DENVER — Colorado Avalanche fans didn’t wait for the first-period tribute video to show their appreciation for Erik Johnson. Many of them lined up along the glass for warmups to welcome the veteran back to Denver, where he played for 13 seasons and 717 games. Every time the big video board showed him, smatterings of applause emerged.
Injured Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, along with his children, Linnea and Luke, watched warmups from where the Zambonis enter the rink. Four-year-old Linnea held a sign reading, “Wrong jersey, but we still love you, Uncle EJ!”
“I think everyone knows how important this organization was to me over the years,” Johnson told reporters at the morning skate before pausing to collect himself.
The defenseman, acquired from the St. Louis Blues in a 2011 blockbuster trade, built a life in Colorado over his years with the Avalanche. He saw the team go from last place to a Stanley Cup champion. He stayed in his Denver home Tuesday night and told reporters he planned to do the same Wednesday. He also said he was going to have drinks with teammates after the game.
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Erik Johnson greets Gabriel Landeskog and his children before the game at Ball Arena. (Ron Chenoy / USA Today)
In October, Johnson told The Athletic that he and the Avalanche stayed in touch during free agency but intense talks came down to three or four other teams. With a crowded group of defensemen and limited salary-cap space, Colorado couldn’t come close to the Buffalo Sabres’ one-year, $3 million offer.
That meant Johnson had to say goodbye. Wednesday gave him the chance to say hello again. Midway through the first period, the Ball Arena lights dimmed — which doesn’t usually happen for welcome-back tributes — and a two-minute video ensued. As it ended, the crowd erupted in applause and players on both teams rose to tap their sticks. A spotlight shined on Johnson, who skated to center ice to acknowledge the fans. The ovation lasted for 45 seconds, and at the end of it, Nathan MacKinnon skated out to give the emotional Johnson a pat with his stick.
“Kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing to be treated like that at the TV timeout,” he said in an Altitude TV interview at the first intermission. “I just tried to soak it up, and it was magical.”
Added Avalanche coach Jared Bednar: “Our fan reaction kind of says it all. Longtime Av, Stanley Cup champion, lots of friends still on this roster. … The reaction and the length of the standing ovation I thought was great. Well deserved.”
The game itself went far better for Johnson’s former team than his current one. Buoyed by a dominant first period, the Avalanche won 5-1. Here are takeaways from Colorado’s win, which puts Bednar’s club in first place in the Central by points and point percentage.
Malinski’s memorable night
Rookie Sam Malinski’s father was in attendance for Wednesday’s game, as were an aunt and uncle. He gave them quite a show in just his seventh NHL game.
“He’s involved in our offensive attack, whether it’s the rush or O-zone play,” Bednar said. “I think he’s making great decisions with the puck, possession decisions leading to scoring chances. I feel like his skating is really helping on our breakouts. He’s been a consistent defender. Playing a great 200-foot game right now.”
The rookie has impressed Bednar enough to stay in the lineup over Caleb Jones, and he made a few impactful plays against the Sabres. In the first, he poked a puck away from Erik Johnson to spring Miles Wood on a two-on-one. Wood rushed up the ice with Logan O’Connor but kept the puck for himself and fired it into the Sabres’ net.
“It was kind of a tough play, but I guess I got a lucky stick on it,” the 25-year-old Malinkski said.
On the defensive end, he might have saved a goal midway through the second period. A shot trickled past goalie Ivan Prosvetov, but Malinski spotted it in the crease. He rushed toward the net and swept it under the goalie’s pads.
But his main highlight came early in the third period when he one-timed a Jack Johnson pass off a post and in. The goal gave the Avalanche a 4-1 lead.
“I was thrilled for him,” Jack Johnson said. “Everyone in here remembers that first one. He’ll remember that the rest of his life. Really awesome, especially for it to be at home. He gets the horn going off and crowd into it.”
Said Jonathan Drouin: “It’s one of the prettiest first goals I’ve seen, for sure.”
FIRST NHL GOAL MOMENT FOR SAM MALINSKI 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZVlF38PQkt
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 14, 2023
Drouin made sure to grab the puck, and Malinski’s Avalanche teammates mobbed him. He couldn’t help but grin as he accepted their congratulations and skated to Prosvetov for a fist bump.
Malinski earned first-star-of-the-game honors and posed for a photo with his first-goal puck after the game.
“It’s very special,” he said. “Something you dream of your entire life since you’re a little kid.”
Variance between periods
Colorado overpowered the Sabres for the entire first period. The Sabres had only five shots on the period and only one in the first 18 minutes. The Avalanche, meanwhile, wracked up a trio of goals.
“Really, that was a perfect first period for us,” Bednar said.
The Sabres scored late in the frame, and the second was friendlier to them. They had 54.12 percent of the expected goal share in the period, according to Natural Stat Trick, as well as 66.67 percent of the shot attempts. But Ivan Prosvetov made a key save to keep Buffalo from breaking through with a second goal.
“He’s been great for us,” Jack Johnson said of the goalie, whom Colorado claimed off waivers days before the season opener. “I didn’t know anything about him (before the waiver claim), but he’s stood tall for us when we’ve needed it.”
Though Buffalo was overall the better team in the second period, Colorado had the majority of high-danger chances. Its best came after a monster MacKinnon hit on Jeff Skinner. (“I’m going to show that to all of our D,” Bednar said after the game.) MacKinnon took possession after the hit and passed to Mikko Rantanen, who found Cale Makar for what looked like it was going to be a tic-tac-toe goal. But Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen got across his crease just in time. Makar tossed his head back in exasperation.
At intermission, players in the dressing room discussed how they were making life too easy for Buffalo. Colorado wasn’t forechecking hard enough, and its players knew they needed to shift back to the way they were playing early in the game.
“The way we played in the first, we knew we could play that way in the third or similar,” Drouin said.
They did, controlling play with 74.06 percent of the expected goals on the period, per Natural Stat Trick, and scoring a pair of goals to ice the game.
Top-line domination
MacKinnon has been skating as well as anyone in the league in his past five games, and his line, which also includes Rantanen and Valeri Nichushkin, seemingly tilted the ice whenever called upon.
Five minutes into the first period, MacKinnon burst into the offensive zone with the puck and dropped it for Rantanen. The center proceeded to barrel into Connor Clifton in front of the net, potentially getting away with an interference penalty. Meanwhile, Rantanen drew Luukkonen out of his crease, skated behind the net and forehanded the puck in the net, barely beating a charging Peyton Krebs’ stick.
Two-thirds of Colorado’s top line was on the ice for the second goal five minutes later. Fredrik Olofsson, who had yet to go to the bench for a line change, missed the net on a shot attempt but regained the puck behind the net. He managed to flick the puck through traffic, and it found its way to Nichushkin. The wing shot through several players and found the back of the net.
“Val’s start to the game was insane,” Bednar said. “He probably could have had four goals in the first eight minutes of the game. Eventually got rewarded for his work.”
Nichushkin got his 100th career goal later in the evening after MacKinnon found him backdoor on a late power play. The play was also MacKinnon’s 800th career point.
Colorado had 74.66 percent of the expected goals when its top line was on the ice. Buffalo had no answers.
“They’re going to get their chances, and then there are some nights when you can tell they’re really feeling it,” Jack Johnson said. “Most of the time they’ve got (Devon Toews) and Cale out there, too, to back them up. I don’t think you can ask for a better five-man unit out there.”
(Top photo of Sam Malinski: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
