Avalanche vs. Kraken Game 7: Three keys to advancing
The Dallas Stars patiently await their challenger.
Colorado and Seattle have battled it out for six games without a solution in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so Ball Arena will host a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday (7:30 p.m. MT, TNT). Here are three keys for the Avs to advance.
1. No more time for “almost” on power play. The Avs have gradually started pounding away at Seattle’s penalty kill throughout this series, looking more dangerous every game. It culminated with multiple near-perfect power play shifts in Game 6 … yet Colorado still finished 0 for 5. Its series total is 1 for 17, with no goals for the top unit. (Mikko Rantanen scored with the second.) “Gaining that momentum,” Devon Toews said. “We’re getting the good looks. … Getting those looks consistently definitely puts teams under pressure.” Some of it’s tough luck, such as Philipp Grubauer’s spectacular save against J.T. Compher on Friday. Or Rantanen hitting a post. At this point, the Avs deserve better numbers on the man advantage. But if they don’t actually cash in on what they’ve earned in Game 7, it’ll be too late to praise themselves for pressuring the Kraken.
2. Turns out the Avs did trade for a 2C. After five months of speculation about which big name Colorado might acquire to play second-line center in the playoffs, followed by two months of questioning why Chris MacFarland didn’t land a 2C, an ironic twist has developed. In the biggest game of the Avalanche’s season, a trade deadline pickup might play second-line center after all. Lars Eller, who had played 3C in every Avalanche game so far, suddenly moved to the second line for Game 6 in Seattle. Compher, the man who has filled the 2C void with varying reception, moved to the wing on Eller’s line. Evan Rodrigues also joined after spending most of the series on Nathan MacKinnon’s top line. If it seemed like desperate darts at the wall, think twice. Jared Bednar said he liked that Matt Nieto, Andrew Cogliano and Logan O’Connor all play a similar style with emphasis on the checking game. So he moved Nieto down to their line. MacKinnon and Rantanen were back together to wreak havoc. Who did that leave? This trio. “You’ve got a right-shot center (and) a left-shot center, so you should do some damage on the draws,” Bednar said. “And you’ve got a really good player in Rodrigues that can help complement those guys. A little bit of everything there. Trusted line. Should be able to help produce offense.” He liked how they played. Expect to see some of it again in Game 7.
3. Does home cooking even exist? The Avalanche and Kraken are two of the best road-performing teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and two of the worst home-performing teams. This series has reflected that, with four of six games won by the visitors. Is home ice a jinx in Game 7? Eller told The Post before the matchup started that he often prefers playing on the road during the playoffs because the home team always feels like it’s supposed to win. Self-applied pressure has cost the Avalanche series-clinchers in Denver before, even in the Cup Final last year. Road success has been a trend throughout the NHL’s first round. But as Bednar continued to insist, “I personally don’t think the venue should matter. … So the focus is on us, not necessarily the venue.”
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