It was a game, defenseman Erik Johnson said, that the old Avalanche “would have probably found a way to lose.” But the 2013-14 version of the Avalanche found a way to hang on to a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks in front of a large, buoyant Pepsi Center crowd Saturday afternoon.
The first half of the season is officially in the books, and the formerly woeful Avs officially are in the playoff picture in the NHL’s Western Conference after their 26th win. The renaissance under coach Patrick Roy continued despite his team nearly blowing a 4-0, second-period lead.
In the end, Avs goalie Semyon Varlamov sent happy fans out to icy Denver streets with two huge saves against San Jose forwards Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns.
“Even when it was 4-0, I was trying to say, ‘This game is far from over.’ That kind of rang true when you watched the rest of the game play out,” Johnson said. “When you play San Jose, they’re never out of a game. But I think that game is the type of game we’re learning how to close out.”
The Avalanche received two goals from rookie Nathan Mac- Kinnon. Johnson and Jamie McGinn also scored as the Avs improved their record to 3-0-1 on this seven-game homestand.
Just like in a game last month at San Jose, the Avs had a 4-3 lead with the clock down to the waning ticks. But this time, they kept the lead. Things looked dire, though, when Pavelski — a noted Avs killer over the years — slipped in behind Colorado’s penalty-killing unit for a pure breakaway on Varlamov.
“I got a puck and shot 5-hole. I never shoot a 5-hole. I saw a lot of openings and for whatever reason, that is where it just went,” Pavelski said.
San Jose was on the power play — after Jan Hejda’s interference penalty with 4:02 left — when Pavelski broke in. Varla- mov not only stoned Pavelski’s bid to score, he was in position for Burns’ follow-up shot from the left side. From there, the Avs did a good job killing the rest of the clock for a win that left them only two points behind San Jose in the Western Conference standings.
“Those were obviously huge saves by Varly there at the end,” said the Avs’ Max Talbot.
Roy said his team “played an outstanding first half of the game” before getting into some shenanigans with the Sharks, starting with the faceoff right after MacKinnon whistled a wrist shot in off the far post off the rush down the right side to make it 4-0 at 5:59 of the second.
The Avs were upset San Jose’s Andrew Desjardins wasn’t assessed a penalty for spearing against John Mitchell before the faceoff, which under NHL rulebook item 62.3 would have meant a 5-minute major and game-misconduct. Desjardins clearly jabbed his stick into the crotch area of Mitchell, which caused Mitchell to wince in pain and set off a lot of bad blood from there. San Jose capitalized on a couple of subsequent Avs penalties to cut it to 4-2 after two periods, then made it 4-3 on a Logan Couture goal with 14:16 left.
But the Avs worked hard to keep the chances to a minimum against Varlamov —save for the lapse on the PK at the end.
“After the non-spearing call, we kind of lost our focus for a bit,” Roy said. “But it’s a team concept here. Everybody is pushing hard, everybody wants to make the playoffs. The way we’re playing in this stretch, we’re giving ourselves a chance right now. There’s a long way to go, and the second half will be another good challenge for us. But I’m very happy with our team.”
Avs Recap
THE POST’S THREE STARS
1. Nathan MacKinnon. Avs center recorded his first two-goal game, including the game-winner in the second period, to take the NHL rookie scoring lead.
2. Patrick Marleau. Ageless Sharks veteran had a goal and two assists.
3. Semyon Varlamov. Avs goalie made two huge saves at the end to preserve the win.
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
The Avs scored three goals 1:06 apart, the fastest three since March 8, 2004 (51 seconds at Vancouver).
UP NEXT
Calgary, Monday at 7 p.m.
Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
