GDT: Colorado Avalanche host the St. Louis Blues @ 8pm MT for Game #1 of The West Division Playoffs

[Ararana]

Would have been the most epic moment in NHL history if MacKinnon shot the puck so hard it went through the empty net.

Or bar down

 

[Grackle Party]

Perron is apparently a MacKinnon level hockey god and with him the series would be over already

 

[RockyMtnRedhawk]

I missed one thing in the game. The fans didn't get to sing "All the small things". It's always great when they do.

They played it during the last TV timeout. Probably didn't come through on the broadcast.

 

[Hennessy]

Binnington played well, but my main takeaway was how many chances the Avs missed. And not just Rantanen.
They pot a couple of those or Binnington plays just slightly worse and this game would've been uglier.

My main concern going forward is that if the Avs continue tilting the ice like this, the frustration for the Blues will spill over. Not having Perron around to be the ringleader on that helps, but the possibility is still real.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

 

[Richard88]

View attachment 435428

At a glance you'd think that most of those points came against Arizona, but he has 21 points in 10 games with 8 of those games being against Dallas and St. Louis. 28 points in his last 16 playoff games. Hopefully it continues.

 

[Avsfan1921]

Agree with everything, and it's indeed really promising that Binnington stood on his head and still didn't get the win. Avs missed a tonne of chances and in the end the game still wasn't particularly close.

Regarding the bit in bold, there were times in the game where you could see that the Blues were clearly trying to force the issue and step up and hit Girard and Makar, but every time they did that and double-teamed them they left themselves exposed on the rush and we got odd-man breaks through the neutral zone. It's a bit of a catch-22 for them, as they need to bully our puckmoving Dmen on the forecheck to stop our transition game, but they don't have the system or the Dmen who excel at stepping up to cover the space when they do send enough guys forward to hit Makar and Girard.

Yeah they did push the physical play at times after the game was likely out of reach, but I expected them to come out with dump and chase hockey, punishing the D in the corner. At least that should have been their gameplan. I am perfectly content if last night was as physical as this series gets!

As a group our D is a little young and timid, so if Berube does not try and take advantage of that more in the following games, I will have to seriously question his decision making as a coach.

EDIT:
I agree about not chasing them but they need to think of this series as a war and not a battle, and they didn't wear them down in the least for going into next game.

 

[Avsfan1921]

On Kadri, I fully understand Bednars decision to keep him at 2c and expect he stays there next game. Getting him on track is the biggest concern outside of winning and if we are in control he will likely keep playing him in the best spot to ignite him. If they tie the series and Kadri stinks it up then I could see change but not until then IMO. My biggest concern last night was actually Nemeth but I doubt he comes out either as he didn't truly cost us anything and as a team it was a great game. Would love to see MacDonald or Byram check in though, especially if the physical tone remains the same.

 

[JWK]

We all know Binnington rushed up to the ice knowing the refs were gonna stop him

His schtick is funny though

 

[Metallo]

I agree, Kadri needs to be fixed. If we can’t do that, the road ahead becomes that much harder.

 

[henchman21]

We all know Binnington rushed up to the ice knowing the refs were gonna stop him

His schtick is funny though

Hey! He's the toughest guy in the world as long as a ref is in front of him!

 

[The Shermanator]

Put Newhook in Kadri's spot.

If Newhook is going to rot on the 4th line we might as well have Soda's big body there.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

I don’t think Newhook was any more impressive than Kadri last night. Plus Kadri was a ppg playoff performer last year. I’m frustrated with his play as much as anyone but we’re gonna need him to succeed in later rounds. Let him play out his kinks.

 

[nammerus]

I agree, Kadri needs to be fixed. If we can’t do that, the road ahead becomes that much harder.

If Kadri remains an active detriment to the team, it's very unlikely that the Avs can win this year.

 

[henchman21]

I don’t think Newhook was any more impressive than Kadri last night. Plus Kadri was a ppg playoff performer last year. I’m frustrated with his play as much as anyone but we’re gonna need him to succeed in later rounds. Let him play out his kinks.

Yup... getting Kadri going is more important than elevating Newhook.

 

[AvsFan29]

I don’t think Newhook was any more impressive than Kadri last night. Plus Kadri was a ppg playoff performer last year. I’m frustrated with his play as much as anyone but we’re gonna need him to succeed in later rounds. Let him play out his kinks.

Newhook won a lot more battles than Kadri did, and was always moving his feet. I think Newhook can be a bit of a dark horse for us. He’s got a few goals in him.

 

[klozge]

Newhook won a lot more battles than Kadri did, and was always moving his feet. I think Newhook can be a bit of a dark horse for us. He’s got a few goals in him.

Newhook was okay but he needs a lot of time before he can challenge for Kadri's spot. Kadri was much better than him yesterday.

 

[Avs_19]

Kadri played one of his better games on Newhook’s wing but it was against lesser competition so I don’t know if there’s much to take away from that. They’ve tried so many different combinations with Kadri and nothing has gotten him going. They’re going to need him so you have to keep trying but I also don’t blame Bednar for limiting his ice time right now.

 

[henchman21]

Newhook won a lot more battles than Kadri did, and was always moving his feet. I think Newhook can be a bit of a dark horse for us. He’s got a few goals in him.

A few is nice, but Kadri playing well has 10++ in him during a long run. Newhook may get there in time, but Kadri is the much better hockey player. The Avs need him going to win the Cup.

 

[AvsFan29]

A few is nice, but Kadri playing well has 10++ in him during a long run. Newhook may get there in time, but Kadri is the much better hockey player. The Avs need him going to win the Cup.

I agree that Kadri needs to get going, but he’s been MIA for weeks and he didn’t look any better last night.

 

[henchman21]

I agree that Kadri needs to get going, but he’s been MIA for weeks and he didn’t look any better last night.

Yeah, I agree... but I just can't see the Avs winning a Cup with him struggling. The matchups down the line are just too strong. So they need to throw the kitchen sink at Kadri to get him going. Newhook isn't going to be able to match directly up with Staal/Trocheck, Cirelli/Gourde, Malkin/Carter, etc and have the Avs break even in that battle. Kadri is gonna have to be that guy.

 

[Balthazar]

According to Natural Stat Trick, Colorado’s top line combined for 11 shots at five-on-five in Game 1, out-chanced the Blues 11-4 and controlled 83.4 percent of the expected goals

ROR who?

 

[Ceremony]

Binnington is the guy on a night out who only ever starts shouting and wanting to fight when three of his mates are between him and whoever he's shouting at. It's a shame this is only the first round because it would be a good laugh seeing him melt down on the way out of the conference final rather than the first round.

 

[henchman21]

According to Natural Stat Trick, Colorado’s top line combined for 11 shots at five-on-five in Game 1, out-chanced the Blues 11-4 and controlled 83.4 percent of the expected goals

ROR who?

Against ROR the scoring chances were 7-4.

 

[Avsfan1921]

I'm pretty sure Binnington was at the Wsh game the other night. I saw a vid of him thowing down with some rando in the stands.