Colorado Avalanche Need To Jump Preds Early

The Colorado Avalanche take on the Nashville Predators at home just two days after the blockbuster Ryan Johansen for Seth Jones trade.

This is it. We’ve waited all year for this after a horrendous start to the year for the Colorado Avalanche. If they win tonight they pull into a tie for the second wild card spot with the Nahsville Predators (technically the Preds will be ahead because they have one less game played, but whatever). If they lose without getting a point the Preds will pull four points ahead with the game in hand — -needless to say it’s a big game for the playoff picture.

Besides just the standings’ implications, this game also carries the weight of the first game for the Predators after their giant trade. They dealt Seth Jones to the Blue Jackets for highly skilled center Ryan Johansen.

Ryan Johansen has shown superstar potential already at the ripe age of 23, but has been inconsistent this year. At the same time the Preds lost superstar-in-the-making Seth Jones who was averaging nearly 20 minutes a night. Still the Predators have arguably the best blue line in the league between All Stars Roman Josi and Shea Weber, as well as very underrated Ryan Ellis.

And of course, lets not forget the marquee goalie matchup of Semyon Varlamov vs. the struggling but always dangerous Pekka Rinne. Varlamov has found his form recently grabbing points in 10 out of his last 12 games. And Pekka, though sitting at a save percentage of only .909% is equal in Varly in his ability to steal a game on any given night.

So we got the changes down, now how do the Colorado Avalanche come away with a win?

Pucks and Bodies To The Net

The Predators will be dealing with the loss of Seth Jones, who is a terrific puck mover at the back end and is 4th on the team in minutes per game. Having Jones gone from the second pairing is sure to drastically affect the Predators’ defense. Once the Colorado Avalanche can get past Josi and Weber, it’s up to Roy with the home change to take advantage of the new pairings with his top line.

More from Mile High Sticking

As far as Rinne goes, the key to scoring on him has always seemed to be screened shots and rebounds (like most good goalies). He moves well side to side, making finesse plays less likely to score then good only fashioned smash mouth hockey towards the net. Expect the Avs to get lots of point shots to the net and try and overpower the undersized Ryan Ellis on the second pairing.

Defending Against The Pred’s Offense

The Predators rely heavily on their defensive stars to generate offense as their top two point scorers are Josi and Weber. However, at the front end their team has two significantly different types of players. Filip Forsberg has silky smooth hands and is a great playmaker, especially when paired with the great passing of Mike Ribeiro. James Neal and now Johansen are much more power forward types, with Neal relying on size and a cannon of a shot to score. And, well, Johansen has a bit of everything at his disposal: size, hands, a great shot, and a knack for putting the puck in the back of the net.

After those forwards the Preds posses some decent depth scoring options in Colin Wilson and Craig Smith (whose girlfriend’s brother I played with in high school-ahh the glory days!). But neither are unstoppable threats by any means. However with Erik Johnson out and two of the Avs journeymen D in, anyone can posses a threat.

Next: Ramifications of Erik Johnson's Injury

Getting To The Preds Early

I think the key to this game will be putting it away early. The Avalanche need to strike quickly while coach Laviolette is still figuring out chemistry with his new forward and his new D pairings. If the Colorado Avalanche allow the Predators to figure things out, I guarantee they will become even more dangerous as the game progresses.

Luckily, the Colorado Avalanche excel at scoring first, which would be a great boost to their chances tonight. But against the already dangerous Predators it’s going to be up to the Avalanche to pour it on early and try and get the game out of reach early.

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