Colorado in the playoffs: Day 8
A daily news recap from the Avalanche camp during their run in the playoffs.The Avalanche held an optional practice following their crucial win against the Predators in Game 3. Sadly, Sam Girard was once again held off the ice, with head coach Jared Bednar yet again emphasizing his day-to-day status, yet sharing his hope that he could be back for the Avs’ second home game of the series. Girard’s spot was filled by Duncan Siemens, an afterthought for many, who played his second game in row and did really well. Bednar apparently has faith in the former first round pick, which is only proven by him drawing into the lineup for the past two games. Yet, despite all the positive stuff Colorado showed on the ice, there is still room for improvement – David Warsofsky was once again shaky and fans are still calling for Mark Alt to replace him in the lineup. We’ll see if Bednar goes with the mantra that you shouldn’t change a winning formula.
Colorado won a game against Nashville for the first time since April 2016, breaking their 12-game losing streak against the Preds with yesterday’s win. And boy, did they ever deserve it. The overall impression from the Avs’ first playoff win since 2014 isn’t even hampered by their lackluster power-play, which came up empty all five times it was on the ice. The Predators were visibly frustrated by the revitalized Avs, going hard and looking to gain momentum with scrums between whistles, something Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog spoke about in his post-game interview. The young Swede had a great game, with his best play coming as he fought for the puck in the neutral zone and send Nathan MacKinnon on a breakaway to put the Avs up 3-0. This is the kind of performance Avs fans want to see from their captain.
In other news…
Game 5 between the Avs and the Predators will be played on Friday, with the time of the game being announced at a later date. Eurolanche members will likely watch the game at a meetup in Brno.
Nathan MacKinnon the first multi-goal playoff game of his young career. He said that he believes that the game will cause a snowball effect – with the Predators not being able to stop the rolling Avalanche.
MacKinnon’s stats after three games are as follows – an average TOI of 22:21, 4 primary points, 29 attempted shots, 16 shots on goal and 19 chances.
Colorado scored three times in the opening period of a first-round playoff game for the first time since their first-round series against Minnesota back in 2008.
PK Subban could face supplemental discipline for his sucker punch to the back of Nate MacKinnon’s head. Mark Kiszla criticized Subban for the incident in his article for the Denver Post.
P.K. Subban goes up high on Nathan MacKinnon. #Preds #Avs pic.twitter.com/PLHiJyk53n
— Mark Harris (@TweetsByHarris) 17. apríla 2018
The Avs will have optional team practice at 8 pm CET, with regular team practice scheduled for game day tomorrow. Game 4 will be played at 4 am CET.
Original story by David Puchovsky
Michal Hezely, Slovakia, hezely@eurolanche.com
17/04/2018 - 16:00
