Casey Mittelstadt: Colorado's Playoff X-Factor and more storylines to get excited about

Was there ever really a doubt? The Colorado Avalanche entered the third period down 2-1, but they capitalized on the powerplay to tie it and take the lead. They seized total control of the game in the final frame, but it never felt out of reach.

To start the night, they got on the board first with a Zach Parise goal and it felt like destiny.

It just feels different at home in Ball Arena. Boxing out guys and clearing rebounds feels more routine than threatening when they’re doing it in front of the home crowd.

They did it all season as the best home team in the league (31-9-1).

But the first round isn’t close to complete, it’s a best of seven for a reason.

With their 6-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 3, the Colorado Avalanche hold the series lead 2-1.

As we wade out of the shallows into the depths of round one, several storylines have emerged.

It’s officially okay to get excited about some things – things that will hopefully become a part of Avs’ lore for the 2024 run still to come.

Zach Parise

When they signed him just before the All-Star Break, there was a question of his status. He didn’t return to New York following a 21-goal season and his former teammates were sad to see him move on.

What was he doing through that point to stay game ready? Could a 39-year old miss four months of the season and jump back into play?

He moved around Colorado’s middle-six and posted ten points in 30 games. He solidified something of a role on the third line for a bit there, but the results with Miles Wood and Ross Colton were mixed.

So when he started the Winnipeg series on the top line, he seemed a bit miscast. His speed still holds up overall, but it’s a bit out of place with the horses up top.

Fortunately Val Nichushkin’s game came back to life (now with three points in three games) and he assumed the first line wing spot.

With it, the second line made up of Parise, Casey Mittelstadt and Artturi Lehkonen emerged.

Parise picked up another playoff goal in Game 3 to add to his postseason points total (two). 

Lehkonen started the breakout up ice with his line. Mittelstadt skated the puck in and quickly sent it to Parise with David Gustaffsson charging at him. Colorado cycled the puck out high and Mittelstadt moved it to Josh Manson. Manson burst down the slot and sent a wrister on net, off Connor Hellebuyck’s pad. Parise wristed the rebound five-hole and got Colorado on the board first.

It’s a timely goal that helped to get the Avs in the game. Winnipeg responded with two of their own, so it was important to have Parise’s goal in the bank. They’d lean on it for their comeback effort.

Parise’s line finished one of the best possession lines next to Colton’s yet again. Where Colton’s line is ultra responsible, Parise’s line is hungry for the puck, loves to feed it to Mittelstadt, and has the skill to keep the puck on their sticks a little while longer.

“I think everyone in the room looks up to Zach – me especially being a Minnesota kid,” Mittelstadt said. “It was an honor to play with him and he did a heck of a job. I mean he’s flying around out there hitting guys, making plays. It made my job easy tonight.”

Parise’s even-keeled demeanor as a guy who’s been around the block is an asset to Colorado.

His unrest in one final quest for the Cup is exactly what can get him there and he picked the perfect team to hitch his wagon to. It’s a match made in veteran-sauce heaven.

Casey Mittelstadt

It’s hard not to look back on the Seattle series last year. Things were falling apart, guys were injured, suspended, and missing, and they didn’t have a bona fide 2C that season even though J.T. Compher was an important player. He was still in the 3C/2C flex territory and their second line wing options were suspect.

Casey Mittelstadt joined Colorado at the expense of a very valuable Bowen Byram and started on a high that tapered off toward the end of the year.

It wasn’t so much the slowed offense but rather the defensive mistakes that drew unwanted attention.

It was clear he still had to get used to Colorado’s systems and demands – especially those that come with being a centerman. Jonathan Drouin has talked about the adjustment as a forward coming from a different system: collapsing versus containing in the d-zone.

For Mittelstadt a lot of his game has grown three feet from the boards.

“He’s turned up the intensity of his game,” Jared Bednar said.

“… He makes a few other high-skilled plays that lead to scoring chances tonight, but I was most impressed with his wall work: he’s been heavy and strong on pucks and the d-zone walls and o-zone walls. Guys trying to check him, he’s comfortable with guys playing on his back, reaching around him. (He) continues to move his feet and he’s a guy that once it’s on his stick, he can survey the ice and check off option(s)… then it’s just making the right decision from there.

It’s intensity, it’s excitement to play this time of year, and his game’s gone to a whole new level and he showed it here tonight.”

Jared Bednar on Casey Mittelstadt

His willingness to play along the wall has supported the retrieval efforts of Lehkonen and Parise, and it extends their possession time.

After the first period, six of Colorado’s eleven shots on net came from the second line and Mittelstadt’s line was responsible for ten Corsi-for events at five-on-five. 

His skill and IQ allows them to make it meaningful. 

Mittelstadt gathered the puck at center ice to lead the rush on Lehkonen’s goal. He waited out a falling Mark Scheifele and sent the cross-slot pass to Lehkonen opposite him.

Then he anticipated Sam Girard’s read on the Colton goal and received the cross-ice pass to make it happen.

He wore contact along the boards and navigated well through traffic, using his skating to weave through players and skill to protect the puck.

He was a natural skill fit coming to Colorado, but it was unclear who his supporting linemates would be. The work he’s put in along the wall has been a nice complement to the strengths of Lehkonen and Parise. Maybe it wasn’t the most obvious grouping, but the work he’s put in has helped to maximize the efficacy of this line.

Alexandar Georgiev

Alexander Georgiev deserves his flowers. In the final seconds of the first period, he was met with a flurry of shots including a Josh Morrissey backhand and a Scheifele wrister, and he made every save.

He stopped Tyler Toffoli on the breakaway in the second and finished with a 0.917 save percentage. Winnipeg outchanced Colorado in high-danger opportunities at five-on-five including eight inside the second period, and Georgiev was a vital piece in keeping the game within one goal.

That’s another strong performance on top of a good outing in Game 2. His confidence is building and Ball Arena rallied around him in full support. When his named was called during the starting lineup announcement, the crowd broke out in “Georgie” chants and followed suit with every subsequent save.

Game 1 was a tough low, but Georgiev has issued exactly the response Colorado needed to see. I never thought we’d be in a world worrying most about Connor Hellebuyck (an elite goaltender), but the Avs have worked hard to chip away at his armor.

Ross Colton’s Depth Squad

They’re not like his depth squad, but Ross Colton sure feels like the leader of the depth. He’s pure energy and has taken the reins on the third line.

At five-on-five, his line finished with one scoring chance against. Colton often received Sean Monahan’s second line as a matchup, and though he wasn’t an ace at the faceoff dot, they allowed very little and created more Corsi-for events.

It gave Bednar options in his matchup hunt – especially with the Mittelstadt line going as well. 

Without last change, Rick Bowness couldn’t solely serve Nathan MacKinnon’s line Adam Lowry anymore and Bednar unleashed three lines made up of menaces for Scheifele and Monahan to contend with.

Sam Girard and Josh Manson as a pairing reunited also gave Scheifele hell.

Seeing Girard return to game action and play 21:05 felt right. He was already robbed of important moments from the Cup run and he’s such an important member of the team. Plus, he notched an assist in his first game back. Manson has been on the rise, but he’s made better with Girard at his side.

Outside of Colorado’s top pair and top line, the Avs have received 23 points from depth contributions. If you take the second line out of the equation, that’s still 12 points.

The Avs are tied for first in scoring with 17 goals in three games and it’s made up of ten different goal scorers.

Bednar was asked to reflect on last year’s group against Seattle. “We’re a deeper team. There’s no question about it,” he said. “We’re playing a really good opponent and we’re still finding a way to chip in (throughout) the lineup… You need it this time of the year.

When you eliminate 16 teams in the league with what the cap’s been doing the last handful of years, you’re playing a good team no matter what… The lack of scoring (puts a lot) of pressure on our top guys to just get it done, and we just couldn’t find the back of the net with anybody else. This year it’s a different story so far.”

The Avs get another chance to push the series further at home on Sunday. Game 5 is set for Winnipeg no matter what, but the Avs can decide if that will be the one to end it all.