Colorado Avalanche: Tyson Jost Played Well in Game 1

Colorado Avalanche forward Tyson Jost played well in a game that otherwise went badly for the team. The Avs are now down 1-0 in the series.

The Colorado Avalanche lost in Game 1 of the second round, and I’m unhappy about that. Mikko Rantanen had a goal disallowed — for a legitimate reason — and I’m unhappy about that. Avs fans (on Twitter) are lambasting defenseman Erik Johnson for how he’s been playing in the playoffs, and I’m unhappy about that.

So, I’m going to write about something that, I wouldn’t say exactly makes me happy, but it distracts me from my Game 1 woes.

PSA: If you can’t tell by that introduction, this post isn’t meant to be anything but a diversion while I process a game that upset me. Feel free to comment, as always, but remarks about my lack of fandom or knowledge are highly unuseful in this situation.

So, our 10th-overall draft pick from 2016 was really flying out there tonight. He’s always been known for his skating, but tonight he was really showcasing the wheels against the older, slower San Jose Sharks. I mean, Joe Thornton entered the NHL before Jost was even born.

Anyway, Jost earned an assist on the first goal of the series, first for the Avs. It was scored by none other than Gabriel Bourque, whom some fans love to hate on. I’m not going to lie — I’ve been on the Gourque train myself. But, just like it was Long Beach Native (and perennial third-liner) Matthew Nieto who scored first in the first round, this time it was perennial fourth-liner Bourque.

And, like I mentioned, Jost got the assist.

Here’s the goal:

This was a hard-working goal by the fourth line. As you can see, rookie Cale Makar earned an assist on the play, too. Now, young Cale looked pretty human in tonight’s game. But, you know, he’s just three minutes into his NHL career.

He got 18:08 of ice time to Jost’s 8:59, but I’m going to ignore that because he’s a defenseman, I’m trying to stay positive, and Jared Bednar took the little power play time Jost gets and gave it to the returning Samuel Girard.

More from Mile High Sticking

I am going to go off on a small negative tangent because it’s late and, hey, I’m infamous for my rants. Icing two small, puck-moving defensemen against a big, grizzled team isn’t useful. Putting Makar and Girard on the ice together for a power play was fun in the morning skate. It was one of many factors that led to a wasted four minutes of power play.

Poor J.T. Compher, bleeding onto the ice for nothing. I think the Avs, at most, got two shots on goal in four whole minutes.

Now, I’ve always called our rover, Tyson Barrie, out for not keeping the puck in the zone. Girard on the second PP unit has been better usually. However, Girard and Makar… seem to make up one Swiss cheese Barrie together. But, ok, positivity and moving on.

As color analyst Peter McNab, himself a veteran of 954 NHL games pointed out, the fourth line, centered by Jost, played very well tonight. They got a goal. The top line… did not.

However, remember this: The Calgary Flames shut out the Avalanche in the first game of the first round. And Colorado answered with four straight wins. It’s a best of seven series.

The next game for the Colorado Avalanche is Sunday at 5:30 MT. Let’s look for a roaring return as we saw in Round 1.