Avalanche refuse to fold, forcing Game 7: 'Our best game in the series'

SEATTLE — The Avalanche could have folded after the overturned goal. Or after conceding the lead for the sixth time in six games this series. Or after committing a penalty down a goal late in the first.

But Colorado hasn’t backed away from challenges all season. Through injuries, a lackluster record at the midway point and a jam-packed schedule, they pushed through. So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Jared Bednar’s team refused to relent when facing elimination.

“During the regular season, January, February, there were moments where you could turn a blind eye to the season,” veteran Andrew Cogliano said after the team’s 4-1 win in Game 6. “And we didn’t. We kept pushing, won the division. Tonight was no different.” 

Added Erik Johnson: “We played our best game in the series, and we were rewarded for it.”

The defending Stanley Cup champs are alive, and they’re coming back to Denver for a Game 7.

Colorado might’ve been favored entering Game 6, but there were reasons for concern, not all of which have gone away with one win. The team had to remain focused as news broke this week about a police report that named Valeri Nichushkin, who is away from the team for personal reasons. On top of that, Colorado is still banged up, with Josh Manson joining Gabriel Landeskog and Darren Helm in the team’s always-present group of injured players. And, perhaps most importantly, Colorado wasn’t playing well. Devon Toews said the team was disconnected in Game 5, and after the game Bednar described his team’s confidence level as low.

None of that was apparent when the puck dropped in Seattle.

Colorado put together its best opening period of the series. With Cale Makar, back from a one-game suspension, hearing boos every time he touched the puck, the top line and defensive pairing held the offensive zone for the first minute of the game.

“It was the first good start (to a game) for the series,” Andrew Cogliano said.

The Avalanche even appeared to score first when Bowen Byram ripped a pass past Philipp Grubauer with 5:29 left in the period. But Seattle challenged, saying the play was offside, and officials ruled Evan Rodrigues skated into the offensive zone early on his entry. It was another bad break for Byram, who has proven to have a dynamic presence in postseason games but has yet to score a playoff goal. He’s hit iron multiple times since the start of the 2022 playoffs, including a crossbar in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. Now he has an overturned goal to his name, too.

The goal would have been a big one for the Avalanche, who have yet to score first in a playoff game since Game 3 against Tampa Bay last summer. It also would have been Colorado’s first goal of the series that wasn’t scored or assisted by the team’s top two forwards (Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen) and top defensemen (Makar and Toews). Instead, it was wiped off the board, much to the delight of a Seattle crowd ready to explode.

“We just stayed with it,” Bednar said.

A minute later, the home fans had even more reason to cheer. Rodrigues misplayed a Samuel Girard pass out of the defensive zone, leading to a Kraken opportunity the other way. Tye Kartye got a shot off, and Alexandar Georgiev allowed a rebound. Erik Johnson tried to swat the puck away, but it went right to Vince Dunn. The Seattle defenseman, who has enjoyed a breakout season, flung it into the Colorado net.

But the Avalanche pushed through. As Cogliano said, they had no choice if they wanted the season to continue.

First, Colorado killed a Denis Malgin penalty. Then, with half a minute left in the period and Colorado’s top players on the ice, Nathan MacKinnon burst into the offensive zone, drawing defenders with him. He found Devon Toews in the high-slot, and the defenseman one-timed a puck on net. Philipp Grubauer couldn’t make the save. Rodrigues, who had been involved in both the overturned goal and the goal against, found the puck on his stick. He made a savvy play, tapping the puck to Rantanen, who batted it into the vacated net.

“We still would have been mentally fine if we would have been down, but obviously it was a big goal to end the period,” Rantanen said postgame. “Guys made good plays on the entry and found me backdoor.”

So instead of heading to intermission in a hole, Colorado was even.

“Keep going,” Bednar told his players at the break, as Johnson recounted postgame. “That was one of our best periods of the series. Keep playing like that and you’ll get rewarded.”

Colorado’s top players were on the ice for the team’s go-ahead tally in the second period, but the actual goal couldn’t have come from a more unlikely source: Johnson. In the regular season, the veteran defenseman led the NHL in shots among players with zero goals. His 98 shots were far ahead of second-place Patrik Nemeth, who had 62.

But Johnson wasn’t thinking about that as skated onto the ice midway through the period. Artturi Lehkonen and Nathan MacKinnon worked together to win a puck battle — “Basically Nate was against like three guys,” Lehkonen said — and the puck wound up on Mikko Rantanen’s stick. The star found Johnson, who shot a puck that bounced off Eeli Tolvanen’s stick and found its way past Grubauer.

MacKinnon, who was screening the Seattle goalie, immediately pointed to Johnson, indicating it was his goal. A pregame premonition from backup goalie Pavel Francouz had, in part, come true.

“Frankie told me before the game I was going to have a hat trick,” Johnson said. “He was mad at me after the game that I only had one.”

Johnson was initially going to be healthy scratched in Game 1 before Jack Johnson suffered an injury in warm-ups, forcing him into the lineup. That was a distant memory Friday as he had what stood as the game-winning goal.

“That was once a thing I was a little more known for,” said Johnson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 draft. “Not so much anymore, but to help the team any way, chip in a goal, feels good.”

And the forwards put together a play exactly like Bednar was looking for in Game 5: one with a second- and third-effort and determination to keep a play alive. It’s the type of play teams have to make to win in the playoffs, Bednar said.

“The game, it demands more come this time of the year,” the coach said. “There were times in the series we just didn’t give more, and we didn’t win. … We just looked so much quicker. I couldn’t recognize the team we were (earlier in the series).”

Colorado continued its push following Johnson’s goal. Late in the period, Toews shot a puck that Lehkonen tipped in, extending the lead to two. Shortly after, Jordan Eberle checked Andrew Cogliano headfirst into the boards. Bednar wished the officials had called the play a five-minute major, which would have allowed them to review the footage and deem if it should be reduced to a two-minute penalty. But the officials announced it as a minor penalty, much to the chagrin of MacKinnon.

“Two minutes?!” the star center asked, as caught on the referee’s microphone.

The Avalanche didn’t capitalize on the power play, so they entered the third with a two-goal lead. That hasn’t been safe for the team lately: In five of the last eleven regular season games, the Avalanche blew two-goal leads, then had to break the tie late to win.

Georgiev made sure that didn’t happen again in Game 6. He made a big save early in the third, stoning Jaden Schwartz on the doorstep. The goalie continued to keep the Kraken off the board for the rest of the period, helping the team kill a penalty and making another save on Schwartz with Seattle’s goalie pulled for an empty attacker. Bednar described his goalie as sharp and credited him with keeping the Avalanche in games throughout the series. He liked the skaters’ game in front of him: “We didn’t make him have to be great,” he said. They limited chances, and Georgiev finished with 22 saves.

Going into Game 6, the team had a meeting Thursday night that Bednar found beneficial, and the staff met with players again Friday morning. The coach sensed that his team felt rejuvenated.

“I give a lot of credit to our guys in the room for letting that last game go,” Bednar said. “It’s a big game, and this team has shown up in big games all year long.”

The Avalanche have an even bigger one coming up: their first winner-take-all game since the 2020 playoffs against Dallas.

“Those are the games you pretend you’re playing when you’re a kid,” Johnson said. “Those are fun atmospheres.”

The Avalanche might not win this series. They have what will certainly be a difficult Game 7 against the stingy Kraken. But the team’s players showed mental toughness: an ability to push back when things weren’t going their way. That says something about them, and it kept their season alive Friday.