Avalanche Game 73 Recap: What Just Happened?!

As a Colorado Avalanche fan, I was entering Game 73 feeling quite confident. Yes, we were facing off against the high-powered New York Rangers. However, the Dallas Stars were facing the Vancouver Canucks...on the road. So I had a good feeling that first place could happen for the Avs again. The first part had to be taken care of: taking down the Rangers. The Avs were coming off the end of a nine-game winning streak, but at least Nathan MacKinnon's points streaks were still a thing.

More on that later.

This was a very interesting goalie matchup: Alexandar Georgiev vs Igor Shesterkin. Student vs teacher. First period was wild; the shots were even, and then, the first penalty of the game was called on Nathan MacKinnon. Rangers power play was killed off, and then the Avs had one...which was killed off. It was uneventful the rest of the way, and it was scoreless after 20 minutes. The second period was aggravating for us Avs fans. The chances were there, but nothing was going in. Such is the case when a team's facing a Vezina winner (who was also a Hart Trophy finalist). However, even Vezina winners get cracked, and it was Casey Mittelstadt who did cracking. Mighty Casey struck first for the Avs in the final minute, allowing the Avs to enter the second intermission up 1-0.

We couldn't enjoy this advantage for long, as Kaapo Kakko tied it up at the three-minute mark. The Avs should have had a power play, because there was an obvious trip, yet the Rangers ended up with one instead. Even worse, Chris Kreider capitalized. Even worse than that, Jared Bednar decided to challenge due to a possible hand pass. Call stood. I still think Bednar should have left that alone, it was in the "inconclusive" territory, and those calls usually stand. So we were shorthanded again. We killed the penalty. Then we tied it up. Here's where the shenanigans come in.

It was believed to be Jonathan Drouin's goal, but it was changed to Mikko Rantanen. The assists came from Devon Toews and Nathan MacKinnon. However, they gave the goal to Toews, and it was suddenly unassisted, and the reason was it was a possible "own goal." The video replay clearly showed that MacKinnon should have had an assist, but the game was tied nonetheless. The score held up, and the game went to overtime. MacKinnon made his presence felt in the overtime, but nothing was scored and we went to a shootout. Sadly, the only goals were scored by Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, giving the Avs a 3-2 loss via shootout.

OK, what the actual hell?! This was an assist from MacKinnon. We all saw it. I swear, somebody in the league wants to make sure he never gets the Ross and Hart. I'm hoping this gets fixed, but I don't know. See, if we had won, the streaks (point streak and home point streak) ending wouldn't have hurt as much. Instead, we only get one point due to the shootout loss. Oh, and about the Vancouver Canucks? Yeah, those idiots lost to Dallas. So we're three points behind. Now I know how we swept Vancouver this season.

The Avalanche could have clinched a playoff spot, which would have needed a Blues loss. Unfortunately, the Blues were playing against the Calgary Flames. So that's two Canadian teams who let us down. See, if either Dallas or St. Louis were playing Toronto, I'd feel much better. You can always depend on the Leafs. So the Avs will have to wait until Saturday to punch our ticket, and on Saturday, the Avs host the Nashville Predators.

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