Jared Bednar has been asking for his defensemen not named Cale Makar to get more involved offensively.
He got his wish Monday night. Samuel Girard and Devon Toews both scored their first goals of the season in a 3-2 overtime victory against the Nashville Predators at Ball Arena. Sam Malinski also added his first of the season two nights ago in a win against the Carolina Hurricanes.
“It’s where we’ve got to get to,” Bednar said. “That’s been a strength of our team for years now, the involvement of our ‘D’ on the offensive side of it. We’ve been pushing them to get even more involved and yeah, we’re starting to get rewarded for it.”
Girard took the puck from a stumbling Brady Skjei, drew a penalty in the neutral and skated in to score on a breakaway anyway, giving the Avs their second straight victory and getting them back to .500 on the season (8-8).
“I just saw (Skjei) turning his back and I just put pressure when he turned,” Girard said. “To be honest, it was just a read.
“It’s always nice to have a breakaway and a chance to score as well. … Very happy to be able to contribute in OT.”
Alexandar Georgiev made 29 saves in another strong outing for the Avs. Just like two nights ago here, the Avalanche fell behind early then came back in the second period.
Colorado’s second power-play unit scored first, though it came just after the Nashville penalty expired. Toews scored 4:32 into the second when his shot went off a Predators’ skate and snuck past goalie Juuse Saros. T.J. Tynan also picked up his second career NHL point — and first since 2019-20 — on the play.
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The Avs’ top line had multiple dominant shifts before eventually giving Colorado the lead at 11:37. Nathan MacKinnon carried the puck into the offensive end, then dropped it for Joel Kiviranta, who had just come off the bench. He found Mikko Rantanen for a one-timer and his team-leading ninth goal of the season.
The assist was point No. 30 for MacKinnon, who became the first NHL player to get there this season. MacKinnon leads the league in points and assists (23).
Colton Sissons tied this game at 2-2 just 59 seconds into the third period. Roman Josi made a great play to prevent a Colorado rush and keep the puck in the Avs end, then he found Sissons with a slick pass to set up an easy goal near the right post.
Sissons has two goals in 15 games this year — both have been against the Avs. His 10 career tallies against Colorado is also his most against any team. He also had three goals and seven points against the Avs in a six-game playoff series in 2018.
For the third straight game, the Avalanche did not play well in the first period but Georgiev kept his team close. Nashville had 10 of the 11 high-danger scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes but only scored on one of them.
Even the goal Georgiev allowed in the first was certainly not his fault. He stopped Luke Evangelista’s first rebound try of a Juuso Parssinen point shot, but the Nashville forward had enough time to collect it, switch to his forehand and score on the third try without any duress.
Three straight strong performances from Georgiev, combined with a solid string of starts from Justus Annunen before that, has helped stabilize the position for the Avalanche. The defense corps is pitching in more offensively.
And there should be reinforcements coming later this week up front, with Valeri Nichushkin expected to play Friday if he gets reinstated by the NHL after a six-month suspension and Jonathan Drouin close to returning from an upper-body injury as well.
“I feel like the guys who are playing in the spots of the guys who are out are doing a heck of a job,” Rantanen said. “They’re working really hard, making plays. But obviously every team wants to have their best lineup out there. Every team wants to have their guys healthy. Can’t deny that, but the replacements have been doing their best.”
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