Sluggish Avalanche outplayed by opportunistic Blues in Game 2 loss

Hockey, like most facets of life I suppose, is built on some time-worn cliches that get us through things like game recaps. They become cliches, however, because at the core is almost always some level of truth found in there.

One of hockey’s great truths is that you’re never in trouble in a playoff series until you lose a home game.

Well, following a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues in Game 2, it’s fair to say the Avalanche are in some level of trouble.

I’m not pushing a panic button or anything over here, but when you lose a playoff game, you’re one game closer to going home and it was a missed opportunity to be one game closer to advancing to the next round. The simplicity is the beauty. Or the beauty is the simplicity? One of those.

After an overtime win in Game 1 that shadowed just how well the Avalanche actually played, things were very different in Game 2. I wrote about the coaching matchup facing Jared Bednar and Craig Berube and where things stood after the first game and Berube didn’t waste any time looking for a spark.

Running his 11-forward, seven-defensemen alignment again with the same personnel, Berube instead leaned on changing his lines to create a spark. Outside of his fourth line, which is compromised of extras Tyler Bozak and Alexei Toropchenko, all of the lines were configured a little differently.

From a tactical standpoint, the Blues didn’t play a significantly different style of game, they just played their game far more effectively than in Game 1. They attacked pucks better in the neutral zone and forced Avalanche puck carriers to make plays.

That’s where we found Colorado’s biggest problem tonight. The energy wasn’t great and things looked sluggish for far too much of the game, but the Avalanche simply executed at a low level.

Plenty of people will want to compare it to Colorado’s Game 2 struggles against Vegas last year, but that was more about a really good Golden Knights team imposing its will and style on the Avalanche. Tonight was much about what the Avalanche did to themselves as what the Blues did.

Let’s be clear before someone starts thinking I’m waving away Colorado’s poor play. The Blues were the better team in this game and deserved to win. They got the bounces along the way, but they were the kind of bounces created by the team that’s actually dictating play on the ice.

Instead of getting bogged down in the conversation about how lucky a team was, let’s just say that the Blues benefitted greatly from good fortune on both of their first two goals, which took ricochets off Avalanche sticks and changed direction en route to the net.

I don’t feel like it’s taking anything away from how well the Blues played to admit that, hey, they put themselves in a position to get a little lucky by shooting in the first place and they got it. Maybe Jordan Kyrou and David Perron’s shots would have beaten Darcy Kuemper anyway without the change of course. We’ll never know. That’s just hockey.

Where you’re frustrated from Colorado’s side of things is how you got there.

Kyrou’s goal coming down the wing doesn’t bother me very much. Those shots happen a handful of times every game from both teams. That his shot got Sam Girard’s stick and found the high corner, well, what can you really want done differently on that play?

After getting down 1-0 early in the second period, Colorado actually started sinking their teeth into the game a little bit more. They weren’t generating much in the way of scoring chances, but they were possessing the puck more and at least getting shots at the net.

It wasn’t much, but something to build on.

Then two of Colorado’s smartest players took silly penalties and put the team in an awful position at the end of the second period. The tripping on Devon Toews was pretty standard, but the goaltender interference call on Valeri Nichushkin was at least open enough to interpretation to be upset about the call, especially given an earlier run-in between David Perron and Kuemper.

The real problem with the Nichushkin penalty, which came as he was fighting Justin Faulk all the way down the ice for a short-handed scoring chance, is that the juice wasn’t anywhere near worth the squeeze. As he barreled towards the net and ran out of space, he didn’t make an active attempt to stop until he was already at Jordan Binnington’s doorstep.

For a contested puck all the way down the ice, you have to wonder why Nichushkin was so hell-bent on continuing to aggressively pursue the play. I always say that I can live with a guy making an aggressive mistake trying to make a play, but when you’re down 1-0 on the scoreboard and already on the penalty kill, holding up and not putting yourself in the position to even be called for that penalty is the smarter play.

Of course, it’s easy to say that when I’m not the guy on the ice making split-second decisions, but it’s fair to say we’ve become accustomed to Nichushkin making smart plays and that just wasn’t one of them.

The Blues fiddled around a bit before cashing in on the two-man advantage when a David Perron one-timer caught Josh Manson’s stick and took flight, getting past Kuemper and giving the Blues a 2-0 lead going into the third period.

It felt like the game ended there just because the Avs had played so poorly to that point.

The third period, however, saw a more familiar Avalanche squad show up. They drew a penalty in the first couple of minutes and Gabe Landeskog cashed in on the doorstep of the crease with a tight-angle shot to make it 2-1.

Suddenly, the building was buzzing again and the Avs were flying all over the ice. The Blues were sitting back taking body blows but were just trying to play a tight defensive game that focused on no mistakes. If the Avs were going to tie the game, it was going to be because they did something great.

That greatness never came.

Just the opposite, actually, as Andre Burakovsky and Cale Makar had a whopper of a miscommunication just inside the blueline and it sprung the Blues for a clean two-on-one the other way. With Toews taking away the passing lane, Perron chose to try to beat Kuemper on his own.

He did, and it was 3-1 on a shot that Kuemper absolutely should’ve stopped. On a night where the other goals that beat Kuemper were a little on the unlucky side (from his perspective, for sure), this is the one he couldn’t give up.

It broke the spirit of the comeback attempt and a Brandon Saad empty-net goal got the game to its final score.

Losing games in the postseason is inevitable. Even the great Cup run of all time saw two losses along the way (also how crazy is a 16-2 run? Goodness, Oilers). What comes to define the teams that become champions isn’t that they never lose, it’s that they don’t allow losses to turn into losing streaks. It stops at one.

All you have to do is simply look over at two-time defending champs Tampa Bay and you see a team that hasn’t lost consecutive playoff games since their humiliating sweep against Columbus the year before their run began.

During the regular season, we routinely saw the Avalanche respond to losses with strong performances. That’s great. That’s how they got the home-ice advantage that they just lost to the Blues tonight.

Now, they have to take it back, or else they’ll be in very real trouble.

TAKEAWAYS

• After watching Colorado’s second line and pairing drive the bus in Game 1, we were all certainly expecting more from Colorado’s top players. Mikko Rantanen, despite the assist on Colorado’s lone goal tonight, remains a near ghost this postseason as he’s rarely involved in anything dangerous and isn’t creating or driving play at any level. He’s been a complete passenger in this series especially. Cale Makar, same thing. One round after his transcendent performance against Nashville, he has smashed back into earth and has been far too easy to play against and done not nearly enough offensively. Toews has taken two penalties that ultimately resulted in goals against. He just has to be better. All of Colorado’s stars do.
• That’s so tough for Kuemper. He was really good tonight and that third goal is just so back-breaking as the team in front of him is finally playing with some energy and is pressing. Just killer, but this is why they went and got him. He has to come up with the extra save.
• After Berube made sweeping line changes ahead of Game 2, I’m curious if Bednar does the same. Nichushkin hasn’t clicked on the top line the same way we’ve seen previously and Landeskog has been great this postseason. Can’t help but wonder if this loss also paves the way for a return of Alex Newhook to the lineup. All of that will be something to watch ahead of Game 3.