Colorado in the playoffs: Day 12
A daily news recap from the Avalanche camp during their run in the playoffs.A lower-body injury will keep Avalanche goalie Jonathan Bernier out of the lineup for tonight’s Game 5 of the Avs’ first-round series against the Nashville Predators. Andrew Hammond will start between the pipes, with youngster Spencer Martin backing him up. Colorado’s thus battling for playoff survival without their starter and backup, instead hoping that their third-string goalie will keep their season alive. Despite the high stakes, Hammond is embracing the opportunity, as he’s confident that he’s prepared as best as he can possibly be. “It is something, but at the end of the day, it won’t really matter unless I prepare the right way and do the right things to make sure I’m ready to play. That stuff is nice, but I kind of have more important things to worry about. My focus is just on getting ready for the game and making sure I’m ready to play a good game,” said Hammond for the Avs’ official website during the team’s media-availability session at Denver International Airport prior to the team departing to Nashville.
Rookie Alexander Kerfoot also said the team is fully confident that Hammond can get the job done. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in him. It’s not like he’s just been up here for a little bit, he’s been around the team for a while now. When he’s gotten his opportunity here and other places in the league, he’s done a good job. We have a lot of confidence in him and it shouldn’t change the way we approach Game 5.”
In other news…
Eurolanche members will watch the game live at a watch party in Brno, Czech Republic. 9 members from three differenet countries are attending the meetup.
Defenseman Samuel Girard will be a game-time decision for Game 5.
The Predators will be without Ryan Hartman, who will serve a one-game suspension for his hit to the head of Avs forward Carl Soderberg.
Nashville has won 11 of their last 13 playoff games at home, ranking them first in this category along with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Overall, the Predators are 29-19 at home in the playoffs.
Forward depth has proved to be a big advantage for the Predators – 10 of their 13 forwards have recorded at least a point against in the series thus far.
The Avs and Predators have combined for 29 goals in the previous four games, resulting in a 7.25 goals-per-game average, the highest average of goals scored in a playoff series this year so far.
Colorado is facing a 1-3 deficit in the playoffs for the third time in franchise history. They were knocked out both times. The Avs have also faced a 0-3 deficit two times, also being eliminated on both occasions.
Original story by Rudolf Sery
Michal Hezely, Slovakia, hezely@eurolanche.com
20/04/2018 - 23:00
