Colorado’s depth scoring must emerge if team is to rally from two games down.
For what it’s worth — and it shouldn’t mean much — the Avalanche has lost a playoff series four out of five times when losing the first two games, including the last four times it was put in an 0-2 hole.
The only time Colorado has rallied to win a series from an 0-2 deficit was 1999, when it won four straight to eliminate the Detroit Red Wings in six games of a Western Conference semifinal series.
Some members of the Avs might have interest in those statistics, but most of them won’t. What happened five, 10 or 20 years ago has nothing to do with this group.
For this team, and what it knows about itself this season, every player and member of the coaching staff knows depth scoring is the key to the Avs rallying in this conference semifinal series against the Dallas Stars, who won 5-3 and 5-2 as the “visitors” in the first two games at the Edmonton bubble.
Save for Nazem Kadri’s secondary assist in Game 1, no forward outside the top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen has produced a point against the Stars. Suddenly, Colorado’s lethal four-line scoring approach has disappeared.
But if it returns and goalie Pavel Francouz can hold the fort at the other end, the Avs believe they can still win this series.
“Our depth guys, myself included, it’s time to look in the mirror, time to produce and step up,” Avs third-line center J.T. Compher said Tuesday. “We know our season is not completely on the line but Game 3 is a huge one for us. Our guys are going to be ready to step up and be that four-line team that got us to where we are.”
Game 3 is a late one Tuesday, scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. at Rogers Place. The Avs won’t have goalie Philipp Grubauer or defenseman Erik Johnson, who are both out indefinitely with injuries. And they might again have to go without banged-up winger Matt Calvert for the third consecutive game.
But this season, Colorado has a proven track record of winning big games when injuries mount, and that success stems from its depth.
“This biggest thing going into this game is mindset and our team’s mentality and our belief that we can pull this out and that we’re going to go out and win Game 3,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said Tuesday. “If we believe that, and we believe in what we’ve been doing throughout the course of the season and we don’t get discouraged, then we give ourselves a real good chance. That is my No. 1 priority with this team right now.”
In Game 1 on Saturday, the Avs came out flat and the Stars took it to them. In Game 2 on Monday, Colorado played a flawless first period and led 2-0 nearly midway through the second period before the roof caved in.
Compher said a complete effort was lacking in both games.
“When we’re on our game, playing with speed, we’re going to get our chances (and) we’re going to limit theirs. But it’s got to be 60 minutes no matter what happens during the game, whether they get a goal on their power play or our power play or (we get) a bad break, whatever it is,” Compher said. “It’s 60 minutes doing it the right way and that’s how you win the playoff games, even if it takes more than 60.”
Bednar was asked Tuesday if he’s “worried” that the Avs have lost their way, and that the Stars are in their heads.
“For me to say I’m not worried about it at all would be a lie,” the coach said. “But I’ll say this: I still believe in this team. I think that we’re going to come out, we’re going to play hard, we’re going to do all the right things.”