The Avalanche faced its first real adversity of a young NHL season Thursday night with a second-period home deficit against the Boston Bruins.
Colorado’s response proved why many believe this team has the DNA of a Stanley Cup contender.
The Avs defeated the Bruins 4-2 at the Pepsi Center to remain perfect for the season and handed Boston (2-1-0) its first loss. Second-line winger Andre Burakovsky played the role of Avalanche hero with a spin and deep wrister past Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak with seven minutes left in the game to go ahead. It marked Burakovsky’s first goal with the Avs since he signed with the team this offseason.
“Obviously, it felt great,” Burakovsky said. “You never know when you’re going to score in this league. It’s tough to get the goals. Sometimes you’re just lucky. I just shot at the net and got hit at the same time it went in.”
Captain Gabe Landeskog added an open-net goal late in the third. Colorado (3-0) challenged two Boston goals and had both reversed due to penalties (goalie interference and an offside). The Avs also managed to overcome 13 giveaways in an often sloppy game by both teams. Goalie Philipp Grubauer recorded 37 saves and allowed no goals in the second and third periods. Colorado, meanwhile, has now scored in nine consecutive periods to begin the year.
“We had a handful of guys that played really well tonight, and our goalie saved our bacon a couple of times,” coach Jared Bednar said. “There were portions of our game I really liked.”
The Bruins established an early lead midway through the first period with their top line — Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak — making quick work of Colorado’s most physical defensive pairing of Nikita Zadorov and Erik Johnson. Marchand stole the puck from Zadorov deep in the Colorado zone, fed a wide-open Pastrnak in front of the net, and he snuck a wrister past Grubauer’s right leg pad.
Boston bolstered its advantage minutes later when 42-year-old defenseman Zdeno Chara rifled a slap shot from near the blue line through traffic in front of the net. The puck deflected off forward Gabe Landeskog and found its way past Grubauer again. The Bruins’ 2-0 advantage, though, was short-lived.
Colorado went on the power play with time winding down before the first intermission with Landeskog leading the odd-man rush. And when his shot rang off the left post, center Nathan MacKinnon cleaned up the miss for his first goal this season. Boston scored again just two minutes into the second, but it was waved off for goalie interference, and the Avalanche kept momentum on its side by killing an ensuing Bruins power-play chance.
Colorado proceeded to flex its depth midway through the second when fourth-line center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare found the back of the net from the crease, with forward Matt Calvert providing the perfect entry pass off a forced turnover, tying the game at 2-2 entering the third. The Avs erased another Boston power-play chance thanks to an offside reversal of forward Jake DeBrusk’s go-ahead goal.
The Avs will complete a four-game homestand against the Coyotes at 7 p.m Saturday.
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