Devon Toews scored 48 seconds into overtime Thursday night to complete another crazy Avalanche win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Jason Zucker scored his third goal of the night to give the Sabres a two-goal lead at Ball Arena, but Cale Makar had his second of the evening with 2:28 left and Jonathan Drouin sent it to overtime with 6.8 seconds remaining on Nathan MacKinnon’s third assist of the contest.
Toews then scored on a breakaway less than a minute into the extra frame to send the Avs to an improbable 6-5 victory inside Ball Arena.
It marked the team’s second multi-goal comeback against the Sabres this season after Colorado rallied back from a 4-0 deficit in Buffalo last month.
The Avs, like they have so many times this season, do have an injury concern that may outweigh the result. It’s the Avs’ 10th win in 12 games, but goaltender Scott Wedgewood left the game with an injury.
This game took a wild turn early in the third period. Just 22 seconds after Ross Colton had brought Colorado to within a goal, Zach Benson scored to put Buffalo ahead 4-2.
Benson had been checked into the crease behind Wedgewood. After Wedgewood fell backwards onto him and was clearly injured, Benson got up and was able to score a wraparound goal while the Avs netminder was still writhing in pain.
The Avalanche challenged for goaltender interference, but it was upheld. Wedgewood left the game and could not put any weight on his right leg.
Colorado’s new backup goaltender has been excellent since arriving in a trade from Nashville on Nov. 30. He was 4-2 with a .932 save percentage in six appearances since the deal.
Buffalo took a pair of penalties shortly after the Benson tally, and Mikko Rantanen made it a one-goal game again on a one-timer from MacKinnon at 4:17 of the third. It was Rantanen’s team-leading 22nd goal, and one of three MacKinnon points to push his league-leading total to 64.
Zucker opened the scoring at 13:17 of the first period. He was set up at the right post and directed a Jack Quinn pass behind Wedgewood with Buffalo on the power play. Zucker scored his second extra-man goal of the night at 11:08 of the second period on a similar play.
He was at the top of the crease this time, and Tage Thompson fed him for a one-timer from below the goal line and a three-goal Buffalo lead.
Colorado’s penalty kill had been red hot coming into this game. The Avs had erased 23 of the past 25 opposing power plays during the past 11 games.
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In between the first two Zucker goals, an old friend burned the Avs. Bo Bryam, playing in his first game at Ball Arena with the Sabres since he was traded to Buffalo before the deadline last season, got behind the Avalanche defensemen on a rush and tucked a pretty backhanded goal past Wedgewood.
The Avs traded Byram to Buffalo for Casey Mittelstadt in a swap of recent top-10 draft picks on March 6, shortly after sending Ryan Johansen and a first-round pick to Philadelphia for Sean Walker. It was Byram’s fifth goal of the season. He’s also averaging more than 23 minutes per contest while playing next to Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin on the top pairing.
Colorado had a MacKinnon goal waived off after an offsides review earlier in the second period. The Avalanche did get one back with 5:02 remaining in the second.
Makar took a drop pass from Drouin near the right point, then juked past Zucker before snapping a shot under the crossbar. His two-goal night gives him 13, which leads all NHL defensemen.
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