Avalanche rallies from early deficit, defeats Golden Knights in shootout
The new guys continue to be alright for the Colorado Avalanche Jimmy Vesey scored his first goal with the club to help complete a comeback in regulation Tuesday night then Charlie Coyle had the lone tally in the shootout as the Avs defeated the Vegas Golden Knights - at Ball Arena The Avs dominated the puck for much of the final minutes in regulation and had the better chances in overtime but did need to kill a penalty in the final minute of the extra session to reach the shootout Neither of these teams is in any particular danger of sliding in the standings Vegas is almost certain to win the Pacific Division Colorado is a near-lock to finish third in the Central Each association getting a point increased the certainty of both of those outcomes Valeri Nichushkin scored on the power play midway through the second period It took a lengthy review to confirm the goal Vegas goalie Akira Schmid dove to his left and caught Nichushkin s shot but the executives ruled that the puck was across the line in his glove at It was Nichushkin s th goal in games this season Nathan MacKinnon had the primary assist on the goal That moved him back into the outright NHL scoring lead with points this season one more than Tampa Bay s Nikita Kucherov It was also his th career point which matches Joe Sakic for the bulk in franchise history since the club moved to Denver This was MacKinnon s th career championship which is also the same number of games Sakic played for the Avs after the franchise came to Colorado Only Milan Hejduk with has played more for the franchise since the move Vesey tied the tournament late in the second Miles Wood s shot was directed behind the Vegas net but Charlie Coyle fed Vesey for his first goal since arriving in a commerce from the New York Rangers Vegas scored the lone goal of the opening period during one of Colorado s two power plays Cale Makar turned the puck over at the top of the offensive zone He and Valeri Nichushkin were able to get back and make the Vegas rush a -on- but William Karlsson fired a shot from the right circle over Scott Wedgewood s right shoulder at for a - lead Related Articles Nathan MacKinnon ties Joe Sakic for Denver-based Avalanche scoring record Improved goaltending defensive effort have made Avalanche blowout-proof Jared Bednar doesn t rule out AHL match s for Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog Avalanche Journal Sizing up Colorado s competition for end-of-season awards Avalanche not concerned with blown leads Like a blessing in disguise The Golden Knights took a two-goal lead just seconds into the second when Brayden McNabb s shot from the left point through traffic beat Wedgewood to the far side At that point the shots on goal were - in favor of Vegas It was all Colorado the rest of the middle period The Avs had a - advantage in shots on net after the second Vegas goal Both teams were shorthanded in this contest The Avs were missing five regulars conjuring memories of their early-season injury woes Martin Necas Jonathan Drouin Samuel Girard and Josh Manson have been out but Ross Colton joined them Chris Wagner was called up from the Eagles to replace Colton in the lineup The Golden Knights were missing their top two centers Jack Eichel and Tomas Hertl their No defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and started the No goaltender Schmid Want more Avalanche news Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis
