Utah beats Avs, ending three-game winning streak

The Rocky Mountain Region’s new hockey club sent a rude message to the Avalanche during their first game in Denver.

Utah defeated Colorado 4-1 at Ball Arena on Thursday night, with the Avs undone by a cheap goal in the opening period, a two-goal blitz in the second half and a lack of finishing on offense.

“I like the chances we created every now and then in the game, but (Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka) made some big saves tonight, no question,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “And we were a little unlucky (with a couple of shots in the post)… We turned a couple of ones into threes tonight.

“At the end of the day, they put the puck in the net with some great opportunities, but we didn’t. It looked like we really struggled to get going today. We had pretty good intentions, but that little extra you need to create dangerous chances wasn’t there the whole game.”

The visitors took the lead through a poor goal in the early stages when after just over eight minutes a pass from Dylan Guenther was deflected by Artturi Lehkonen and into the net. Lehkonen beat Logan Cooley in front of the net, and Guenther’s pass intended for Cooley instead bounced off Lehkonen’s skate and past goaltender Scott Wedgewood.

The Avs finished the opening period with a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal and several real chances, but were rebuffed each time by Vejmelka.

Then, in the second period, Utah took control in a frame that cemented the end of Colorado’s three-game winning streak and cemented the feel-good vibes after a solid 4-1 road trip.

Joel Kiviranta’s slap shot 20 seconds into the half nearly put the Avs on the field, but Vejmelka slipped and made a smart shoulder save. Colorado continued to push the pace and then went to the power play four minutes later due to a holding penalty. But Vejmelka once again made an incredible save on a wrist shot from Lehkonen and made a few more saves as Colorado no longer had the man advantage.

About halfway through the period, Utah took control of the game with two goals in two minutes to take a 3-0 lead.

Vladislav Kolyachonok casually shot a ball into the goal from above near the blue line on the right side of the ice, and his low-trajectory shot deflected off Colorado defenseman Calvin de Haan as the puck passed Wedgewood’s leg kickout to the bottom left shelf struck.

“It was just bad luck tonight,” Wedgewood said. “That’s how it is sometimes.”

About 90 seconds later, Givani Smith — whom the Avs traded to San Jose earlier this week as part of the deal that also brought goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to Colorado — was sent to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct. Utah made quick work of the power play, needing just nine seconds for Guenther to hit the net with a slap shot for his second goal of the night.

The goal was preceded by some impressive passes that Bednar described as “tic, tac, toe.”

“(Smith) kind of continued the scrum, but it’s a penalty,” Bednar said. “I don’t love it because we were in the game. At this point you really have to be careful. I like the energy he had the whole shift and then when we take a penalty it ends up in our goal.”

The second period ended in four-on-four hockey as both teams played on the power play and Colorado was able to extend its lead into the third period.

But the Avs couldn’t capitalize as Vejmelka continued to stand on his head. This also included Lehkonen being thwarted in a breakaway eight minutes before the end of the game. Colorado finally lit the lamp after pulling Wedgewood with about five minutes left in the game, which resulted in Nathan MacKinnon’s wrist with 4:26 left. But Utah responded quickly 23 seconds later with Kevin Stenlund’s goal on an empty net.

Vejmelka finished the game with 23 saves, including four on the power play. The loss dropped Colorado to 17-14-0 and 7-8 at home, while Utah got revenge for the Avs’ 5-1 road win on Oct. 24.

“We just need to capitalize more on the momentum of the crowd and take a little more responsibility on ourselves to play our game and move our feet (to pick up wins at home),” winger Logan O’Connor said. “We did that on our road trip and it’s really hard to defend. We simply pushed too hard in too many areas tonight.”