The Avalanche and Blues meet for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series at Enterprise Center at 7:30 p.m. Friday (USA, ALT).
Three keys for the Avs
Take early lead. Colorado was 17-9-2 on the road in the regular season, winning four of its last five, but the challenge of playing before a mature playoff crowd at Enterprise Center will be difficult. COVID capacity is 9,000, approximately half what the building holds, and we’ve learned that less than half can create a significant home-ice advantage. Taking an early lead for the Avs will help their cause, particularly because the Blues haven’t had as much success at home as they would have liked in the regular season (12-11-5). And the die-hard fans who saw the Blues win the Stanley Cup just two years could turn on their team if it’s looking like it could fall to an 0-3 hole in the series.
The big line. All is well if NHL playoff leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon and wingers Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen have another big night — especially if the latter begins to produce as he is accustomed. Rantanen is still looking for his first goal of the series but he has two assists in each of the first two games and a combined eight shots and a plus-3 rating. MacKinnon and Landeskog have been on an offensive tear — even for their standards — and Landeskog has made a huge impact with his physical play. Combined, the line has six goals, 16 points, 26 shots and plus-13 in the series. The trio entered Thursday’s games as the NHL’s top three playoff scorers, with Rantanen tied for third with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov.
Stay special, stay out of the box. The Avs have an NHL-best 60% power play in the playoffs, capitalizing on 3-of-5 opportunities, and their penalty killing has been equally as good (3-for-4). They were 2-for-2 with the man advantage in Game 2 and the PK did a nice job in that game by allowing just one goal after Nazem Kadri was assessed a five-minute minor for checking the head of Blues defenseman Justin Faulk. Colorado has taken just two minor penalties in the series, and none in Game 2. A team is bound to win the special teams comparison by keeping five skaters on the ice, and the Avs — outside of Kadri’s costly major — have exceptional worldly in that area thus far.
