J.T. Compher’s Overtime Winner
Colorado Avalanche forward J.T. Compher is our new Mr. Clutch. He had three game-winning goals last season. Two of them came in overtime. (Career-wise, Compher has four game-winning goals.)
The most exciting game-winning goal of the season for Compher was his second.
The Colorado Avalanche were hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 289, 2017. The game saw a lot of back and forth action, with first Avs players scoring and Leafs players answering. At the end of three periods, the score was tied at three.
As the overtime period was winding down, Toronto forward Connor Brown took a penalty for interference against Nathan MacKinnon. The Colorado Avalanche went on the power play.
It’s pretty telling that coach Jared Bednar decided to put JT Compher out for this all-important power play. Yet there the rookie was, enjoying a four-on-three advantage.
He walks into the slot and wires a wrister past the Leafs goalie:
Alas, said Leafs goalie is none other than former Avalanche Calvin Pickard. If only another net minder had been in net. Nonetheless, this was an impressive display of skill that we’ve seen flashes of from Compher — and that we obviously want to see more of.
Next: 5 Awesome Defenseman Goals
I think Colorado Avalanche fans can agree we’d all like to see more of the above goals from our players as they continue to develop into the NHL game. Next season, we won’t have as many rookies — probably just Conor Timmins and maybe a college grad if the Avs pick one up.
But the above players, with the exception of Russina-bound Mironov, should take the next step forward in their development. And that’s nothing but good news for the team.