Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar will have to find a response to the opening salvo from the Vegas Golden Knights.
Game 1, while hardly a mismatch, saw the Golden Knights use their moxie to stun the Avs. Vegas hardly scored highlight-reel goals, but they were enough to power them in Game 1.
That said, it was evident that Vegas had figured out how to counteract the Avalanche’s lineup. And now, it might be time for Jared Bednar to put his lineup in a blender and give Vegas a different look.
The top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Gabe Landeskog looked good. The issue, despite Necas looking fantastic, was that Vegas was able to box out MacKinnon and minimize Necas’ impact.
The Golden Knights forced the Avalanche’s depth to beat them, and it almost happened. So now, the solution could well be to give depth players a much more prominent role.
For instance, it wouldn’t be a crazy idea to move Nazem Kadri up to the second line with Brock Nelson and Artturi Lehkonen. Nic Roy can handle the third-line center duties.
Another player who needs to get more ice time is Logan O’Connor. O’Connor was like the Tasmanian Devil in Game 1, making life hard for the Golden Knights. So, why not give O’Connor a look on the third line? A move like that might mean pushing Ross Colton to the fourth line. But that sort of move could make it hard for Vegas to adjust.
But what if Bednar really wanted to go off the deep end? There could be an answer to that possibility.
Bednar could roll with some different combos
Let’s start with moving Kadri up to the top line in place of Landeskog. A top line of Mackinnon-Kadri-Necas would be an interesting shift for Colorado. The Golden Knights would have to deal with Kadri’s netfront presence while contending with the ridiculous speed from MacKinnon and Necas.
The second line could be Nelson riding with Landeskog and Lehkonen. But why not move Valeri Nichushkin to the second line, giving that group a different look with the gigantic presence that Nichushkin brings?
A third line of Nic Roy with Landeskog and O’Connor could bring a ton of grit to the ice. Landeskog is a relentless force, while O’Connor has just been brutal on the opposition.
Lastly, a fourth line consisting of Colton and Parker Kelly with Jack Drury should get more ice time than it usually does. None of the three forwards on that line would be fourth liners on any other team.
So, why not deploy them more often? It’s clear that Vegas has upset the Avalanche’s balance. That’s why the plan now would be to shift the equilibrium so that Vegas will have to re-adjust.
Let’s see what lineup the Avalanche roll out for Game 2. The pressure will be on to head to Vegas for Game 3 with the series knotted up at one.
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