Round 1 of the Cale Makar-Quinn Hughes heavyweight fight was absolute cinema, but the Colorado Avalanche won a key undercard bout during a frenetic Game 1 victory.
Devon Toews and Brock Faber are also two of the best defensemen in the sport, and probably the two best guys who slot in at No. 2 on their team’s depth charts. Faber was fabulous in the first round against the Dallas Stars.
It was Toews’ night in a 9-6 win Sunday night at Ball Arena. He had a goal, three assists and helped steady the Avs while both Makar and Sam Malinski missed significant chunks of a period because of injuries.
“He was great. On both sides of it, too,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “I’ll look through it, but I’m sure there’s not a lot usually that (Toews) doesn’t sort out. He’s an elite thinker and skater and defender and can contribute offensively. I’ll bet that out of all the scoring chances we gave up, I’m not going to be like ‘what was (Toews) doing there on that one?’ That rarely happens, and I’m sure tonight will be the same way, even though we gave up six.”
It was the first four-point game of Toews’ NHL career, either in the regular season or playoffs. He led the Avalanche in ice time with 27 minutes, 35 seconds. Toews now has seven points in five Colorado playoff games, which is tied with Nathan MacKinnon for the team lead.
Colorado scored five of its seven 5-on-5 goals when Toews was on the ice. The most important one might have been his goal.
Minnesota rallied from a 3-0 deficit and scored three straight goals to take a 5-4 lead late in the second period. The go-ahead goal was scored shorthanded against Colorado’s top power-play unit.
The Avs were reeling. The building was stunned, almost silent, save for a small group of green-clad fans.
Then Toews and the rest of PP2 went on the ice and responded. It wasn’t a power-play goal officially, because Faber had just stepped onto the ice when Toews sent a low shot towards the net from the top of the zone that glanced off Michael McCarron’s stick and fluttered past goalie Jesper Wallstedt with 1:56 remaining in the period.
Multiple Avs players said the mood in the locker room during the second intermission was relatively calm. The Toews goal played a big part in that.
“He was solid. He made plays defensively more than anything,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said. “We know he doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet, but defensively, he’s a nightmare to play against. Itap good to see him get rewarded. Knowing him, though, thatap not necessarily what he bases his performance off of.”
Toews had to assume PP1 duties in the opening period when Makar left after his second shift of the game. He helped set up Malinski’s goal that opened the scoring, and was part of a successful power play that made it a 3-0 game.
He and Malinski have played together quite a bit since the trade deadline, so that transition without Makar was pretty smooth. When Malinski missed about one-third of the second period, the Avs’ defense corps adjusted again.
“Just trying to get by without them,” Toews said. “Missing Cale for a chunk of that game and then missing Sam, getting stitched up, is tough and it kind of gets you out of the flow a little bit. But we did a great job handling it back there. Ebbs and flows in that game went up and down there, but I thought we did a good job back on the back end there, kind of managing it with our numbers kind of all over the place.”
Faber a non-factor
Faber did not have a similar night. He went to the penalty box twice, and the Avs turned both of them into goals.
He was also on the ice for three more Colorado goals at even strength. The underlying numbers look solid, but this was a crazy game. Hughes had a three-point night, but he was the only Minnesota defenseman to register a point.
Makar had a three-point night, but Toews, Malinski and Nick Blankenburg all scored goals and combined for seven points. The Avs certainly missed Josh Manson, but it looked like the Wild missed Jonas Brodin (and No. 1 center Joel Eriksson Ek) even more.
It also looks like Manson could return before Brodin, who isn’t in Denver with the team, while the former has been on the ice the past three days. The Wild will need more from a lot of guys not named Hughes in Game 2.
“What (the Avs) live off of is their speed, and their creativity, and their playmaking ability,” Faber said. “We gave them too much of that. When we beat this team, we stay on top of their guys and don’t give them space, and tonight we didn’t do that. I thought we took it to him at times, and we just couldn’t slow them down. We can slow them down, though.
“We know what we need to do. We’ve got to clean it up. They definitely had the upper hand tonight, but I think come Game 2 we’ll be ready to go.”
