Hang the banner! The Colorado Avalanche won a preseason game!

All joking aside, the Avs withstood pressure from the Vegas Golden Knights and picked up a 3-1 win on the Strip on Thursday night. It’s the first part of the preseason and there’s still one more to go before it really gets going.

The roster is starting to form with what we’ll see in less than a week against the same Vegas team on opening night. Given the result, it’s nice to see the team seemingly coming together and getting results along the way. To the summary!

First period

Colorado came out flying to open the game. Cal Ritchie, on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin, had a great chance to intervene, but Ilya Samsonov intercepted the initial pass. He also had a few chances after hitting MacKinnon in a hurry, but was denied again.

Ivan Ivan also had a chance at the open net, but it was also stopped. But it didn’t take long for the Avs to finally break through after Drouin and MacKinnon connected thanks to Ritchie’s ability to get the puck off the boards and lead the rush.

Brett Howden checked Devon Toews in the final two minutes, leading to the first power play of the game with Casey Mittelstadt finding the iron. Colorado led 13-6 at the break and was unlucky to only have a one-goal lead.

Second period

After both teams took penalties in the first ten seconds of the period, Colorado kept its foot on the gas pedal. Sam Malinski would be next to capitalize, as he precisely drilled a puck through traffic to find the line and double the lead.

His team led 18-9 at halftime, but Vegas found another gear. Colorado wouldn’t record a shot for over 10 minutes, bringing Justus Annunen more into the game.

Ultimately, the Golden Knights would make the visiting team pay. Oliver Kylington’s penalty led to Jack Eichel firing a corner into the top corner with 20 minutes left, halving the lead.

Third period

The Avs fell behind early when Logan O’Connor threw the puck over the glass, delaying the start of the game. A whole host of chances from Vegas would be thrown into the goal crease, but Annunen would withstand them all.

From there, Colorado continued to play defensively in the third period, shutting down the Golden Knights. Until halftime of the period, they prevented the home team from having a shot on goal in the final 13 minutes.

O’Connor would make up for his penalty early in the period with a backhand empty-netter from the neutral zone. It would be the ice of the game and the Avs’ first win of the preseason with a score of 3-1.

Takeaways

In the first period, Colorado’s first set would be fun to watch. Seeing Ritchie connect with players at the NHL level and create opportunities paid off, as he assisted on Drouin’s game-opening goal. The same goes for Ivan and Malinski, who also contributed, with the latter scoring the winning goal. But everyone took a step back and eased off the gas to give Vegas a chance. It wasn’t outstanding for any of the skaters, but it was nice to see the team finally have chemistry and look like a capable NHL squad with the win.

If there was a standout player, it would have to be Annunen. Despite only having to take nine shots in the first half hour, he was bombarded in abundance to end the game. Especially in the middle and at the beginning of the third period, he stood on his head to save his defenders and bring the game to one point. Ultimately, he couldn’t do anything about Eichel’s power play goal, but he deserved his flowers. He had a similar performance last preseason against the Dallas Stars, which some people believe earned him the backup role. That wasn’t the case last year, but perhaps this performance can show Jared Bednar that he doesn’t need to look elsewhere for his replacement.

Soon

One final preseason game is against the Utah Hockey Club at the Maverick Center, home of the Avs’ ECHL affiliate, the Utah Grizzlies. Puck drop takes place on Saturday evening at 5:00 p.m. MT.