Eurolanche

The Colorado Avalanche have played their first postseason game since 2014 and what a game it has been. Although a 5-2 loss doesn’t look all too good on paper, one has to say that the Avs showed great resilience and held their own, at times looking even better than the heavily-favored home team. Colorado had several quality scoring chances, but Predators Pekka Rinne was simply phenomenal and showed, why he’ll likely be a big favorite to win the Vezina Trophy for the league’s best goalie. “We had Mikko on a breakaway, we had Mack on an odd-man rush. A couple of our guys had good chances, but we just couldn’t convert,” said head coach Jared Bednar following the loss.

A 5-2 win looks like an easy one for the President’s Trophy-winning Nashville Predators, but everyone, who tuned in to watch the opening game of this series, saw that the Avs won’t go down without a fight. They’ve held their own for two periods, creating problems for the home team, which failed to create any dangerous scoring chances apart from several quick counterattacks. Yes, Peter Laviolette’s team did score two goals, but both of them came after unforced errors made by the away team. The final frame was when the game ultimately slipped away from the Avs and when the Preds showed that they’re far more experienced than the young Colorado squad.

“We’ve managed to do some good things during the first two periods, but failed to build on that in the third. We simply stopped to play the way we did the first 40 minutes, during which we’ve created a number of great chances, but Pekka Rinne turned us away with some fantastic saves. Maybe that’s what threw us off in the end. We have to watch the game tape, analyze everything and get ready for the second game,” said forward Blake Comeau. Defenseman Tyson Barrie shared his opinion. “We can be satisfied with the way we’ve played during the first two periods, we had possession and also lead in terms of shots. We played good hockey, but we failed to build on it in the final frame.”

In other news…

Colorado is the youngest team in this year’s playoffs, while also being the least-experienced team that made it to the postseason. Eight players made their NHL playoff debut – Mikko Rantanen, Sven Andrighetto, J.T. Compher, Tyson Jost, Samuel Girard, Alexander Kerfoot, David Warsofsky and Nikita Zadorov.

Blake Comeau scored his second career playoff goal, with Carl Soderberg earning an assist on the play for his first career playoff point.

Ryan Johansen won’t be suspended for his hit on Tyson Barrie. The Avs defenseman was disappointed by the verdict made by the NHL, saying that the league should punish players for hits like this. GM Joe Sakic was also upset by the ruling. “You saw the hit Doughty was punished for. The NHL lacks consistency.”

Several Avs were absent from the team’s morning skate, including Barrie, who’ll still play in the series’ second game according to Adrian Dater. Jonathan Bernier was also absent, getting a day off from coach Bednar. The team also called up goalie Spencer Martin from San Antonio.

No lineup changes are expected for Game 2.

Original story by Juraj Janotak, translated by Michal Hezely