FINAL: Avalanche 4, Bruins 3 (SO) -B's fall in shootout

The Bruins fell to the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 in a shootout on Monday night. Brandon Carlo left the game during the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return. 

The Bruins got off to a slow start and were outshot 14-5 in the period. However, they still had some chances and cashed in at the 11:21 mark on the power play with a Brad Marchand goal to make it 1-0. Colorado answered back at the 16:13 mark on the man advantage thanks to a goal from Mikko Rantanen tie tie it at one. 

The second period started with Logan O’Connor giving the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at the 2:23 mark. The Bruins answered back with a goal from Johnny Beecher at the 10:05 mark to tie it at two.

 Colorado scored again at the 17:56 mark thanks to a Sam Malinski goal to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead. 

The third period was highlighted by Marchand scoring his second goal of the night at the 5:46 mark to tie the game at three. 

After a scoreless overtime period, Boston fell in the shootout 1-0 when Valeri Nichushkin scored in the third round to give the Avalanche the win. 

Jeremy Sayman finished the nigh with 33 saves in net for the Bruins. Swayman was outstanding and kept Boston in the game on the road against a dangerous Colorado team. 

The Bruins will be back in action on Tuesday night in a back-to-back at Arizona to face the Coyotes at 9 p.m. ET. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Bruins still walk away with a point on the road against one of the best teams in the NHL. 
• Bruins got sloppy at times with penalties and turnovers due to poor puck control. 
• Beecher snapped a 14-game goal-scoring drought. 
• Marchand passed Rick Middleton for sole possession of fifth place on the Bruins all-time scoring list.  

_____________________________

WHO: Bruins (24-8-6) at Avalanche (25-12-3)
WHEN: 9 p.m. ET.
WHERE: Ball Arena, Denver.
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub
LIVE BOX SCORE
ROSTERS

Drouin - MacKinnon - Rantane
Nichushkin - Colton - LOC
Cogliano - Johansen - Kiviranta
MacDermid - Olofsson - Polin

Toews - Maka
rJohnson - Girard
Jones - Malinski

Georgiev
PREGAME NOTES
The Bruins begin a four-game Western Conference road trip tonight in Colorado to take on the Avalanche at 9 p.m. ET. Jim Montgomery told reporters this morning that Johnny Beecher will take the place of Jakub Lauko to skate alongside Jesper Boqvist and Oskar Steen. 

"The face-offs have been a little bit of an issue. Beecher’s excellent at it. It’s an opportunity for him to get back in the lineup," Montgomery said. James van Riemsdyk took part in morning skate but will miss his second straight game with an injury. The Bruins have scored at least four goals in six straight games. 

The Avalanche enter tonight coming off an 8-4 loss on Saturday night to the Florida Panthers, snapping a season long seven-game home winning streak. Colorado sits with a 25-12-3 record which is good for 53 points on the season, only one back of the Bruins (54). The Avalanche rank second in the NHL in goals per game (3.68), while the power play is eighth in the league at 24.7%. 

Nathan MacKinnon is second in the NHL in points at 65 in 40 games, while he has 22 goals which is good for eighth. Mikko Rantanen also has 20 goals and 50 points on the season. Valeri Nischuskin has 20 goals and 40 points on the season. According to Hockey Reference, Colorado has 53.3% Corsi rating during five-on-five play.