Good and Bad: Avalanche overcomes officiating, Dostal's performance earns first win in OT

DENVER – It wasn't quite what they thought it would be, but the Avalanche accomplished what they set out to do on Friday against the Anaheim Ducks. They won their first game of the season, they dominated the game and most importantly, they did it against all odds – twice.

Colorado conceded its first two goals, both in the first period, before fighting back to win 4-3. They led 3-2 towards the end of the third period, but gave up the decisive goal with 12.9 seconds left. Then Nathan MacKinnon was the hero in extra time – capping a crazy game in many ways.

Anaheim goaltender Lukas Dostal came into the game with a save percentage of .933 and almost escaped Ball Arena with another win. He made 45 saves as the Ducks lost 49-19. Colorado seemingly dominated from the first puck drop, but it took nearly 52 minutes to finally take the lead in this game.

“Our goal was to come out and play this way and with this identity,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “Because for the guys that weren't here, that's the identity of our team, so we're trying to make it as long and as hard as we can. “And it certainly wasn't easy.”

The Avs had an 18-8 advantage in shots on goal in the first period, but allowed the only two goals scored. In the second period, they scored on a breakaway goal from Casey Mittelstadt and dominated with a 17-3 shot advantage. And in the third, they started with a 4-on-3 power play and scored twice before the eventual winner in OT.

Colorado finally got its first two points in the standings. There was great hockey most of the evening, but it was by no means a pretty game. And you could probably thank the poor first-half performance for a devastating loss. You guessed it, today's “Bad” was not an Avs player.

As for the “Good?” Give this to the hero in the third period. More about him after we talk about the mess in the first third.

Bad: Acting

I don't like doing that and I don't usually do it. But there's something to be said about how the referee almost let the Avalanche miss this game with one of the worst missed calls I've seen in a long time. One could argue that the referees played a role in both of Anaheim's goals, but the first was a 50-50 decision. I like to assume that the referee behind the Avalanche goal had a clear view of the puck and felt that it wasn't covered or handled well enough by Josh Manson to blow it away. Kudos to the Ducks for being persistent and chasing the puck until it crossed the goal line. That's what you should do in this situation.

But the second goal? No excuse. The puck deflected into the net behind the Avs goal. All 10 players on the ice saw it, the entire Avalanche bench saw it. And more than 18,000 fans in the audience saw it. But somehow the referees didn't make it.

The puck came down and landed on Samuel Girard's stick. And even though Girard made a stupid play to turn the game around after firing it off the boards and into the neutral zone, that still doesn't excuse the missed call. Everyone on the ice, including the Ducks players, stood around waiting for the whistle. Girard was unsettled and didn't really know what to do. Anaheim took the puck, entered the zone and shot it past Alexandar Georgiev to make it 2-0. Brutal, terrible and inexcusable.

Good: Ross Colton

I don't think Ross Colton should ever play center again. At least not until the Avalanche are fully healthy – if they ever actually bring everyone back at the same time. Last year, when the Avalanche were having injury problems, we asked Bednar several times if he had considered moving Colton back to wing – the position he played with Tampa Bay. But Bednar made it clear that this move was not possible due to the lack of center depth. At the time, Colorado had Ryan Johansen and Fredrik Olofsson as other centers, and neither of them were on the roster at the start of the playoffs. But now that Casey Mittelstadt is doing his thing in the top six, Bednar can finally shift Colton to the wing if needed. And with Gabriel Landeskog, Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen and Jonathan Drouin all missing from the lineup, he needs it now more than ever.

Colton scored both Avalanche goals in the third period and each was assisted by one of the Avs' two best centers.

Early in the third period, Mittelstadt played a brief 4-on-3 Avalanche power play as MacKinnon served the final 34 seconds of his penalty. Colorado prepared quickly in the offensive zone and Mittelstadt set up Colton for a one-timer to tie the game 2-2. Even though the power play ended, the Avs continued to circulate the puck in the offensive zone as if they had a man advantage. Anaheim hung by a thread and was on his heels for most of the night. And it became too much.

At five-on-five, Colton spent the evening with Mikko Rantanen and MacKinnon on the wing – the same spot he finished Wednesday's game against Boston. His second of the night and fourth of the season was set up by MacKinnon.

Colton scored two goals and his linemates combined for five.