*Photo from TSN*
It was a matchup of NHL heavyweights taking center stage in Colorado. The leaders of the east in the Florida Panthers were taking on the Stanley cup hopeful Colorado Avalanche. You can chalk round one up to the west. Andre Burakovsky tallied a hat trick, Mikko Rantanen picked up 3 assists, and the Avalanche defeated the Panthers 3-2 on Sunday night.
Burakovsky, a talented left wing who's been with the Avalanche for 3 years and the league for 8, had been under the shadow of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, and Rantanen, among others. He, despite being a top flight scorer, had never had a hat trick before. With Landeskog out due to injury, Burakovsky stepped into the spotlight with his first career hat trick.
Asked about the career milestone, Burakovsky said "Obviously, it felt great getting my first one. It's nice to finally get one. I'm just happy to be producing for the team and helping the team win games. Today was a lucky day for me. If I get a chance to shoot it or make a play, I'm doing it. I'm just trying to play the right game."
After a first period that ended in a 0-0 tie, the second period had much of the same tune. It was a goalies battle, with save after save being made on both ends. Burakovsky then decided that he had enough of that. On the power play with 23 seconds left in the period, he scored his 10th goal of the season to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead after two periods, assisted by MacKinnon and Rantanen.
In the 3rd, Burakovsky picked up right where he left off, scoring 2:03 into the period, and the Avalanche had a 2-0 lead just like that. A power play goal by Joe Thornton 7:41 into the 3rd, and an even strength goal by Brandon Montour 10:15 into the period saw the Panthers get right back in it, tying the game 2-2. 11:43 into the period, Burakovsky capped off the hat trick with his 3rd goal of the night, making it 3-2 Avalanche, a lead that held.
The goalie who came out on the winning side was Colorado's Darcy Kuemper, and he put on a show. Kuemper turned aside 29 of the 31 shots on goal the Panthers had, good for a .935 save percentage to get the win. Kuemper's record increases to 12-5-0 in 18 starts this season.
Kuemper said of the tight win that "We can't count on scoring seven goals every game. These close, competitive games are a little more fun, especially from my end to play in. That was a really good game of hockey tonight on both sides. It was just a lot of fun to play in."
It was a valiant effort from the Panthers to come back, but they ultimately couldn't pull it off, with Sergei Bobrovsky getting the loss. Bobrovsky saved 23 of 26 shots, posting a .885 save percentage. With the loss, his record dropped to 12-2-2 in 18 starts this season.
Panthers head coach Andrew Brunette said "It's a real fun place to play and they're a real good team, so it was a good little challenge for us. I don't think we were particularly sharp with the puck. We managed it fine, and we battled, I just didn't think we were strong enough on the puck in the offensive zone to really sustain a lot of offense."
The Avalanche stay home for a matchup with the New York Rangers on Tuesday night, with Kuemper likely to start again. The Panthers travel home for a game against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, with Bobrovsky likely to get the start.
Comments
Post a Comment