Is this really a different Avs team, or will the Sharks intimidate them out of the playoffs again? We'll know better in Game 2

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Tyson Barrie was down, but he vows his Avalanche team is far from out.

“It’s gonna be a long series,” Barrie told BSN Denver, right after the Avs’ disappointing 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks in Game 1 Friday night here at loud, proud SAP Center.

I definitely don’t think the Avs are going to be swept out of this second round. They were the better team for the first half of this one, and they are faster overall.

BUT: This team has to find a way, someway, somehow, to put a little fear in these playoff-tested, veteran Sharks team. Because, let’s face it, the Sharks don’t fear the Avs, and why would they?

San Jose has beaten the Avs in all four meetings this season, counting among the first 82. They’ve beaten them in the last two playoff series meetings. They have home-ice advantage, and the Shark Tank continues to be an absolute haunted house to the Avs. The script that played out here in Game 1 was the same one we’ve all seen for about the last 15 years here continuously: A good start, a competitive game for the first half, then a bunch of costly mistakes that the Sharks immediately convert for goals, then basically the Sharks playing rope-a-dope the rest of the way for a somewhat comfortable win.

Somehow, some way, the Avs have to do to the Sharks what they did to another team that probably didn’t fear them much – the Calgary team that is now playing golf, thanks to the Avs. But how scared is bearded caveman Brent Burns going to be against Colorado’s collection of skillful but still somewhat small-ish forwards? Is Joe Thornton going to be scared by anything after a gazillion games for this team, most of which have ended in victory against the Avs?

Somehow, some way, the Avs have to get the Sharks to worry about them more. That only comes with victory. The Avs have to find a way to win Game 2 Sunday. Or, this might not be such a long series after all.

“We played really good those first 30 minutes, and then it got away from us in the second,” Barrie said. “We just couldn’t get it back. Give them credit, their goalie played well. They took it to us there at the end of the second and they had the momentum.”

This whole game swung on three things, all in that second period. First, the Avs – up 2-1 after Colin Wilson’s power-play goal – got a four-minute PP advantage after J.T. Compher was sticked in the mouth, drawing blood.

Cue the bad Sharks pun here: The Avs had blood in the water at this point, but acted like minnows instead of a hungry Great White. They couldn’t do much on the four minutes, the Sharks crowd came back to life, then the Avs started playing the role of the bumbling visitor.

Erik Johnson, in key sequence No. 2, had his shot blocked at the blue line by Marcus Sorensen. Down the ice he came on a 2-on-1 with Grizzly Adams, aka Thornton, and it was in the back of the net past Philipp Grubauer. Sequence No. 3 was an unfortunate one for Mikko Rantanen, who was turned inside out on a move by Kevin Labanc, who beat Grubauer up high. That was the game-winner.

Jared Bednar said he “could live with” the first two goals against, but what he couldn’t abide by was the last 10 minutes of that second.

“We lost too many races, we didn’t get our numbers to the puck,” Bednar said. “They started skating in the offensive zone, and we just weren’t committed enough to stay with it. The third period, we come out and start working again, but they’re sitting back a bit. The difference in the hockey game was that 10 minutes.”

The Sharks are getting older, but they still are one of the best cycling teams in the league in the offensive end. They are great at keeping possession down low and making plays at the net, or else making passes back to the point, where guys like Burns and Erik Karlsson fire shots on goal. Then, they go get the puck again, and the cycle starts all over. The Avs have to figure out a way to get pucks out of their zone better. That isn’t just the defense – it’s the forwards supporting the puck more. There were too many gaps between the forwards and defense in their zone, and again it burned them.

But there was enough good stuff in this one so that Avs fans shouldn’t get too down. A couple of bounces go their way when it was 2-1, like Carl Soderberg lifting a puck just a little more on a great chance, and it could have been an Avs runaway. Game 2 will be the litmus test as to whether this really is a team that can do more than steal one round, or one that just isn’t there yet in learning how to win against a really experienced team.

“I feel good about where we’re at. We’ll have to make some adjustments,” captain Gabe Landeskog told BSN Denver. “We’ve got to make sure that, when we have some lows, that we limit our mistakes. That’s what ended up costing us tonight. We took 10 minutes off at the end of the second.”

OTHER NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

• It’ll be interesting to see if Bednar makes any lineup adjustments for Game 2. Especially, if he decides Sam Girard just isn’t the right type of defenseman to be playing against a team like the Sharks and goes with the bigger, more physical Patrik Nemeth, who was scratched. I tend to doubt he will – I don’t think he wants to hurt Girard’s confidence like that. Maybe he’ll play seven D in Game 2 and scratch a guy like Derick Brassard, who was ineffective in this one. The Avs will practice Saturday here, and we’ll know more then maybe.
• Alexander Kerfoot finished a minus-4. As I noted in the game grades, his spot on the top line, with MacKinnon and Landeskog, may be tenuous for Game 2.
• The Avs were assessed 15 official giveaways by the stat keepers, to seven for the Sharks.
• Brent Burns had a goal, three assists and was plus-4. Other than that…
• One of the things I’ve worried about from an Avs standpoint is: maybe this is one of those teams of destiny, the Sharks? After that miracle comeback win of theirs in Game 7 against Vegas, maybe this team just has some pixie dust all over them? Maybe this is just the year Joe Thornton finally gets his Cup, a la Ray Bourque or Alex Ovechkin? Stuff like that, that destiny stuff, can be a real tough thing to overcome.