DENVER – The Bruins came within 37 seconds of winning their first game of the season on Wednesday night. The Avalanche, on the other hand, flexed their muscles and demonstrated why they're the league's best team, scoring twice in the third period to overturn a two-goal deficit, including Gabriel Landeskog's game-tying goal at 19:23 of the final frame to force overtime.
Cale Makar scored the game-winning goal on the power play at 3:01 of overtime, leading the Bruins to a 4-3 loss in the first of their three-game road trip. Meanwhile, Colorado won for the eighth time in a row and the 17th time in a row at Ball Arena.
"There's a reason they're a terrific club," Charlie Coyle remarked. "They're not going to sit back and watch us win in the third. I believe we anticipated a push. We intended to continue playing in the same manner. They came in with a vengeance, which is bad. Linus [Ullmark] had a fantastic game and deserved more from us in the third."
Ullmark, who ended the game with 37 saves on 41 shots, was outstanding at moments in the third period as the Avalanche crowded the Black & Gold and outshot them 18-7. With 8:14 remaining, Samuel Girard's goal trimmed the Bruins' advantage to 3-2.
"Those pushes are going to happen on good teams." "It's up to us," Coyle remarked. "I'm certain that we're a strong squad. It's up to us to push back and have the next shift, whomever is up next, tilt it in our favor and play simple, put the puck behind them, force them to go back for it, and then we play and forecheck and have a shift down there and sort of change the tide that way.
"That's what you have to do. Sometimes you just have to take a big breath, you can't get caught up in the storm or whatever you want to call it; it's up to us to compete and keep the bend don't break mindset, and we do what we can down there."
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy had a similar view when he critiqued the team's lack of defensive zone performance. After scoring three straight goals in the second period to take a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes (Jake DeBrusk, Coyle, and Brad Marchand all scored), Boston battled terribly in the third to create any traction out of their own end.
When asked how the Bruins blew a two-goal lead in the third period, Cassidy answered, "There's a bunch of things." "Watching us play the entire quarter in our own end because we couldn't execute a breakaway pass was the most frustrating thing for me." We kept icing it, both inside the glass and outside. You must continue to play hockey. They're too nice to be true. You're going to grow tired. Sure enough, they begin to win several face-offs, and we begin to lose control of the puck.
"You can't stop playing because you're attractive. That's something we're generally really excellent at. And if you don't, you'll have to play winning hockey and defend the middle of the ice... Finally, we didn't get it done...as we always do in similar situations, and we paid the price."
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