Colorado Avalanche: 4 Amazing Goals from Game 2

The Colorado Avalanche claimed a victory against the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 of the second round. A look at all the goals from the game.

The Colorado Avalanche won Game 2! They have exorcised the demon that has been the SAP Center and beaten the San Jose Sharks in their own barn.

As I’ve been wont to point out, that’s a feat they haven’t managed since December 28, 2015. But time to reset the counters because now they’ve done so, and in the playoffs! With the win in San Jose, they’ve taken away the Sharks’ home ice advantage. All the Avs have to do is win all their home games to win the series.

You know what, Avs Nation, I’m beginning to think they can do just that. I don’t want to get my hopes up too high, but… the Avalanche could just win this thing.

Ok, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Cinderella rule is in effect. We can’t get too high after a win or too low after a loss — and no moping or celebrating past midnight. We’ve got to keep our heads in the moment.

And in this moment, let’s celebrate the great goals that brought the Avalanche their road playoff victory!

First up, Nathan MacKinnon‘s game-winning goal. Boy, it’s so nerve-wracking that this tally ended up being the game-winner. With just 1:02 left in the game, the Avalanche were up 4-2 thanks to this hard-work effort by Matt Calvert:

I say Calvert because the poor forward had to give up his life again so the Avalanche could win a game. I’m wondering if he had to sacrifice his body this much in Columbus. Well, we certainly appreciate it. Anyway, this empty-netter by MacKinnon ended up being the winning goal.

Stupid Brent Burns and his stupid Samurai Sasquatch head scored a goal both before and after that tally by MacK. However, the final score was 4-3 thanks to our superstar.

I was really hoping the goal that came before MacKinnon’s would be the game-winner. It was scored by Long Beach Native Matthew Nieto:

The Avalanche acquired Nieto from waivers from the selfsame San Jose Sharks. So, it would have been poetic if he’d delivered the coupe de grace to the team that didn’t want him. I’m still happy our hard worker scored.

For a while, the go-ahead goal was Tyson Barrie‘s. Our rover scored late in the second period to put the Colorado Avalanche up 2-1:

Believe it or not, our highest scoring defenseman, the one who’s broken so many offensive defenseman records this year, had never scored a goal in the playoffs before this one.

That fact caught me by surprise, but I guess it makes a certain sense. His first-ever playoffs series were truncated by the evil Matt Cooke. Last season he played six games, but he got just four assists. This season he has one goal (now) and seven assists.

To get us to the go-ahead goal situation, we had to first get a game-tying goal. The unsavory Evander Kane opened scoring in the first period. However, our Viking capatain, Gabriel Landeskog, tied the game at the mid-game point:

The Colorado Avalanche love the tip-in goals, and our captain is one of the best at them. He pays the price to position himself just in front of the crease, and the Avs benefit from his sacrifice.

Thus far he hasn’t paid as high a price as poor Matt Calvert, but I digress.

The action returns to Colorado. The Avalanche will host the San Jose Sharks at Pepsi Center on Tuesday and Thursday, both times at 8:00 pm MT.

Let’s make some noise, Avs Nation, whether you’re in Colorado or far away for our Avalanche to beat the Sharks.