The Avs could not play a consistent game to earn a win against the Lightning for their last outing of a 12-day road trip before heading back to Denver.
The Avs could not play a consistent game to earn a win against the Lightning for their last outing of a 12-day road trip before heading back to Denver.
The Colorado Avalanche were looking to continue the momentum from their first win in the last five games coming into Amalie Arena against the Tampa Bay Lightning but couldn't manage a win.
First period
Josh Manson took the first penalty of the game — which head coach Jared Bednar said he wanted his team to be disciplined against the No. 1 power-play team in the league. The Avalanche penalty kill unit worked hard to keep the puck out of the net.
Nathan MacKinnon sent the puck to Mikko Rantanen who got it on the stick of Bowen Byram open in front of the net and wristed it past Andrei Vasilevskiy with about five minutes left in the first frame.
Brayden Point posted up in front of Justus Annunen and deflected a flying puck past him at 17:18 into the period. Just over a minute later, Nikita Kucherov beat Annunen from the side after the puck took a few odd bounces when the Avs tried to clear the zone.
The Bolts outshot the Avs 15-11 and the period ended with Tampa Bay up by one.
Second period
Nathan MacKinnon took a puck to the face after it bounced off the ice and ended up leaving around the 12-minute mark of the period. He returned to the ice about six minutes later.
With five minutes left in the middle frame, Artturi Lehkonen handed the puck over to Ross Colton who then shot it at Vasilevskiy. The Russian goaltender made the initial save but the puck got loose under him and trickled out. Byram caught it on his stick and shoved it past the Vasilevskiy to tie the game.
The Avs had three more shots on net than the Bolts but the period ended in a two-all tie.
Third period
Lehkonen redirected a shot to the net from MacKinnon in the last seconds of a power play to take the lead at 16:20 in the final period.
The Avalanche did not hold the lead for long — 20 seconds later Steven Stamkos ended a breakaway with the puck in the back of the net to tie it back up.
Cale Makar was unable to gain control of the puck in front his netminder which then ended up on the stick of Kucherov who earned his second goal of the night.
Two empty-net goals were scored by Anthony Cirelli and Nick Perbix, respectively, to finish the game 6-3.
Notes from Avalanche loss to Lightning
Captain Gabriel Landeskog joined the team and watched from the press box at Amalie Arena.
Logan O'Connor remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Although Manson took the first penalty of the game, it was disciplined on both sides. The Avs were only assessed another two-minute minor and the Bolts got called on three.
Despite the final score, Annunen made 33 saves in his third start of the season and head coach Jared Bednar was not disappointed with his game.
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