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Evan Rodrigues breaks out of slump for surging Avalanche; Colorado edges Ottawa Senators

kyle fredrickson, the gazette (colorado springs, colo.)
·4 min read

Mar. 16—OTTAWA — Evan Rodrigues returned to the site of his childhood hockey glory days. He scored a goal.

"Sometimes," Rodrigues said, "you have those rinks that you like playing in."

The rink in question: Canadian Tire Centre. Rodrigues explained that the Ottawa arena, in his home province of Ontario, hosted The Bell Capital Cup finals, a nationwide minor hockey tournament that Rodrigues competed in from ages 8-to-10. It still feels like home.

The Avalanche earned a resilient 5-4 win on Thursday night over the Ottawa Senators with Rodrigues scoring a beautiful goal off a cross-ice feed from Nathan MacKinnon. His second period wrister helped stave off a Senators comeback with Colorado playing on the second of back-to-back nights with a third-string goaltender (Jonas Johansson). The Avs are winners of four games in a row.

"I've had a lot of success in this rink going back to minor hockey," Rodrigues told The Denver Gazette. "We won a couple of times here, and throughout my NHL career, I've had a little bit of success in this rink in terms of production."

Rodrigues, after a hot start to the season, is back to playing at a top-six level after a mini slump lasting into early March. He managed only three points over a span of 15 games. Rodrigues explained how he turned the corner.

"It's a streaky game sometimes," he said. "I think you start to get frustrated when the chances aren't coming. I thought they were for the most part. I just kind of stuck with it. I made a big turn when I just started to focus on my compete level and winning battles. Let that production take care of yourself. Sometimes, when it's not going in for you, that's what you've got to do."

Rodrigues is riding a wave of improved play — three goals and two assists over his last eight games — that coincides with the team's recent improvement.

"(Rodrigues) was highly competitive tonight," coach Jared Bednar said after the win in Ottawa. "He was digging into the wall battles and puck battles. And playing with two guys, obviously, (Mikko Rantanen) and (MacKinnon), with a lot of skill. He has the ability to compliment those guys. He had a good night."

The timing of his re-emergence? Sublime.

The Avalanche are expected to be without top-line winger Artturi Lehkonen (broken finger) likely until the playoffs. Lehkonen had successful surgery back in Denver, coach Jared Bednar confirmed. The timeline for Lehkonen's return is four-to-six weeks.

Rodrigues embraces the chance to be elevated in the lineup. He just needs to capture that same childlike joy he plays with at Canadian Tire Center. It worked on Thursday night.

"We're in the stretch run here before the playoffs. You want to be dialed in," Rodrigues said. "We're starting to do that."

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Avalanche 5, Senators 4

What happened: Colorado extended its winning streak to four games while playing on the second night of back-to-back games and using a third-string goaltender. Ottawa was a quality opponent, too.

What went right: The Avs raced out to a 2-0 lead behind a wicked Cale Makar wrister and a Valeri Nichushkin power-play goal (redirected at the crease). A Nathan MacKinnon assist improved his current points streak to seven games.

Mikko Rantanen scored his 45th goal of the season on a deflection to open the second period. Evan Rodrigues scored. Lars Eller notched his first goal as a member of the Avalanche. He poked the puck into the net when Ottawa mistakenly thought the play was blown dead.

What went wrong: The Avalanche committed three penalties in the opening period, and with 26.7 seconds left, the Senators' power play finally capitalized. Drake Batherson tipped in a shot at the net front with a goal that cut into Colorado's early lead. The Senators scored three more times to cut their deficit to one goal in the third period.

Between the pipes: Jonas Johansson made 32-of-36 saves. He was excellent over the final 40 seconds of regulation during a penalty kill, making several impressive stops. Ottawa's Mads Sogaard saved 25 of Colorado's 30 shots on goal.

What's next: The Avalanche (39-22-6) close a four-game road trip against the Detroit Red Wings, 11 a.m. Saturday (NHL Network/Altitude) at Little Caesars Arena.

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