Another Upset in The Making – Avalanche Near Eliminating the Flames

Colorado Avalanche might be the next big sensation in this Stanley Cup Playoffs. Jared Bednar and his boys defeated Calgary Flames last night 3-2, and brought the Western Conference No.1 seed at the brink of the elimination.

But that win was no ordinary one, as the hosts at Pepsi Center rallied back from a two-goal deficit, triumphing after overtime and two brilliant scores of Mikko Rantanen.

This is the second OT win in this series for the Avalanche, and a possible turning point of the season, as events like these, often take the mindset of the players and the whole organization to the higher level.

“We have done it a few times this year, there is belief in this room that no matter what the score is we can come back,” said JT Compher after the game, explaining that his team simply isn’t backing out in situations like this one.

The situation wasn’t bright at all for the hosts at some parts of this game. This was a dangerous position for the Flames, who had to give their best last night to level the score. The game itself was very thorough and cautious, with the defense was in the middle of attention. After a goalless first period, Calgary struck first, with Elias Lindholm’s power-play goal, 3:25 into the second match.

Flames doubled the lead almost seven minutes after the start of the third period, when Derek Ryan placed the puck into the net after Juuso Valimaki’s attempt.

It seemed in those minutes that the momentum shifted from theirs to the rival’s side. But Compher stated that it really wasn’t like that on the ice, and that his team kept the composure they had throughout the whole series.

“We stuck with it. We didn’t panic,” Compher said. “We kept playing our game.”

And the results arrived. He scored a goal just 72 seconds after Ryan’s. From that moment on, two Avalanche’s guys are taking over the show, Rantanen and goalie Philip Grubauer.

The first one scored two goals, one of them the game-winner in the OTs, while Grubauer made several unbelievable saves, which definitely decided the game.

Rantanen tied the game with 2:50 until the end, on a power play, and Pepsi Center simply exploded. But that was nothing compared to the celebration when he scored during the middle of the overtime, with a fantastic one-timer from the right face-off straight into Mike Smith’s net. Flames’ goaltender had 49 saves in this one, and yet his team lost in the end.

Mikko Rantanen with the slick one-timer to win it for the @Avalanche in OT! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/igj3IZ8RaS

— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) April 18, 2019

In the meantime, Grubauer was the one who kept Colorado in the match with five saves during an extra 20 minutes. The 27-year old had 35 saves, and three biggest and most attractive ones were in the overtime when he stopped Mikael Backlund’s two shots and one by Matthew Tkachuk, all that in three seconds.

The last one when he denied Backlund was a one-time miracle, and that was the moment when the fans and the home-team players realized that they have the edge over the guests from Canada.

This was the 11th win of the Avalanche in the previous 14 matches, indicating that they might be the hottest team in the league right now. Berube’s guys finished the regular part of the season with 8-0-2 and continued to pound throughout this series in the same rhythm.

Rantanen spoke about the fact that Avalanche’s late playoff run is in fact, the ultimate reason for the good performances of his team right now. The intensity and the pressure forced this unit to evolve and to take their game to another level.

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“We had rough times in the season, but the way we finished, last 10 games, eight wins or something like that, so that’s how we want to finish the season before playoffs. Get hot at the right time.”

The next game is in Calgary tomorrow at 10 p.m. ET. Grubauer knows that a totally different environment and circumstances are expecting his team at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

“You now they’re going to come out in their own barn, and they’re going to be ready for sure.”