No more overlooking the Kraken. Seattle crashed the playoff party at Ball Arena with a 3-1 Game 1 victory over the Avs on Tuesday.
Losing the first two games of a playoff series at home can often be a death sentence. Here are three keys to Avalanche redemption in Game 2 on Thursday (7:30 p.m. MT, ESPN).
1. Second-line repentance. Two of the Kraken’s three goals in Game 1 — the last two — were scored by their second line, while Colorado’s second line was on the ice. Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin are elite forecheckers who failed to forecheck in the offensive and neutral zones as Seattle pushed for a transition goal early in the second period. “It’s relatively easy coverage,” coach Jared Bednar said after the game. The Avalanche’s top line allowed more scoring chances, but it wasn’t responsible for any Kraken goals. (It was on the ice for Seattle’s first but had nothing to do with it. Devon Toews turned the puck over. Who took advantage? A Kraken third-line forward.) At the offensive end, the Lehkonen-J.T. Compher-Nichushkin line only generated five scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. The MacKinnon line created nine. It’s not simply a matter of minutes played. Compher led all Avalanche forwards in ice time. Whether it’s splitting up MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen or throwing a different dart at the board, the Avs need a solution to find scoring production from their entire top six if they hope to combat Seattle’s depth.
2. The other version of Josh Manson. The Avs need the version who returned from a three-month injury in February and immediately played the game of his life at Minnesota. The version whose heft and heart are built for playoff hockey. The version who can keep those bulkier Kraken defenseman occupied. Not the version who returned to the lineup in Game 1 looking rusty, or the version who led the Avs in penalty minutes before his December injury. Manson went to the box twice in the first period of the playoffs vs. Seattle. He was also on the ice for two Kraken goals. Echoing Toews’ earlier mistake, Manson mishandled a puck behind Alexandar Georgiev’s net early in the third period to help hand Seattle a two-goal lead. Cleaner breakouts are a necessity. Manson isn’t a scorer, but he can be an X-factor for the Avalanche blue line in this series if he’s feeling himself.
3. Iron man. Andrew Cogliano participated in an optional skate last Sunday and a full practice Monday before Game 1. He seemed positioned to do what he has done millions of times: play through the pain. But when game day arrived, he was no longer on the ice. Still dogged by an upper-body injury that he sustained by crashing into the boards April 13, Cogliano no doubt wants to play. He appeared in 830 consecutive games to start his career. Without him, the Avs needed to fill a Game 1 forward spot with Ben Meyers, who’s a generation or three younger than Cogliano. Meyers finished the regular season strong, but his experience clearly is a concern for Bednar. The rookie only played 4:49 in Game 1, including one brief shift in the third period. Cogliano is a trusted, efficient depth forward who can eat up more minutes and maybe, just maybe, add a scoring spark. What magic can the medical staff cobble together to get him on the ice Thursday?
