Colorado Avalanche: 4 Keys to Beating the Sharks in Round 2
The Colorado Avalanche will play the San Jose Sharks in the second round of the 2019 NHL Playoffs. Here are the keys to the series for Colorado.
The Colorado Avalanche are set to face the San Jose Sharks for the fifth time in team history. Currently, they’re split in the playoffs — having won two series and lost two. This one will provide the tipping point.
No pressure.
In truth, it doesn’t look like this Avs team is succumbing to any pressure. They slid into the playoffs at the 11th hour and promptly beat the Best in the West Calgary Flames. They’re young, they’re hip, and they like hanging out with each other:
Related Story. Avs Bonding at Sporting Events. light
In all seriousness, what I mean to say is the Avs players have no reason to feel undue pressure. They’re still the underdogs, and that’s a role they relish.
Indeed, Alexander Kerfoot said of their underdog situation:
“We’ve been there before and it worked so why not keep it that way. I think underdogs and favorites can get blown out of proportion a little bit… We’ve got confidence in our group, and we respect who we’re playing against, but we feel like we can beat anybody.”
The San Jose Sharks are an older, slower team. But they’re one with a lot of grit and experience in the playoffs. And they’re a team that can come back. They were trailing 3-0 midway through the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7, and they went on to capitalize on a five-minute major and ultimately win the series in overtime.
You can’t discount this team. Especially since the Avs have struggled of late with the Sharks.
But you know the adage — a team just has to get hot in the playoffs to find success. And Colorado has been pretty hot of late. So, let’s look at four keys to their beating the San Jose Sharks.
How to Enjoy the Games:
Game times!
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 25, 2019
Are you ready??#StanleyCup #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/Rev6FanRPW
Keeping the Goalie Hot
Speaking of being hot, a hot goalie can take you all the way to the Stanley Cup. We saw that with Marc-Andre Fleury and his ragtag bunch of misfit toys, er, NHLers last year.
Well, Colorado Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer seems pretty toasty right now. He played all five games against the Calgary Flames. After allowing three goals in the first game against the Flames, he shut them down. Ultimately, he backstopped the Avs to four straight wins with a .939 save percentage and 1.89 GAA total.
On the other end of the ice we’ll have Martin Jones. He… is not hot. He got pulled twice in the series against Vegas. Jones has a .904 save percentage and 3.20 GAA in the playoffs so far.
Grubauer has to stay hot, though. When you have a hot goalie, teams feel a lot more confident, especially about going on the rush and generating offense. That’s Colorado’s bread and butter.
Continued Dominance of Top Players
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The other major X-Factor for the Colorado Avalanche is the fact that their top players have been on fire. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen have combined for 17 points in their five games. Rantanen has 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists), while MacKinnon has 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists).
Meanwhile, rover Tyson Barrie is third on the team for scoring with 5 points (0 goals, 5 assists). And our newest Avalanche, Cale Makar, recorded his first goal and first assist in the series against Calgary.
San Jose’s top points man, Erik Karlsson, also has no goals — all nine of his points are assists. However, Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl are tied for second place with 8 points each (6 goals, 2 assists).
Icing a Healthy Team
You can’t win a series off the strength of one line and a goalie. Well, you can, but it’s tough. Luckily, the Colorado Avalanche have a golden opportunity — they have a relatively healthy roster.
Colorado went into the Flames series mostly healthy. However, both Samuel Girard (injury) and Derick Brassard (illness) missed games. Both players have been skating in full-contact practices, and both are said to be good to go for Game 1. That means the team can ice the most effective players against the Sharks.
Colorado had a week off to rest and get healthy. San Jose did not. Indeed, their series-winning game took place just two days ago. And it went into overtime. What’s more, while we don’t know all the little injuries the Sharks players are suffering from, we do know about the big one:
It’s scary to see that blood coming out from under his helmet. The 34-year-old captain has already been unofficially ruled out for Game 1, which is how it should be. Don’t mess with the head.
You might notice Pavelski already has a weird mask on. In Game 1, he suffered a gruesome mouth injury:
Joe Pavelski, master of the redirect, scores with his chin pic.twitter.com/H8Deg2ucti
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 11, 2019
The trainers had to go looking for his teeth during the commercial break, and, well:
HOCKEY pic.twitter.com/7S7EYGRpdx
— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) April 11, 2019
Pavelski deserves a little rest.
Skate Around the Old Dudes
One thing you might notice about my description of Joe Pavelski — he’s a 34-year-old captain. His alternate is Logan Couture, aged 30. They also have 32-year-old Marc-Edouard Vlasic, 32-year-old Justin Braun, 33-year-old Michael Haley, 34-year-old Brent Burns, and the grandpa of the bunch, 39-year-old Joe Thornton.
Fun Fact: Thornton came into the NHL in 1997. Tyson Jost, Sam Girard, and Cale Makar were all born the next year, in 1998.
In fact, the Avs are know for being fully committed to their youth movement. Their cap, Gabriel Landeskog, is only 26. Our number-one star, Nathan MacKinnon, is 23 while his wingman, Mikko Rantanen, is 22.
Colorado has only four skaters 30 or older: Ian Cole (30), Derick Brassard and Erik Johnson (31), and the old man of the bunch, Carl Soderberg (33).
The average age among Avs forwards is 26.3 to San Jose’s 28.5 while Avs defensemen are 25.7 to San Jose’s 29.1.
The Avalanche are known for their speed, and they’ve got the young guys to do the skating. Keeping the tempo of the games high is going to be a big factor in these games.
Next. Who Gets Scratched?. dark
The Colorado Avalanche have a real shot at beating the San Jose Sharks in Round 2. They just have to stick to their game and exploit San Jose’s weaknesses.