Goalie Darcy Kuemper had a .935 save percentage in his last six starts and the streaking Avalanche was supposed to reign supreme in this one — a home game against a 4-11-1 team that had not played in the last eight days because of a COVID outbreak.
But the Ottawa Senators surprised a lot of people — particularly the big crowd at Ball Arena that saw Colorado take the lead 50 seconds into the game. The Avs had enough scoring but not enough Kuemper, who allowed five goals on the first 14 shots he faced in what turned into a track meet.