The Colorado Avalanche has been the NHL’s best offense in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but it got a needed boost against the stingy Dallas Stars.
Much needed, it turned out.
Jonathan Drouin skated in his normal spot with the first power-play unit Monday morning and returned to the Avs lineup in Game 4 against the Stars at Ball Arena. His return couldn’t have come at a much better time for Colorado, with Valeri Nichushkin suspended for six months just before the game and Devon Toews pulled from the lineup due to illness.
“He’s a good player — really good player,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of Drouin on Monday morning, before news of Nichushkin and Toews broke.
“We’ve missed them while he’s been out. He has the ability to move around our lineup and help with the skill portion of it, the skating portion of it. He’s become a really trusted defensive player for us. So he brings a lot to the table.”
Drouin was injured in the final game of the regular season April 18 against the Edmonton Oilers. He sustained a skate cut on his leg. The Avs ruled him out for at least the first round, then Bednar said the timeline was “four weeks or less” from the incident and hoped it would be less.
He’d been skating with the team for a few days in a baby blue practice kit but switched to the normal blue sweater reserved for PP1 (and captain Gabe Landeskog) on Monday. When asked about needing to be cautious about the wound reopening, Bednar replied, “He wouldn’t be playing if there was that possibility.”
Drouin signed with the Avs on a one-year contract in the offseason after a disappointing end to his six-year tenure with the Canadiens. He got off to a slow start with Colorado but eventually became an integral part of the club’s top-six forwards.
He had 19 goals and a career-best 56 points during the regular season.
“It would be a huge boost,” Avs defenseman Josh Manson said. “I mean, he’s a great player. He was great for us all year. I know in the playoffs he’s a hard-nose kind of guy and he will be stepping up and wanting to contribute. I’m excited if he can come back.”
The Avs have averaged a league-best 4.5 goals per game through their first eight Stanley Cup Playoffs contests. But it’s been a tougher slog against defense-minded Dallas than it was against Winnipeg, the league’s co-leaders in fewest goals allowed during the regular season.
Colorado had not led during game play in the series entering Monday night. The Avalanche had also not scored a goal in the first period and only beat Jake Oettinger once in a 4-1 loss in Game 3 here two nights ago.
Maybe the place where Drouin can make the most immediate impact is on the power play.
“Yeah, very smart player — high, high hockey IQ and very good vision … so he’s just a really good power-play player,” Avs forward Mikko Rantanen said. “I think he’s always been.”
The Avs began the postseason white-hot with the extra man, including a 6-for-16 series against Winnipeg and then connecting on both opportunities to help storm back and take Game 1 from Dallas. But, as Bednar noted, the Stars amped up the pressure on the PK over Games 2 and 3.
Colorado went 0 for 3 in both contests, which were both one-goal games into the final minutes (Dallas tacked on two late empty-netters in Game 3). Drouin typically plays in the middle or bumper spot of the Avalanche’s 1-3-1 alignment when he’s with the first power-play unit.
“Drouin’s really good at finding space, where you can use him and try to break pressure,” Bednar said. “That could be helpful for us against Dallas with the way they’re pressuring. He has the skill and ability to shoot or pass. Mixing it up can’t hurt.”
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