Instant reaction from the Avalanche’s 5-1 loss to Dallas in Game 4 of their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series.
1. No mojo = hard road: Whatever the Avs did to you, hockey gods, they’re sorry. Honest. Because it feels as if anything that could go wrong for the ’22 Stanley Cup champs went wrong over about 90 minutes before a critical Game 4 at Ball Arena. Colorado lost its top postseason scorer (Val Nichushkin, suspension) and its second-best defenseman (Devon Toews) roughly an hour to puck drop. Big Val definitely won’t play in Game 5 at Dallas and it wasn’t clear in the third period whether Toews would get the green light, either. But this much does look clear, sadly: A 3-1 series deficit with this much lousy mojo in your suitcase is no way to head back to Texas. But it sure feels like a one-way ticket to a beach in Cancun.
2. Jones’s mixed bag: No Devon Toews scrambled the Avs’ defensive units something fierce, forcing Caleb Jones into the blue-line rotation for the first time this series and the first time since a Game 2 win at Winnipeg back on April 23. The first two periods for the 26-year-old Texas native had, unsurprisingly, some choppy moments. Over his first 7:47 on the ice, the Avs defender recorded a plus-1 with two hits but was also whistled for two penalties. His second stint in the sin bin, for hooking, set the Stars up for a power play four minutes into the second stanza and set up Wyatt Johnston’s power-play goal off a snapshot, pushing Dallas’ lead to 2-0 with 14:14 left in the middle period.
3. Stunned at the start: With the suspension of winger Val Nichushkin and the scratch of Toews, you expected the Avs to hit the ice looking a bit discombobulated. They were — and then some. Colorado in the first period got outshot 14-2. The Avs won three faceoffs to the Stars’ 11. They gave the puck away six times to Dallas’ two. And for the second time in three games, they gave up a short-handed goal early, this time to Wyatt Johnson with 4:23 left in the opening stanza. If it wasn’t for Alexandar Georgiev’s 13 saves on 14 shots, it would’ve been an even uglier start.
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