Avalanche defeat Panthers to complete regular season sweep
The Colorado Avalanche scored three straight goals Monday night to beat the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers 3-1.
The Avs played a dominant first period with an 11-4 shot differential at intermission, but were unable to land on the scoresheet. Despite their disciplined defensive play, a neutral zone mishap from Josh Manson and Casey Mittelstadt late in the period allowed Florida’s Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell to combine for Verhaeghe’s 10th goal of the season.
The Avs generated dangerous scoring chances in the second period, with a shot off the post from Cale Makar and another off the crossbar from Nathan MacKinnon. With 1:42 left in the period, Devon Toews scored off a wrist shot from the high slot assisted by Mittelstadt.
The third period featured another goal from Toews (assisted by Ross Colton and Juuso Parssinen), putting him at three goals in his last five games. With little less than two minutes remaining in the game, Mikko Rantanen fired the puck 190 feet down the ice to score on an empty net for his fifth goal in as many games.
After a slow start to the season due to defensive struggles and inconsistent goaltending, the Avalanche now have Mackenzie Blackwood at goalie, who is putting them solidly in cup contention. Blackwood, who was already putting up impressive numbers in San Jose with a .917 save percentage, has increased that to .938 since his trade to Colorado on December 9th. With a confident and trustworthy netminder, Avalanche defenders are demonstrating a cohesion that doesn’t require their top line to be an offensive powerhouse every night.
“When you look at the way [the Avs] play and then look at the chances they get on a nightly basis, there’s a lot of chaos at the net front,” head coach Jared Bednar said post game. “Tonight, everything looked really dangerous, but we broke up a lot of plays.”
In previous seasons, the Avs have defended their net by keeping the puck in the opposite zone with a speedy and overwhelming offense. Recently, this hasn’t been the case.
“I don’t think our guys necessary care about points back there […] If we’re able to contribute on the scoresheets, that’s great. But at the end of the day, we’re defenders first, ” Towes said after the game.
This game marks the halfway point of the 2024-25 season. The Avs are 3rd in the Central Division with 51 points and a .622 points percentage. On Wednesday, at 5:30 p.m. MT, they will face off against Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks at the United Center in Chicago.