CALGARY — Dan Vladar appeared to be having the best night of his career as an NHL goalie during the initial 24 minutes on Tuesday.
Then the Colorado Avalanche unleashed a rapid and intense 16-minute period of offense that would have embarrassed most NHL goaltenders. Mikko Rantanen had two goals and two assists, including three points in a five-goal second period, to help the Avs overpower the Calgary Flames, 6-2, at Scotiabank Saddledome.
Vladar stopped 23 of the first 24 shots he faced, but the issue for Calgary is there was still over 36 minutes remaining at that point. Allowing a shot per minute is not an ideal strategy against any team, and eventually the Avs were able to break through.
The end result was one of the best periods the Avs have played this season.
“Yeah, I think so,” Rantanen said. “We were moving quickly, playing effectively in the offensive zone. We were also defending well. We forced them to make mistakes in the neutral zone and we were always swift in transitioning in the opposite direction. When we play like that, it's tougher for teams to compete against us.”
Josh Manson’s shot deflected off Flames forward Jonathan Huberdeau on its way in at 4:50. Nathan MacKinnon’s impressive one-timer over Vladar’s far shoulder followed just 58 seconds later.
Valeri Nichushkin scored 2:03 after that with a strong wrist shot off the left post and in. Casey Mittelstadt scored his first goal with the Avs at 14:10 through a perfectly executed breakout play. Rantanen capped off the surge with a shot from nearly the same angle as MacKinnon’s just moments after Cale Makar struck the post with his shot.
The end result was five goals from 11 shots on goal before the Flames mercifully allowed Vladar to take the rest of the third period off. MacKinnon, Nichushkin, and Devon Toews all contributed two points. Brandon Duhaime earned his first point on Mittelstadt’s goal.
“It’s a good question. I’d have to go back and look, honestly,” Mittelstadt said when asked about the last time he scored a goal from a breakout play like that. “Heck of a play by those guys, though, (Toews) and (Duhaime). (Duhaime) made it pretty easy for me.”
Nichushkin scored the winning goal in his first game back, and set up the opening goal on Tuesday night after quickly being moved to the top power-play unit in his second game. Nichushkin grabbed the rebound of a MacKinnon shot from the left side and then passed across the top of the crease to Rantanen for an easy score 2:05 into the first period.
The assist for MacKinnon was his 112th point of the season, reaching a new career peak. He’s at 113, the most by an Avs player since Joe Sakic had 118 in 2000-01, with 16 games to play. The franchise record is 139, set by Peter Stastny in 1981-82. Sakic currently holds the Colorado record, with 120 points in 1995-96.
Calgary scored twice in its first three shots, but that turned out to be a brief setback for backup goaltender Justus Annunen. This marked his fifth consecutive strong performance and further supported the idea that perhaps Colorado didn’t need to acquire a veteran option in net before the deadline.
Annunen had two consecutive games without allowing any goals before this one, and has now given up four goals in his last four games. The Avs have now won four games in a row, scoring 20 goals and allowing only 5 in the process. They will play against the top team in the Western Conference on Wednesday night in Vancouver.
“I thought we had a good start tonight, which should be expected,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We had a couple of days to practice. We were shooting the puck early and had an aggressive mentality.
“We kept shooting the puck and going to the net. The big players had a good night. I thought all the new players had a good night. We were able to take the lead without using too many players. That’s a good thing going into the back-to-back.”
Footnotes: Artturi Lehkonen (illness) did not play. Zach Parise (lower body) participated in the morning skate in a red no-contact jersey and also was not in the lineup.
