In Denver, a routine game between the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators turned into a track meet in the third period with the Avs scoring four times for a 7-4 win over the Senators, on Monday night.
Trailing 4-5 in the third period, Mikko Rantanen struck for a power-play goal to tie the game, 5-5.
Alex Newhook hit for the go-ahead goal with 93 seconds left in regulation for the 6-5 lead, and Nazem Kadri added an empty-net goal for the 7-5 final.
“It feels great,” Kadri said. “I’m dishing and they’re scoring. When I’m playing with the guys I’m playing with on this team, it makes it a whole lot easier.”
Darcy Kuemper allowed made 15 saves in the Avs win.
Kuemper left the game for a skate repair, and Jonas Johansson made a save in his absence.
“Well, it feels good and I’ll take it,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said. “I’m more excited about getting the two points tonight on a night when we didn’t play very well. I’d rather learn lessons while we’re grabbing points than have them after losses. You identify things you need to be better at.”
Zach Sanford s hit for hat trick for Ottawa.
“Coming off a week off of games and playing a team like that who’s fast and physical is a challenge,” Sanford said. “We had our legs, we had that intensity, we kept coming back, kept tying the game.”
Colorado improved to 9-5-1.
The Avs outshot the Senators, 19-4, in the middle frame.
“The shots were pretty outnumbered,” Sanford said. “We played a pretty solid game, we took care of the puck. We stuck with it and kept battling back to stay in it. They’re a good team and we kind of gave them a couple of breaks there towards the end.”
Josh Norris and Artem Zub had single markers for the Senators.
“A lot of good battles, a lot of really poor decisions with the game on the line,” Senators head coach D.J. Smith said. “It’s an unacceptable loss. We talked about not having excuses. We give up the winning goal with 1:33 to go, 100 percent on us.”
Cale Makar struck twice for the Avs in the win.
Ottawa dropped to 4-11-1.
Valeri Nichushkin and Devon Toews also scored for the Avs.
“A great feeling,” Newhook said. “Any time you can do that and put your team up late in the game it’s exciting. It wasn’t the prettiest win for us, but we got it done and it’s a big win for us.”
Filip Gustavsson made 33 saves in the loss for the Sens.
You must be logged in to post a comment.