Devon Toews' three-point night leads Avalanche past defending-champion Panthers

Corey Masisak, The Denver Post on Jan 7, 2025

Published in Hockey

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The Colorado Avalanche began the season with a dud against a recent Stanley Cup champion — the Vegas Golden Knights.

But the Avs looked like a completely different club Monday night, completing the first half of the regular season with a statement effort against the defending champion Florida Panthers. Devon Toews scored twice, Mackenzie Blackwood made 26 saves and the Avalanche scratched out its 25th win in 41 games, a 3-1 victory at Ball Arena.

Colorado started this season 0-4, including an 8-4 loss to Vegas on opening night, and the Avs were 14-13 at one point. But they have flourished since swapping out both of the goalies in a pair of trades 10 days apart and finished the first half on an 11-2-1 run.

Toews scored his second goal of the night from almost the same spot in the offensive zone. Shortly after a strong power play, Ross Colton fed Toews at the top of the zone and he beat Sergei Bobrovsky for the second time with a wrist shot from long range.

It was Toews’ fifth goal of the season. Four of them have come in the past four contests, with Monday night the second multi-goal game of Toews’ career. His first came May 8, 2021, for the Avalanche against the Los Angeles Kings.

Mikko Rantanen added an empty-net goal for his team-leading 24th tally of the season. Toews had an assist to complete a three-point night. Nathan MacKinnon had the other helper to push his NHL-leading point total to 66.

Unlike the Avs’ 2-1 shootout loss two nights earlier to the Montreal Canadiens, this game had plenty of high-end scoring chances. It took a while, but the Panthers made Blackwood work in the second half of this contest. Bobrovsky was stout throughout.

Florida didn’t have many chances in the first period, but Carter Verhaeghe made the Panthers’ best one count at 15:57. Anton Lundell and Jesper Boqvist won a battle along the right wall at center ice, and the puck squirted free to Verhaeghe.

Lundell broke out of the scrum first and helped create a 2-on-1, then he and Verhaeghe completed a perfect give-and-go to put the Panthers in front. Colorado had an 11-4 lead in shots on goal, but Florida led on the scoreboard in the first intermission.

The Avs continued to find chances in the middle period. Cale Makar hit the left post and MacKinnon hit the crossbar, and Bobrovsky made multiple strong saves.

Eventually, it was a well-placed wrist shot from the top of the offensive zone that Bobrovsky was unable to stop. Toews found a hole through traffic that went off the crossbar, off the goalie’s back and trickled across the goal line at 18:18 of the second.

Footnote: Valeri Nichushkin was on the ice Monday before the Avs’ morning skate at Ball Arena. Nichushkin has missed the past two games with a lower-body injury after leaving the New Year’s Eve comeback against Buffalo. Avs coach Jared Bednar said Nichushkin would join the club on the upcoming three-game road trip during the team’s pregame show.