Utah blasts Avs to snap three-game winning streak

The Rocky Mountain region’s new hockey club sent a rude message to the Avalanche in their first game in Denver.

Utah blasted Colorado 4-1 on Thursday night at Ball Arena, with the Avs undone by a cheap goal in the opening period, a two-goal blitz in the second period and a lack of finishing on offense.

“I like the chances we created at times in the game, but (Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka) made some big saves tonight, no question,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “And we got a little unlucky (with a couple of shots off the post). … We turned some A’s into C’s tonight.

“At the end of the day, they put the puck in the net with some great opportunities, and we didn’t. It looked like we were really fighting to find our legs today. We had pretty good intentions, but that little extra that you need to create dangerous chances wasn’t there for the whole game.”

The visitors took the lead off a flimsy goal in the opening period when, a little more than eight minutes in, Dylan Guenther’s crossing pass deflected off Artturi Lehkonen and into the net. Lehkonen was bodying Logan Cooley in the front of the net, and Guenther’s pass that was intended for Cooley instead took a bounce off Lehkonen’s skate and past goalie Scott Wedgewood.

The Avs ended the opening period with a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal, with several bona fide chances, but were turned away by Vejmelka each time.

Then in the second period, Utah took control in a frame that cemented the end of Colorado’s three-game win streak and the feel-good vibes coming off a solid 4-1 road trip.

Joel Kiviranta’s slap shot 20 seconds into the period nearly put the Avs on the board, but Vejmelka slid over and made a snazzy save with his shoulder. Colorado continued to push the tempo and then went on the power play four minutes in, due to a holding penalty. But Vejmelka made another incredible save on a wrister by Lehkonen, plus some other stops as Colorado came up empty on the man advantage.

About midway through the period, Utah firmly took control of the game with a pair of goals within a two-minute frame to go up 3-0.

Vladislav Kolyachonok casually wristed one home from up near the blue line on the right side of the ice, and his low-trajectory shot deflected off Colorado defenseman Calvin de Haan as the puck beat Wedgewood’s leg kickout on the bottom left shelf.

“It was just bad luck tonight,” Wedgewood said. “It’s the way it goes sometimes.”

About 90 seconds later, Givani Smith — whom the Avs traded San Jose for earlier this week in the deal that also brought goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to Colorado — was sent to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct. Utah made quick work on the power play, needing only nine seconds for Guenther to find the net on a slap shot for his second goal of the evening.

Some impressive passing, described by Bednar as “tic, tac, toe,” preceded the goal.

“(Smith) was sort of continuing the scrum, but it’s a penalty,” Bednar said. “I don’t love it, because we were in the game. At that time, you’ve got to be real careful. I like the juice he played with the entire shift, and then we take a penalty and it ends up in the back of our net.”

The second period ended in four-on-four hockey as both teams were on the power play, and Colorado carried its advantage over to the third.

But the Avs couldn’t capitalize as Vejmelka continued to stand on his head. That included Lehkonen getting stuffed on a breakaway with eight minutes left in the game. Colorado finally lit the lamp after pulling Wedgewood with about five minutes to play, leading to Nathan MacKinnon’s wrister with 4:26 left. But Utah quickly responded 23 seconds later with Kevin Stenlund’s goal on the empty net.

Vejmelka finished with 23 saves, including four on the power play. Colorado dropped to 17-14-0 with the defeat, and 7-8 at home, as Utah got payback for the Avs’ 5-1 road win on Oct. 24.

“We’ve just got to start feeding off the momentum of the crowd more, and take a bit more onus to play our game and move our feet (to start stacking wins at home),” winger Logan O’Connor said. “We were doing that on our road trip and it’s really tough to defend us. We just let off the gas too much tonight in too many areas.”