DENVER — The Detroit Red Wings weren’t even able to make a game of it.
Other than a good first handful of minutes Monday, they were thoroughly outperformed by the Colorado Avalanche, who ran up a five-goal lead before the Wings gave their fans at Ball Arena something to cheer. Avs fans cheered loudest and longest, though, as the Wings fell, 6-3, extending their losing streak against the Avalanche to nine straight games.
Ville Husso was replaced by Magnus Hellberg to start the third period, but it wasn’t Husso (five goals, 22 shots) who was the problem, it was, again, the Wings’ skaters. The Avs benefitted from easy offense, able to walk in and score uncontested. It’s the second straight game the Wings (18-17-7) have fallen behind by four goals.
Andrew Copp scored late in the second period, and Ben Chiarot used his heavy shot off a draw to pull the Wings within three goals early in the third period, but Nathan MacKinnon restored Colorado’s lead on a breakaway. Where the Wings’ stars were quiet, Colorado’s delivered in spades: Two goals and two assists by MacKinnon; two goals and an assist by Cale Makar.
David Perron scored with 33.7 seconds left.
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Challenging start
The Wings came out with jump, buzzing in the Avs’ zone and creating chances. Their momentum faltered when Artturi Lehkonen put the puck in their net at 5:12. The Wings challenged because MacKinnon appeared to be all over Husso, but video review favored the Avs — it was considered incidental contact and not goaltender interference — and left the Wings facing a penalty kill for losing a challenge. That took some air out of the Wings, who didn’t generate another chance until a power play past the period’s midpoint. Husso had to be quick during an Avalanche power play, denying Alex Newhook on a tip-in attempt.
Challenge grows
The Wings faced a second penalty kill at 13:26 of the first period, when Robby Fabbri was called for hooking Makar. The Wings put themselves shorthanded again at 17:25, when they were called for too many men. They couldn’t pull themselves out of a penalty kill for a third straight time; Makar, the defenseman the Avs selected at No. 4 in 2017, picked up his 12th goal of the season, and second point of the game, when he fired a shot through traffic from the blue line. That put the Wings down by two goals in the first period. They allowed three to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the previous game.
Challenge insurmountable
Makar showed off what a good skater he is early in the second period, taking a pass from MacKinnon near the left boards and striding to the net, making time and space for himself to maneuver to the middle and fire the puck behind Husso. The Avs — who are in a fight to make the playoffs and without Gabriel Landeskog — looked like they were toying with the Wings at times, pinning them in their own zone. Pavel Francouz didn’t have to make a save in the second period until Dylan Larkin fired a low-chance shot from along the boards past the five-minute mark. Any hope of a rally was quashed when J.T. Compher converted while Larkin was off for slashing, and MacKinnon made it 5-0 before the second period ended.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.