Postgame Notes & Quotes Colorado Avalanche 6, Washington

Postgame Notes & Quotes Colorado Avalanche 6, Washington Capitals 2 Thursday, November 16, 2017 Gabriel Landeskog registered the first hat trick of his career. Landeskog’s goal on a penalty shot in the third frame is the first successful penalty shot of his career (1-for-2). The tally also marked the first time the Avs have scored on a penalty shot since Mar. 6, 2010 (Chris Stewart vs. St. Louis). Landeskog’s first marker of the game, which came 17 seconds into the opening period, is the fastest marker to start a period for Colorado this season. It’s also the fastest goal by an Avs player since Feb. 15, 2009 at Detroit (Ian Laperriere, :16). Nathan MacKinnon registered a career-high five points (1g, 4a) on the night, and his four assists are also a career best. He’s now totaled 15 points (5g, 10a) in his last seven contests and in that span (since Oct. 28), ranks second in the league in points (16, Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg). MacKinnon’s performance is the first five-point game by an Avalanche player since Dec. 9, 2007 vs. St. Louis (Milan Hejduk, 6 and Paul Stastny, 5) and the most assists by an Avalanche player since Feb. 2, 2010 (T.J. Galiardi vs. Columbus). Mikko Rantanen notched four points and three assists, both career highs. Colorado’s top line (Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen) combined for 12 points (5g, 7a). The Avs improved to 6-1-1 at home this season and 6-1-0 at Pepsi Center. Colorado has scored 37 goals in eight home contests (4.63 average), including 34 tallies in seven games at Pepsi Center (4.86 average). The Avalanche’s 4.63 goals-per-game average at home is tied for first (New York Islanders) in the NHL. Colorado finished 2-for-6 on the power play and has now scored on 10-of-33 (30.3%) of its opportunities at home this season, fourth best in the league. The Avs penalty kill was 4-for-5 on the night, allowing a power-play goal at Pepsi Center for the first time since the home opener on Oct. 11 vs. Boston, snapping a streak of 20 straight successful penalty kills. Semyon Varlamov played his 300th game in an Avalanche sweater, becoming the second goaltender in Quebec/Colorado history (Patrick Roy, 478 games) to reach 300 regular-season games with the franchise. Samuel Girard made his Pepsi Center debut and registered an assist. He’s now tallied two points (2a) in three appearances for Colorado this season. Colin Wilson notched his first goal in an Avalanche uniform. With the win tonight, the Avalanche snapped a six-game losing skid against the Capitals. Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon On The Power Play: “We’re just really aggressive. I mean, we’re shooting and then we’re trying to find some stuff off the shots and rebounds and stuff like that. With the players we have in this room, there’s no reason our power play wasn’t good the last couple of seasons. [There’s] no reason for that and we are finally getting going now.” On His Line’s Performance: “Tonight, everything just kind of went in. You know, we got together [in] the Chicago game and like you said, we’ve been going good ever since then, creating a lot of offense and yeah, we’re feeling good.” Colorado G Semyon Varlamov On Playing Against Washington: “I mean, it’s always fun to face your old team. I played in Washington for three years, you know to play against (Washington LW Alex) Ovechkin. But [tonight] was just another game for me for sure. It was great and we won and we got those two points.” On Getting Off To A Quick Start: “It was great to see Gabe (Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog) score right away. I was like, “Whoa, did that really happen right now?” I mean, that was awesome. To play with the lead always helps, especially against a good team like Washington.” Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog On Getting The Win Tonight: “I mean, obviously we know that the two points are the most important thing and we’ve been playing well here at home. We feel good at Pepsi can. I mean, no doubt, you heard them tonight. It’s an unbelievable atmosphere out there tonight and we’ve played well in here so we knew this was a big game for us. Obviously, we haven’t played in awhile and the Sweden trip didn’t go as well as we wanted so this one felt good. It was a big win for us.” On His Penalty-Shot Goal: “I was talking to both Mikko (Colorado RW Mikko Rantanen) and Nate (Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon), I hadn’t really made up my mind and then Mikko said come in and shoot low blocker. I came in, I didn’t really feel that, I didn’t really see it. I felt like the goalie was standing on that side of the net. I just kind of slowed down and I guess last second call was just to flick it high blocker and it worked.” Washington LW Alexander Ovechkin On The Special Teams: “Obviously we had a good kill. Everyone knows that about this team. We let them score at the end of the third but I think our game was over, we were losing 5-2. When we have a chance we have to use it. In the third period we didn’t have many but in the second period we had bigger chances but we didn’t execute.” On Generating Offense: “We just have to stay in the zone. We just have to win the battles, get traffic and get some bodies in front of the net.” Washington RW Brett Connolly On The Loss: “Obviously our starts, I think we just need to be detailed early. We shoot ourselves in the foot. It’s tough coming back in the league, everybody is good and we know that. When we are going behind early in games, it’s tough to be chasing especially on the road. We know playing in Colorado, in the altitude we need to be detailed. Our shifts need to be short, we need to be engaged and right now, it’s biting us in the butt but the only people that are going to dig us out of this are the guys in the locker room.” On How To Turn The Season Around: “We are going to need contributions from everyone, myself included. All over the lineup people have to contribute and be a part of this. We’ve had some guys play good games, we’ve had some guys play bad games. We need everybody being engaged every night. We can’t afford any passengers. We need to play as a team and right now we aren’t doing that.” .

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