, you know? It just takes a lot of effort to try and get the legs going and defend, so we were giving up too much. We knew if we just could amp it up just a little bit more, we were in a game and we could give ourselves a chance. We scored some timely goals.”
The Senators took a 1-0 lead in the opening stanza on a power play marker from Drake Batherson at 9:29.
“It’s never really a 60-minute effort,” Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk said. “I think we let off the gas; we have previously. We just need to find a way to just put in a consistent 60-minute effort and make life a little bit easier for our goalies.”
Colorado replied with a strike by Mikko Rantanen at 10:07 of the first to knot the game, 1-1.
Ottawa dropped to 15-24-0), which is 1-6-0 in its past seven games.
“I definitely think part of it is mental,” Senators coach Jacques Martin said. “You know, you’ve got to build some resistance; you’ve got to build some mechanism that when you face adversity it brings the best out of you instead of folding.”
Ridly Greig scored the first of a double for the Senators at 1:21 of the middle frame to give the Sens a 2-1 lad.
Colorado responded with a marker from Jason Polin, his first career NHL goal, at 2:27 of the second for a 2-2 tie.
“I’ll tell you what, he’s really paid attention to his checking details and making sure he’s a better 200-foot player than he was in college (at Western Michigan University),” Bednar said of Polin.
The Senators then struck for a pair of goals to seemingly take control of the game at 4-2.
Greig collected his double at 7:21 of the second for a 3-2 advantage.
“I think my game’s coming along, slowly,” Greig said. “My offensive game and instincts are building and I’m just learning every day.”
Jake Sanderson pushed the lead to 4-2 at 11:04.
Colorado tightened the game when Rantanen connected for his own double at 16:18 to make it 4-3 headed to the third.
In the final frame, the Avalanche were relentless n wresting control from the Senators.
The Avs’ Miles Wood scored four minutes into the frame for a 4-4 tie.
“I think we just need a better effort from some people,” Martin said. “We need more determination. Like, I look at the fourth goal and it’s a lack of determination and a lack of commitment. To me, when you’re ahead and you’re protecting the lead, you need to have some urgency in your game.”
Sam Malinski gave the Avs the lead, 5-4, at 8:14 off a power play.
“Huge goal, right?” Bednar asked. “The top power play unit was up and down the ice a little bit, [the second unit] gets out, they hadn’t been seeing a bunch of time, but they’d been working hard in practice, they move it around nicely for a chance or two and then Sam finds the back of the net. That was a huge goal. Good perseverance by Sam getting the one called back by about an inch at the [blue] line.”
Logan O’Connor then extended the advantage to 6-4 at 12:24.
“On a back-to-back, going against a fresh team, that’s sort of what you need to do,” O’Connor said. “Have everyone pulling on the reins, have everyone contributing in different ways. I thought Justus was also huge for us when we needed him. He made a lot of key stops and gave us the opportunity to come back there in the third.”
Devon Toews hit an empty net at 15:16 for the 7-4 final count on the scoreboard. .
Mads Sogaard made 27 saves in the loss, it was his first match of the season as well.
“It’s a high-tempo game back and forth and there’s some good chances at both ends,” Sogaard said. “But six goals on my end is too many, and that’s something that I’m going to work on and try to be better for these guys.”
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