BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Avalanche coach Jared Bednar has no explanation for his team’s struggles with slow starts.
At the same time, he’s also not questioning Colorado’s ability to respond when trailing, even as the Avs pushed Bednar’s patience and palpitations to their limits while pulling out their latest victory.
Behind Artturi Lehkonen’s goal with 4:22 remaining and newcomer Scott Wedgewood coming in cold to stop all 22 shots he faced in a backup role, the Avalanche overcame a 4-0 first-period deficit to rally for a 5-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. In doing so, Colorado became the first NHL team this season to overcome a four-or-more goal deficit, while marking the 90th time that’s happened in league history.
“It’s still recovering from that one,” Bednar said of how his heart felt. “Strange game.”
It shouldn’t be for Bednar and the Avalanche (13-12), who have become accustomed to winning when falling behind, not just this season, but last year, too.
Colorado finished tied for second in the NHL last season in winning 26 games when trailing at any point of a game. And that included the Avalanche being the last team to overcome a four-goal deficit in a 5-4 OT win over Pittsburgh on March 24.
This season, eight of Colorado’s wins have come after trailing. And this was the Avalanche’s league-leading seventh victory out of the 17 times they've trailed after one period.
Adding to the degree of difficulty on Tuesday was Buffalo building a 4-0 lead on eight shots through 11:49 of the first period to chase starting goalie Alexandar Georgiev.
Nathan MacKinnon, who scored twice and assisted on Lehkonen’s goal, credited Bednar for keeping his cool.
“Bedsy didn’t rip us too bad. He was pretty calm,” MacKinnon said of Bednar’s message during the first intermission. “I find sometimes when the coach comes in and he’s negative upon how negative we feel, it’s just tough to come back.”
MacKinnon started the rally by intercepting Connor Clifton’s clearing attempt through the middle and roofing a 23-footer 2:24 into the second period. The Avalanche then struck for four goals in the third, with MacKinnon tying the game 7:39 in by tipping in Mikko Rantanen’s shot from the left point.
Lehkonen scored when he was parked in front and swept in a loose puck after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped Calvin de Haan's shot from the left point.
“When we’re down, it feels like we’re pressing hard, and when we’re in attack mode, it’s tough to contain us, I guess,” MacKinnon said.
He drew a laugh when asked the secret of the Avalanche’s ability to erase early deficits.
“I don’t know. We never score first, I guess,” MacKinnon said.
And credit Wedgewood, a seven-year journeyman, who is now with his fifth NHL team after being acquired in a trade from Nashville last weekend. Due to traveling back home to Nashville to see his family and pack, he didn’t enjoy his first skate with his new team until Tuesday morning as Colorado opened a five-game trip.
“I’ve gone in at times and the first shot on me has gone in. It’s nothing of lack of trying, and that’s the toughest part of that is you’re kind of cold,” said Wedgewood, whose second save was getting his pad out to stop Beck Malenstyn’s tip-in chance at the right post. “So get in there, try to stop the bleeding, and it ended up being a good night for me to do it.”
The Avalanche’s joy was countered by the Sabres' frustration.
“It sucks, honestly. Each and every guy needs to be better,” forward Alex Tuch said. “We thought it was going to be easy, that they were just going to go into a hole. It’s former Stanley Cup champs over there. ... You can’t give them opportunities like that.”
In dropping to 11-12-2, the Sabres are enduring yet another up-and-down season as they attempt to snap an NHL-record 13-season playoff drought. They dropped to 0-3-1 in their past four, which followed a promising stretch in which they won seven of nine.
Sloppy passes, lack of defensive net-front presence and star defenseman Rasmus Dahlin missing the third period with back spasms all contributed to the loss, coach Lindy Ruff said.
“It's hard, painful,” Ruff said. “It’s my job not to let it snowball. We’ll address it. We’ll deal with it.”
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