Colorado Avalanche: Top 5 Moments from 2019 Round 1
The Colorado Avalanche had an exciting, five-game series against the Calgary Flames, which they won. Here are the top five moments.
The Colorado Avalanche advanced past the first round of the playoffs when they beat the Calgary Flames 5-1 on Friday night. They won the series 4-1 with Calgary’s lone victory coming in the first game.
Colorado was the first team to advance in the Western Conference. Since then, the St. Louis Blues prevailed over the Winnipeg Jets, which I’m not overly happy about. I’m not Jets fan, but I have less love for the Blues.
Meanwhile, in the Eastern Conference, the eighth-seed Columbus Blue Jackets upset the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning. With Colorado eliminating Calgary, the Western Conference champions, we saw history made. It was the first time ever that the eighth-seed team eliminated the first seed in both the East and West.
The series was a relatively short one. Nonetheless, we saw some great moments. The Colorado Avalanche made the plays that created memories we can always cherish.
So, let’s look at some of the best moments from the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs so far.
Matt Nieto’s 2 Short-Handed Goals
When the playoffs started, winger Matthew Nieto was coming off a season in which he had scored just four goals total in 64 games. In just five games, he already has half that total — two. And both of them are the hardest type of goal to get, the short-handed goal.
The first shorty came in the second game in Calgary. Up to that moment, the Avs hadn’t scored a single goal in the series. They were on the penalty kill, which is where Nieto picks up some of his time.
Nieto picked up the puck in his own end and drove down the boards. As he passed the Calgary blueline, he cut in. He was clear. In the slot, he snapped a shot over goalie Mike Smith:
It was the first goal of the series for Colorado, putting them up 1-0. They ended up winning 3-2.
Nieto’s second shorty came in Game 3. At the time, the Avalanche were up 3-0, but, obviously, Calgary was on the power play. So, Nieto did essentially the same thing he did in Game 2, corralling the puck and driving up the boards.
He beat Smith with a similar shot:
That goal put Colorado up 4-0 in a game they ended up winning 6-2.
When the series started, I doubted anyone thought Long Beach Native Matt Nieto would be one of the heroes. But both those goals came at important moments for the team.
Read more about Nieto here.
Cale Makar’s 1st NHL/Playoff/Game-Winning Goal
On the other end of the spectrum, we had a player just starting out his career with the Colorado Avalanche. Defenseman Cale Makar had a whirlwind weekend that saw his UMass Minutemen beat the DU Pioneers to advance to their first-ever championship finals. He won the Hobey Baker, played in the Championship Finals, and signed his NHL contract.
Then he and his parents flew out to Colorado for Makar to debut in the NHL. In the playoffs. In front of the home crowd. Against his childhood dream team. No pressure.
No pressure indeed. Makar may have been shaky his first couple shifts, but by the middle of the first period, he was behaving like a pro. He trailed our superstar, Nathan MacKinnon, into the Avs zone. According to MacKinnon, he was yelling “three, three, three” to let our star know there was a third man on the rush — and one who didn’t mind getting the puck. From the superstar.
Of course, Makar proceeded to do this:
So, I guess it was no big deal to ask for the puck since he planned on scoring his first-ever NHL goal, which just so happened to be his first playoff goal, which also happened to be his first-ever game-winning goal.
Read more about the goal here.
I try to stay even-keel about Colorado’s success to temper any potential disappointment, but oh my goodness Makar looks like he’s going to be a superstar!
Philipp Grubauer’s Smooth Pad Save
Goalie Philipp Grubauer earned the starting spot for the playoffs with his performance through March and April to even get the Avs into the playoffs. From March 3, he went 8-2-2.
I think it’s safe to say he earned the starting spot for round 2 with his performance against the Flames. Granted Calgary didn’t test him as much as Colorado tested Smith, but Grubauer was still solid. He recorded a .939 save percentage and 1.89 goals against average.
He also made the most highlight-reel of saves, one that may have saved the series. It came in Game 4 in overtime. Colorado won that game 3-2. Obviously, Grubauer failing to make that save would have resulted in a Calgary win, thus splitting the series.
The importance of the save wasn’t even what’s so amazing about it. Look at the form:
Can you believe how he just flexes his left leg, no big deal, to perfectly position his goalie pad to stop the puck? The man must have ice in his veins, like all good goalies do.
I think we can all feel comfortable with Grubauer as our number-one goalie moving forward.
Mikko Rantanen’s Overtime Goal
At the other end of the ice in Game 4, we had a very different scene. We had our Finnish star, Mikko Rantanen making the game-winning goal in overtime.
Rantanen came into the playoffs from a career season, scoring 31 goals and recording a total of 87 points. Of course, he also came straight into the playoffs off an injury that kept him out from March 21.
What’s more, he had disappeared last year in the playoffs. Many fans and sports writers criticized him and were leery of what this series would yield.
Well, it yielded Mikko’s overtime goal in Game 4:
That is a Rantanen Special, going down on his knee to score. Read more about that goal here.
That win for the Colorado Avalanche was crucial because it erased home ice advantage for Calgary since it put the Avs up 3-1 in the series.
And what a thrilling win. But let’s look at another thrilling Mikko goal.
Mikko Rantanen’s Series-Winning Goal
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Remember what I said about fans and writers criticizing Mikko for last year’s playoff performance? I didn’t exactly criticize the winger, but I was pretty disappointed. But it’s ok, Rants, you definitely made it up to all of us with this year’s playoff performance.
In fact, Rantanen scored the game-winner in Game 5, which was the series-winning game. Mikko Rantanen scored the series-winning goal.
The goal came late in the second period. Despite a hot start by Calgary, Colorado was up 1-0 on captain Gabriel Landeskog’s first goal of the playoffs.
Colorado was putting pressure on the Flames. Rantanen, who was behind the net, received a pass from Colin Wilson. Mikko peeked around the net and banked the puck right off Smith’s backside for the goal, putting the Avs up 2-0.
The Avalanche ended up winning the game 5-1, making Mikko’s butt-bank goal the series-winner.
It seems weird to not include any Nathan MacKinnon highlights in this list. He recorded three goals — one of them the game-winner — and five assists. And he so dominated the series that Flames defenseman Mark Giordano made like PK Subban last year and praised Nate to the high heavens.
Well, he didn’t make this list in the first round. I’m sure our superstar will make it in the second round.
Next. Rantanen and Landeskog Dominate at All Star. dark
The Colorado Avalanche will face the winner of the Vegas Golden Knights vs San Jose Sharks series. At the time of writing, the series had just been tied by the Sharks, 3-3.