The Colorado Avalanche sent a message in advancing to Round 2

The Arizona Coyotes represented the exact archetype that unconvinced Avalanche fans had come to worry about time and time again. They had a great goaltender, a low-scoring reputation and a gritty approach to the game.

For years, the Avalanche were seen as the highly-skilled team that could get pushed around physically. Anytime a team punished them with consistent physicality, Colorado would shrink from the moment and all that skill would disappear as they became a shell of themselves.

Even this year, because the Avs went 0-2-2 against the Dallas Stars, another team who shares a lot of Arizona’s attributes, people were concerned how Colorado would handle a team in the postseason with this kind of playstyle.

Turns out, the Avs handled it pretty well.

When Colorado lost Game 3 despite putting 51 shots on goal, fears were Darcy Kuemper’s brilliance was starting to get in Colorado’s head and he would help Arizona’s unsustainable formula of giving up tons of shots but scoring on every opportunity continue and lead a comeback against the Avs.

The people who appeared the least concerned about that being true turned out to be the Avalanche themselves. They blitzkrieged Arizona with 14 goals in two games to eliminate any doubt about who the better team as and they didn’t let the Coyotes hang around and start to believe in themselves. Identical 7-1 wins in Games 4 and 5 eviscerated the underdog desert dogs.

Coming into this postseason, the Avs found themselves in the unfamiliar position of being real favorites to not only win one round but potentially win all four rounds necessary to capture the Stanley Cup. Learning how to win in the NHL is one of those last steps a group takes as they try to battle their way to the sport’s ultimate prize.

Some teams find the magic, such as the Kane/Toews Chicago Blackhawks and the Kopitar/Doughty Kings teams. Those were special groups led by Hall of Fame players who figured it out.

On the other side of the equation, you have the Thornton/Marleau Sharks and the Hedman/Stamkos Lightning teams. Teams who made the Stanley Cup Finals, won President’s Trophies for regular season dominance, and consistently were among the top teams in the league but always found a way to fall short.

While San Jose has taken a turn for the worse, Tampa Bay continues trying to climb that mountain. Every era and every sport has their Sisyphus that serve as warnings to all up-and-coming teams that nobody is entitled to championship glory.

Colorado aced its first test in life as a favorite with the decimation of Arizona. The series was so lopsided, I’m not sure how Coyotes management doesn’t look at the gaps between the two squads and resist making major changes to their roster. From Colorado’s perspective, it was everything going their way.

The questions coming in were Darcy Kuemper’s brilliance and special teams units that could be shaky on both sides. Instead, Colorado finished with seven power play goals and the only one they gave up while short-handed came during a blowout and had zero impact on the game or series. Colorado also escaped the series with relatively good health as Vladislav Namestnikov is the only current injury and the Avs clearly did not need his services in Games 4 and 5.

With two series remaining out west, the top two seeds advanced with relative ease, each winning their series in five games. It’s hard not to look at what Colorado did to Arizona and think it wasn’t the most impressive performance in Round 1 across the entire league.

When you drill into some of the details from the series, that should be a concern to other clubs. While Colorado certainly will struggle to replicate the kind of special teams success they had against the hapless Coyotes, their play at even strength remained the backbone of their success.

At even strength, Colorado:

– Outscored Arizona 15-7 (68%)
– Outshot Arizona 150-93 (61%)
– Outchanced Arizona 127-86 (59%)
– Had a 273-190 shot attempt advantage (58%)

These are numbers where anything over 55 is considered dominant and that comes with the impact of score effects being involved because of back-to-back blowouts. It was utter annihilation.

And the truth is that Colorado’s three-headed monster of a top line really didn’t even get going until the fifth game of the series. Nathan MacKinnon scored in every game and his presence was certainly felt throughout but he was “limited” to just six points in the first four games. Mikko Rantanen looked awful despite his point production. Gabe Landeskog’s first couple of games left a lot to be desired at times.

Game 5 really showed what happens when that line fully clicks but that Colorado thrashed the Coyotes despite kind of a ho-hum performance from that group really drives home what a different team this year’s squad is.

They can beat anyone with anyone on their roster at any time. Only Ian Cole and Val Nichushkin failed to record any points against the Coyotes. This is a deep, talented team whose polish and maturity have them on a path that is the envy of all but a small handful of teams.

The Colorado Avalanche are in Round 2. They are legit. They are scary.

They are just getting started.

TAKEAWAYS

• I don’t have much to add from an analysis perspective from this game. It was an ass-kicking of epic proportions…again. The power play has been excellent since getting to the bubble but this is cooking with grease levels of insane. It’s just fun to watch right now.
• Nazem Kadri’s four power-play goals in the series tied an Avalanche series record. The Avalanche record for PPG in an entire postseason is six, set by Joe Sakic. Kadri is one shy because he also had a power-play goal in the round robin (you might remember it being scored with .1 seconds left on the clock) and those also count as playoff stats.
• Nathan MacKinnon’s four-point (2g, 2a) outburst in this one pushed him to the top of the playoff scoring chart. Second place was Sebastian Aho (it’s now Kadri), whose Carolina Hurricanes were eliminated today. There’s a chance MacKinnon might run away with this scoring race depending on who advances to Round 2 and gets to play on.
• Much was made of Quinn Hughes scoring in six straight games for the Canucks, tying to rookie defenseman scoring streak. That streak ended last game without much fanfare (probably because the Canucks got crushed), but very quietly his nemesis Cale Makar is up to five games himself. Makar’s complete lack of care about these things has had the effect of me not caring much to follow all these random records that he’s chased all year but it’s there. We’ll see if he can keep it going next round.
• Philipp Grubauer was very quietly excellent in this series. He wasn’t asked to do a lot but he gave up just four goals in four games, including a Game 1 shutout. The Avs’ dominance meant a light workload for him but you can’t deny the results. Overall, Colorado gave up just six goals in the series with either goaltender actually in net across five games. The offense gets all the publicity but the defense and goaltending were once again excellent for the Avalanche.
• At 5v5, Cale Makar finished this series with a team-best 114 Corsi For versus just 45 Corsi Against (71%!). He was one of four Avs to not be on the ice for a single 5v5 Arizona goal through the entire series. The others were Mikko Rantanen, Tyson Jost, and J.T. Compher.
• Colorado’s Round 2 opponents could be any of Dallas, St. Louis, or Vancouver. If Dallas wins their series, the Avs and Stars play regardless of what happens in the STL-VAN series. If Calgary wins, the Flames will play Vegas and Colorado will get the winner of STL-VAN.