DENVER — Samuel Girard has two career overtime goals and both have come against the Nashville Predators, the team that traded him to the Avalanche seven years ago.
Girard took the puck away from Brady Skjei in the Avs’ zone after Skjei lost his footing and came in all alone before firing a wrister past Juuse Saros for his first goal of the season to lift the Avs to a 3-2 OT victory.
Devon Toews also had his first tally of the season for the Avs, who improved to 8-8-0 on the season and 3-1-0 in their last four games.
“That’s been a strength of our team for years now, the involvement of our D on the offensive side,” head coach Jared Bednar said.
Toews’ tally came early in the second period with Nashville ahead 1-0. Girard also assisted on that goal.
The Avs trailed 1-0 after a tough first period before taking a 2-1 lead into the third. They gave up the game-tying goal 59 seconds into the final period before battling through the remainder of regulation and eventually in OT.
The team seems to have found its footing in the last four games. It coincides with the return of Artturi Lehkonen, but the Finnish forward didn’t produce much against Nashville. He had one shot and four giveaways in 24:31.
What else changed?
“We’re more competitive than we were earlier in the year,” Bednar said. “We we’re figuring out the identity of what exactly this team needs to do, and how we have to play to have success with this current lineup.”
Good: Alexandar Georgiev
The Avalanche netminder deserves praise for putting in another strong effort. Despite the team in front of him starting slow for the third straight game, Alexandar Georgiev settled in and kept the game within reach. Even after Nashville scored early.
Colorado was outshot 12-6 in the first period but came out strong in the second. They had the dominant shift from the top line, which came after the game-tying goal and before Rantanen’s go-ahead tally. But after the second Avs goal, Nashville took over, again. Georgiev stopped all 13 shots he faced in the middle frame and allowed Colorado to play with a lead to start the third period.
Roman Josi eventually set up Colton Sissons for a nice goal early in the third to tie things up. But in the final minutes of regulation, Georgiev came through with a massive game-saving desperation save.
Georgiev has started three straight games after playing just once in more than two weeks.
“I know I’m a good goalie, so I’m just trying to play the best that I can and give us a chance to win every night,” he said.
Good: The Dominant Shift
Gustav Nyquist was on the ice for 1:41 during a shift of dominance from Nathan MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Lehkonen. It started with MacKinnon hitting the post from in close. Cale Makar then had another shot get blocked by defenseman Jeremy Lauzon before Rantanen had an opportunity of his own.
It was the type of shift you can build off of. And a few minutes later, Rantanen scored his fifth goal in four games off a one-timer feed from Joel Kiviranta.
MacKinnon also assisted on Rantanen’s goal.
Good: Samuel Girard
Girard is quietly posting better offensive numbers than he has in previous years. Through 16 games, he’s up to a goal and nine points — two of which came against the Preds. Ever since returning from his NHLPA Player Assistant Program stint last year, Girard has consistently been one of Colorado’s more dependable skaters. He’s continued that trend to start 2024-25 and is being rewarded for it.
Girard’s OT tally came on his first shot of the game. But he also finished with three blocks, a hit and a +2 rating in 19:00 of ice time.
Bad: Letting Nashville hang around
The Predators are (surprisingly) the worst team in the Western Conference. They have just five wins through the first 16 games, one of which came against the Avs. And had it not been for Georgiev’s late save and Girard’s heroics, they were well on their way to another win.
In the first meeting between the two clubs, Nashville came away with a 5-2 victory at home. And in Monday’s rematch, the Avs allowed the Preds to dominate early and then take over entirely after the Rantanen goal.
Colton Sissons has two goals and zero assists through 15 games. Both of his goals have come against the Avs. And Juuso Saros has played two of his best games this year against Colorado.
The third of four meetings between the two teams is on Dec. 14.
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