Recap: Avalanche steal 3-2 win from Hurricanes in overtime

2 years ago  /  Mile High Hockey

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images


It only took the 15th shot on goal to bring home the victory. To begin a three-game road trip the Colorado Avalanche travelled to visit the Carolina Hurricanes in a rematch of last weekend’s win. The result was similar as the Avalanche pulled out a 3-2 win this time but needed overtime and overcame much more adversity to earn the two points this time.
The Game
The start of this game looked a lot like the previous one against Carolina with the Avalanche just hoping to withstand the Hurricanes’ forecheck pressure. Despite having to kill two penalties the Avalanche held Carolina off the board in the first frame.
Despite only generating five shots on goal Evan Rodrigues for the visitors put up the game’s first score at 7:20 as the Avalanche converted on their own power play. After nearly wasting the entirety of the advantage getting picked off it was Rodrigues’ turn around shot which found the back of the net.
Some physical play ensued as Sebastian Aho delivered a big hit on Alex Newhook and then Martin Kaut returned the favor next shift on Aho. Newhook was able to generate one of those five shots on goal so the talk with Bednar on how to be more effective seemed to help.

For the second period the teams traded goals scored off of faceoffs. Carolina got on the board from Aho to start at 7:14 with a scramble and missed coverage right off of a faceoff. But the Avalanche still had something to say about it as Newhook continued the energetic play from earlier and executed a great set play off of their own faceoff to get a breakaway, put a move on Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta and deposit the puck into the net at 14:20. Despite a late second period 4-on-3 for Colorado the score remained at 2-1 in their favor after 40 minutes of play.
The third period was shaping up to lead to a similar result as the game last Saturday but the Avalanche couldn’t get that third insurance goal on their power play. Still, they had a chance to close this one out in regulation but a bizarre play where Andreas Englund ran into Pavel Francouz behind the net while he was trying to play the puck and knocked the netminder’s stick away led to Martin Necas tying the game at 10:23.
After that the Avalanche didn’t generate a single shot on goal and then Newhook took a penalty with about two minutes remaining. Somehow the penalty kill and Francouz stood tall and earned Colorado a point as the game went into overtime. From there all it took was Artturi Lehkonen hitting the ice at 1:55 and one-timing a feed from JT Compher to put the Avalanche on top for a 3-2 victory that even NHL.com couldn’t fathom.


Sick app @NHL lol #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/sMSUIj6RkK— Adrian Hernandez (@AdoHernandez27) November 18, 2022



Takeaways
This was another strange affair as a clash of styles saw the Avalanche get outshot 48-15 and held to only 22 shot attempts at 5-on-5, which was actually an improvement over the 18 from the previous meeting. This time the Hurricanes didn’t get as many shots blocked and both teams’ penalty kill units did well which contributed to the shot disparity but again the Avalanche couldn’t get much sustained pressure in the offensive zone. Part of the reason is the injuries on defense which is making breaking the puck out under duress nearly impossible but also a strategy to combat the Hurricanes’ style with the personnel on hand. It was a gritty effort to grind out another win against a good team under such conditions but also a concern that the Avalanche are still having difficulties getting much going at 5-on-5.
Despite the late penalty Alex Newhook really did play one of his best games with much better jump and impact on the play offensively. It was a good night for his line all around with Martin Kaut making some good plays on both sides of the puck, too. Hopefully the goal builds some confidence for Newhook as well.
Pavel Francouz was excellent again as well. The 46 saves will always stand out but he was calm and composed in the net and was clearly frustrating Carolina at points. A great two games for Francouz against the Hurricanes to build off of as he looks to get more playing time with the schedule getting busier.
Upcoming
A reunion with Darcy Kuemper and Nicolas Aube-Kubel at the Washington Capitals is on Saturday, November 19 at 5 p.m. MT. ...

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