Colorado Avalanche Playoff Review: Nikita Zadorov

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nikita Zadorov performed about as expected in the playoffs, which worked out well for the team.

The Colorado Avalanche exited the Stanley Cup playoffs in the second round. They took the series all the way to Game 7 overtime, but that’s where their campaign ended.

Obviously, no one here in Avs Nations enjoys that fact. We all believe we deserved more. Well, that’s not what happened.

So, it’s time to go over what happened and why. We know injuries cost the team, as did some mental errors. We also know we’ve got a stacked team even going into next season, whenever that happens.

In the interim, we’re looking at how the players did in the playoffs we did enjoy. Yesterday, Nikita Zadorov became a father for the second time as his wife gave birth. In honor of that blessed event, let’s consider him next.

Zadorov played in the entire postseason for Colorado. That play included the three round robin games and all 12 playoff games — five against Arizona and seven against Dallas. His playing time was between 10:25 to 19:53 a game, but he mostly averaged around 15 minutes a game.

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In that time, Zadorov recorded 3 goals and 2 assists for five points — that included a two-point night against Dallas. Before the Sept. 2 game against the Stars, he’d recorded just 6 minutes in the penalty box for the playoffs and an additional 2 in the round robin.

The September 2 game, Game 6, was a big one. Colorado beat Dallas with a decisive 4-1 victory. Toward the end of the game, play got chippy. Zadorov got into matters with Mattias Janmark of the Stars. Both players carried the hate long enough that they were ejected from the game with 10-minute misconducts.

So, in all, Zadorov recorded 16 penalty minutes in 12 games, but that number isn’t indicative of his actual play because of the misconduct. Those three minors in the playoffs didn’t cost the Avalanche anything, and that’s good in the Zadorov sphere.

In normal Nikita fashion, he was the Avalanche’s playoffs leader in hits with 51. He’s also credited with 16 blocked shots. Also in typical Z fashion, he had more giveaways than takeaways — 2:7.

All in all, I felt Nikita Zadorov had a positive playoffs. He could have been a little more physical, but more physicality may have led to more penalties. What’s more, he had surgery on his right arm or wrist right after the playoffs were over. So, he may have been limited in that respect.

To my mind, Nikita Zadorov had a good playoffs for the Colorado Avalanche.