DENVER, Colo. — This one will sting for a while. The Colorado Avalanche were doing fine going into the last frame if the game, but then disaster struck. One penalty by Ryan Lindgren turned the entire tide of the game in less than a minute. The Avs would gain a point out of the loss, but it was the way they did it that mattered. Their 3–2 shootout loss may hurt them in the coming weeks when Minnesota is on their tail.

First Period

The Avalanche started the contest, running right out of the gate against the Flames. Colorado immediately pressured goaltender Dan Vladar but could not get many shots on net. After a couple of chances by the Avalanche, Matt Coronado ran away with the puck and pinged it off of the crossbar. It would take some solid pressure by the Avs to open the floodgates. With three and a half minutes left in the period, Artturi Lehkonen banked a pass off of the wall to Devon Toews on the point. Lehkonen rotated out with Nathan MacKinnon, and Toews tossed it down to him. MacKinnon sauced a pass over to Cale Makar at the top of the slot and he juked to work his way down the slot. Makar snapped a shot off for his 28th goal of the season and the 1–0 lead.

Second Period

The middle frame was all Avalanche. They were just throwing everything they could on the net. In the first, Colorado had 10 shots on net, they matched that tally halfway through the second. This time around, the Avalanche were shutting down the Flames even more than in the first. Valeri Nichushkin in the opening minute of the period, tried to sneak a shot through the five-hole of Vladar, He just could not put enough on it.

With just over 12 minutes left in the period, the Avalanche entered the Flames’ zone on the run. Logan O’Connor came in fast to pressure Vladar to make a mistake. Parker Kelly stopped the puck at the left point and snapped it back to O’Connor and he whipped in his third goal in a week. Later in the period, Blake Colman gave a nasty cross-check to Makar in the open ice to end the period. The Avalanche would start the third on a power play.

Third Period

The Avalanche had things under control until this period and it all fell apart at once. With about 11 minutes left in regulation, Ryan Lindgren was called for a cross-check and the Avalanche had to kill their first penalty of the night. Just as the power play for the Flames expired, MacKenzie Weegar took a shot from the blue line, causing chaos as the puck bounced off of Scott Wedgewood. Ryan Lomberg tipped in the loose puck and suddenly the flames were down 2–1.

It did not take long for the Flames to strike again. Just 23 seconds later, the Flames stole the puck away from Lindgren in the neutral zone. It led to a two on one rush for the Flames as he passed it over to the towering Adam Klapka and a tie game. The Avs tried to fight back, but Calgary pushed hard in the right direction. A missed goaltender interference call would only upset the fans and the Colorado players to end regulation.

Overtime/Shootout

Normally, overtime is all about puck control. On Monday night, it was as though both teams wanted to get the game over with. Every chance both sides got, they were chucking the puck at the net. Each team hit one post. The most dramatic of them was when Brock Nelson hit the post with less than a minute left. Nelson took a hard shot that slipped through Vladar and rolled to the post on the ice. Had it been a half of an inch to the right, the game would have been over.

The shootout went five rounds, with only one player hitting the back of the net. Yegor Sharangovich was the only one who could find the twine and won the game 3–2 for the Flames.

Observations from the Mountaintop

The Avalanche got way too comfortable in their zone exits and it showed. The Flames knew when to pounce on the unsuspecting Avalanche and took advantage to turn the tide. Normally, the Avalanche have done a great job of pushing the Flames out past the dots, but that was not the case on Monday.

MacKinnon was the first player to reach the 110 point milestone in the league. It is the third straight season he has accomplished the feat. Over that period, he accumulated 361 points across 228 games. Makar also tied his career high from 2021–22 of 28 goals in a single season. The Defenseman is well on pace to break the record in the next couple of games.

Next Game

The Avalanche will travel to play the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. MT. The game will broadcast on TNT (out of market) and Altitude 2 (in market).