The Avalanche is 3-0 in Game 1s this postseason and aims to improve to 2-1 in Game 2s in Thursday’s Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers.
Three keys for Colorado:
1. Win the best-on-best. Nathan MacKinnon’s top line for the Avs had a hand in four goals in Game 1, and Edmonton’s first-line center Connor McDavid and his linemates created three tallies. Colorado won the key comparison. MacKinnon and linemates Gabe Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin (plus Mikko Rantanen on the power play) combined for 16 shots and a plus-3 rating. McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman (plus Ryan-Nugent Hopkins on the power play) had 14 shots and a minus-5 rating. The Avs will take a 2-0 series lead with another best-on-best victory. “I’m just looking for, ‘Can we out-produce (McDavid’s) line? That’s what it is. Can we spend more time in the offensive zone than the D-zone? Can we create more off the rush than they do? Can we keep them off the score sheet? If not, can we outscore them?” Avs coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday.
2. More depth scoring. Both the Avs and Oil got goals from all four lines in Game 1. The key for the Avs is to get more of that while shutting down the opponent at even-strength. Colorado scored twice on 2-on-1 rushes on Tuesday. Center J.T. Compher is red-hot, with each of his four postseason goals coming in his last two games. He’s the first Avalanche player to score twice in consecutive playoff games since MacKinnon did it against St. Louis in the first round of 2021. Offensive production from the Avs’ bottom-six forwards has arguably led the club to its last two games — unquestionably in Game 6 at St. Louis when they scored all three goals.
3. That third pairing. Colorado’s only glaring flaw in Game 1 was its third-pair defensemen Jack Johnson and Josh Manson. They were a combined minus-5 — an ugly statistic from a winning team. They allowed Evander Kane’s early breakaway goal to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead and finished with just one shot, from Manson, who was a game-worst minus-4. Bednar might make a personnel adjustment for Game 2 and replace Johnson with like-styled-lefty Ryan Murray. Manson, a righty, is bound to remain in the lineup and get the opportunity to redeem himself. He might have to overcome the likely anxiety of performing against his father, Edmonton assistant coach Dave Manson, who runs the Oilers’ blue line. Josh Manson said before Game 1 that he and his father won’t discuss his game during the series. Not having that support could be difficult to overcome.
