Support cast gives Avalanche a boost
Sometimes, your top players aren’t at their peak and you still win.
Exhibit A: Colorado defenseman and Norris Trophy finalist Cale Makar.
Sometimes, your top players are your top players and you win handily.
Exhibits B and C: Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov along with goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
With a little help from his friends, Makar and the Avalanche lead St. Louis 1-0 in their second-round series. With a combined effort, the the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning took a 1-0 advantage in their series with Florida.
“It’s important for everyone to step up at this time of the year,” said Avalanche forward Darren Helm, whose team hosts the Blues in Game 2 on Thursday night (9:30 p.m. EDT, TNT). “With any game anybody can be the hero.” In Game 1 for the Avalanche, Josh Manson answered the call with his first career playoff goal arriving in overtime during a 3-2 win.
For the Lightning, it’s hard to pick one. Corey Perry and Kucherov each had a goal and an assist, while Vasilevskiy looked very much like the Conn Smythe Award winner he was last year, stopping 33 of 34 shots as the Panthers beat Florida, 4-1.
“They force you to do the little things right the whole game,” Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette said. “They’re patient enough, smart enough, that they wait you out a little bit. A couple poor decisions, not even catastrophic decisions, but just little decisions that they make you pay.”
It’s not that Makar played poorly in Game 1. He didn’t. It’s just that by his elevated standards – three goals and seven assists in a first-round sweep of Nashville – make a pointless night feel almost like an off night.
“We get spoiled with Cale a little bit,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “We expect him to be exceptional, a huge difference-maker, make all these dynamic plays every night.”
He doesn’t always need to make dynamic plays with Nathan MacKinnon, captain Gabriel Landeskog and the rest of the speedy ensemble behind him. The Blues plan to counter that speed with a bump here or there.
“You’ve got to have contact on them. If you don’t, they’re going to skate right through you,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “That’s the way they play. They don’t rest, they just go. It’s not running around and running out of position, it’s just contact when it’s there. Bumping guys – that gives guys a little bit more time to get a puck, or make a play. There’s got to be contact all the time.”
A friendly reminder that resonates from Denver all the way to Sunrise, Florida: Expect a brick wall in goal. It’s that time of year when goaltenders step it up another level.
Vasilevskiy once again confounded the Panthers. Just like he did in Game 6 a season ago, when he made 29 saves in posting a shutout as the Lightning eliminated the Panthers.