The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs got of to a bang, as Colorado Avalanche held serve against the Minnesota Wild to stake a 2-0 series lead.
A victory today can give them a commanding three game series lead and leave them just one victory away from returning to the Western Conference Final.
Colorado Avalanche (6-0)
The Opponent: Minnesota Wild (4-4)
Time: 7:00 P.M. MDT/9:00 P.M. EDT
Watch: HBO Max, TNT, truTV (US National Broadcast), CBC, SN, SN1, SN+, TVAS, TVAS+ (Canadian National Broadcast)
Listen: Altitude Sports
Radio KKSE-FM 92.5 FM
Colorado Avalanche
While the scoring output was akin to a slow-dripping faucet through the first two games against Los Angeles, that faucet turned into a fire hose in the first two games against Minnesota. The Avalanche scored a combined twelve goals against both Jesper Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson (along with two empty net tallies). Eleven different skaters recorded goals across both games, while both Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon were the only skaters for Colorado to score more than once against Minnesota thus far.
Unlike Game One, which wasn’t Scott Wedgewood’s best performance (and, to be fair, the Avs didn’t have the best defensive performance in front of him), he rebounded nicely in Game Two, stopping twenty-nine of thirty-one shots. After surrendering the tying goal six seconds after taking an early first period lead, the entire roster collectively flipped the switch defensively, limiting scoring opportunities for Minnesota for the duration of the game. Even when Marcus Johansson scored to pull Minnesota within two late in the third, the commitment to defense never waned.
Thanks to another scheduling quirk in this series, the Avs had two extra days of rest in advance of Game Three. While the additional downtime would give the roster a little more time to recharge before playing in front of a hostile Grand Casino Arena crowd today, the extra down time could signal Josh Manson’s return to action.
When addressing the media on Friday, head coach Jared Bednar acknowledged that defenseman Jack Ahcan wouldn’t be traveling with the team to St. Paul. When asked about Manson’s recovery and the chances of him playing in St. Paul, Bednar said “We feel good about it. That’s why Jack’s not here.”
That’s probably as close to an admission on Manson’s availability that we’ll get.
With the extra rest, the Avs would do well to continue to lean into their speed to create offensively right out of the gate in Game Three. With a 2-0 series lead, Minnesota will feed off the energy of their hometown fans, and continuing the trend of scoring early (and often) today would go a long way in taking that energy out of the building. Having put multiple goals past both Minnesota goalies through two games certainly is a confidence booster, and given the success of the roster at five on five and on the power play to this point in the series (what shorthanded goal?), there certainly is plenty of reason to believe in a third straight victory over Minnesota.
Coming into tonight’s game, MacKinnon leads all skaters in postseason points (10), and shares the postseason goal lead with Makar (4) and the assist lead with Nečas (6). Nečas, Gabe Landeskog, and Devon Toews all share second place in postseason points (7).
Expect Wedgewood to start between the pipes tonight as he looks for his seventh consecutive playoff win.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Nečas
Gabe Landeskog – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Ross Colton – Nazem Kadri – Nicolas Roy
Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor
Defense:
Cale Makar – Devon Toews
Josh Manson – Sam Malinksi
Brett Kulak – Brent Burns
Between the Pipes:
Scott Wedgewood
Mackenzie Blackwood
Minnesota Wild
Minnesota had to feel pretty confident coming out of their first round series against a high-powered Dallas Stars team. Matt Boldy had a coming out party, scoring six goals against Dallas. Kirill Kaprizov, soon to be the highest paid player in the NHL scored twice and added ten assists. Prized defenseman Quinn Hughes scored twice and had nine assists. Wallstedt performed admirably, backstopping Minnesota for his first ever postseason series win, and securing Minnesota’s first appearance in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2015.
Even with the loss of Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin, and depth players like Zach Bogosian, dispatching Dallas certainly boosted Minnesota’s confidence that they could follow up their first round heroics against the President’s Trophy winners in Colorado.
And then what happened?
In two games against Colorado, Kaprizov has one goal and one assist. Boldy has one assist. Hughes has one goal and two assists. Wallstedt gave up eight goals in Game One, and Gustavsson gave up four goals in Game Two.
In addressing the media on Friday, head coach John Hynes said, “We haven’t gotten one [win] yet, but we believe in our team and how we play, and we’ve got to be better in certain areas, but you know, we’ve done some really good things in this series as far as style of play and how you play, and dictating the game at certain times. I would say that that’s where the real belief comes in from, you know?
Hynes continued, “And then, just having the experience. You have guys with playoff experience, they go through different things, but, that is valuable, but as I said yesterday, this group, this team, this year, has gone through a series where you went through injuries, you went through losing a game, you went through playing a Game Five, like, we went through a lot in that series to win it, and that’s this group, so the mindset’s the same.”
In the Game One track meet, Minnesota took their first lead of the series on a shorthanded goal by Marcus Foligno. That lead lasted for 1:09 before Colorado’s Devon Toews scored to tie the game. Minnesota did not lead at any point in Game Two. By comparison, Los Angeles led for a total of 3:21 throughout the entire series against Colorado. If Minnesota is to have any shot at preventing Colorado from positioning themselves for another postseason sweep, they will have to make life difficult for Wedgewood and get more production—be it at even strength or on special teams—and keep a lead for longer than 70 seconds.
In addressing his comments to the media on Friday, Hynes indicated that Eriksson Ek could be a game-time decision. He also said that Brodin would not be ready for Game Three. When pressed about who would start in goal today, Hynes evaded the question, indicating that he would make the announcement “later”. While Gustavsson fared much better in Game Two compared to Wallstedt in Game One, one could expect Wallstedt to return to the crease today, albeit with a much shorter rope. If he stumbles, look for Gustavsson to replace him and potentially take over the net for the balance of the series.
Despite Colorado’s dominance this season, they have not fared well in postseason play during their visits to St. Paul. Minnesota has not lost to Colorado on home ice in over eighteen years. No, seriously: Colorado has not won a playoff game in St. Paul since April 17, 2008, a 3-2 decision. During their previous playoff meeting back in 2014, Colorado failed to win any of the three games in St. Paul as the visiting team.
If Minnesota is looking for any additional motivation to avoid falling into a 0-3 series hole, that streak from the past could provide a spark in the present.
Projected Lineup
Forwards:
Kirill Kaprizov – Ryan Hartman – Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson – Joel Eriksson Ek – Matt Boldy
Vladimir Tarasenko – Michael McCarron – Yakov Trenin
Marcus Foligno – Nico Sturm – Nick Foligno
Defense:
Quinn Hughes – Brock Faber
Jake Middleton – Jared Spurgeon
Daemon Hunt – Jeff Petry
Between the Pipes:
Jesper Wallstedt
Filip Gustavsson
