Let us start by taking a look at the man responsible for much of this Colorado Avalanche team’s recent success.

Jared Bednar

Grade: A+

In his fourth season as the Colorado Avalanche’s head coach, Bednar led an injury laden team into the second round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite Colorado’s ultimate loss to the Stars, the team overcame a 3–1 deficit and pushed the series to a seventh game despite numerous player injuries and injuries to both their first and second-string goaltenders, Philip Grubauer and Pavel Francouz. Under Bednar, the team overcame player injuries in both the regular season and postseason, demonstrating astute coaching decisions with respect to line changes, as well as a team depth that is largely attributable to previous smart trades and acquisitions made under Bednar’s watch. The trade for Nazem Kadri prior to the 2019–20 season, for example, proved invaluable when Kadri scored 11 points in 8 post-season games with the Avalanche, adding depth down their middle and bringing energy and grit to the team’s second line.

Although not chosen as one of the three finalists, Bednar finished fifth in voting for the Jack Adams Award, given yearly to the NHL’s top coach. The Avalanche finished the regular season with 92 points (42-20-8), only two behind the St. Louis Blues, who led the Central Division with 94 points. Bednar’s ability to recognize the needs of his team and address them with in-game changes, AHL call-ups, his insights regarding new player acquisitions, accompanied by his expertise in integrating the skills of newly acquired players such as Andre Burakovsky, became increasingly instrumental as Colorado’s injuries began to pile up. Bednar juggled lines throughout the season as one top player or another succumbed to injury, and he ensured that players like Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, and Burakovsky were set up for success whenever they were on the ice. He additionally altered Colorado’s playing style after Grubauer’s initial injury, recognizing the need to emphasize team defense with a less experienced net-minder between the pipes.

Nothing tests a coach’s competency like repeated injuries, and if the Avalanche can make it into the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs with as many missing players as they did, a healthy roster under Jared Bednar could prove a very dangerous thing.

Philipp Grubauer

Grade: B+

The Avalanche’s starting netminder for most of the year, Grubauer finished the regular season with an 18-12-4 record, a GAA of 2.63 and a .916 save percentage. In the postseason, he started seven games before suffering a lower-body injury and finished with a 1.87 GAA and a .922 save percentage. While he certainly made excellent saves in key game moments, his SV% sits at twenty-fourth in the League and multiple lower-body injuries kept him from being a constant on-ice presence for his team. On the other hand, Grubauer was not the only Avalanche player who missed ice time due to injury, and playing with a healthy team would no doubt have impacted his performance.

Per Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic, Bednar had said that at the time the Avalanche were eliminated from the playoffs, Grubauer was still “a week or weeks” away from returning, which is something to keep in mind as Colorado heads into its off-season training camp. However, despite rumors that the Avalanche are looking to acquire a goaltender during the offseason, Coach Bednar has expressed confidence in Grubauer’s ability to succeed next season.

Pavel Francouz

Grade: B

During the regular season, Pavel Francouz started only six fewer games than starting netminder Philipp Grubauer. He was announced as Colorado’s backup goaltender for the season in July of 2019, and proceeded to put up a .923 save percentage and a GAA of 2.41. The team won 21 of the 30 games he started, and Francouz proved an effective backup to Grubauer during the extent of his injuries.

In the playoffs, Francouz’s performance was less satisfactory than it was in the regular season, with a save percentage of only .892 and a 3.23 GAA. In game one of the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs against the Dallas Stars, the Czech goaltender suffered an otherwise-unspecified head injury and did not appear in any subsequent games. Per Coach Bednar, “neither of those injuries [Grubauer’s and Francouz’] are injuries you have to worry about. Train hard in the summer and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” While Bednar appears confident in the Grubauer/Francouz pairing, and while Francouz certainly rose to the occasion in the regular 2019–20 regular season, his playoff performance earns him a B grade.

The Avalanche signed Francouz to a two-year contract extension in February of 2020, and with perhaps an exception given to this season’s playoffs, he has been a vital part of the Colorado Avalanche’s success, stepping up in Grubauer’s absence when needed and making invaluable saves.

Michael Hutchinson

Grade: B

The Avalanche acquired Hutchinson in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs in February of this year. He appeared in fifteen games with the Maple Leafs and four with the Toronto Marlies, their American Hockey league Affiliate, during the 2019–20 season before being traded to the Avalanche. In his NHL career prior to joining Colorado, the Ontario native posted a 50-52-14 record, with a .905 save percentage and 2.81 GAA.

Hutchinson made his NHL playoff debut and first on-ice playoff appearance for Colorado after backup goaltender Pavel Francouz suffered a head injury in Game 1 of the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs. He started the following four games, and finished with a .910 SV% and a 2.75 GAA. Though not given the opportunity to play many games, Hutchinson aided his team significantly after the loss of their top two goaltenders and became only the seventh NHL goalie ever to win his first two playoff wins back-to-back while his team faced elimination.

One of many backup goalies who rose to the occasion in this year’s postseason, Hutchinson certainly proved his worth in this playoff appearance. Moreover, the team seems to like his hard-working and optimistic attitude, as well as having a goaltender between the pipes who players respect and who inspires confidence is a major component of good team chemistry and performance.

Antione Bibeau

Grade: C-

Bibeau played two games this season with the Colorado Avalanche. His GAA was 3.27 and his SV% was lower than all other four Colorado goaltenders at .881. Bibeau was drafted 172 overall in 2013 by the Toronto Maple Leafs and has been playing with the Colorado Eagles since just before the 2018–19 season. He started his first game with the Avalanche in a 5-4 OT win against the Vancouver Canucks in November of 2019. He was called up due to injuries to both Grubauer and Francouz then returned to the Colorado Eagles shortly after.

Adam Werner

Grade: C

Like Bibeau, Werner played only two games with the Avalanche in the 2019–20 season. He posted a GAA of 3.42 and a .914 SV%. In his NHL debut against the Winnipeg Jets, Werner stopped 40 of 40 shots after started Pavel Francouz suffered an injury only 32 seconds into the game. However, when the Avalanche started Werner two days later in a game against Edmonton, the 22-year old netminder gave up five of eighteen shots on goal, posting a save percentage of only .722. A forty-shot shutout nonetheless gives him the edge over Bibeau, particularly since he managed it in his first ever NHL appearance.

The post Colorado Avalanche 2019-20 Season Review: Goaltenders and Coaching Staff appeared first on The Rink.

Defenseman Erik Johnson and left winger Matt Calvert remained unfit to play and were replaced in Colorado’s lineup by Colorado Eagles players Conor Timmins and Logan O’Connor. Both goaltenders Philip Grubauer and Pavel Francouz were also missing tonight for the Avalanche, the former having sustained a groin injury and the latter currently unfit to play per Coach Jared Bednar. In place of Francouz, Michael Hutchinson started in net for the Avalanche, with fellow Eagle Hunter Miska available as backup netminder.

Dallas also made an unexpected goaltending decision prior to the game, starting Ben Bishop in net over Anton Khudobin.

Period One

At just 4:37 into the period, Pierre Bellemare opened the scoring for Colorado on a breakaway pass across the slot from Logon O’Connor, who collected his first NHL playoff point on the assist. Shortly after, the Avalanche went on their first power play of the game when Stars’ winger Alexander Radulov was called for hooking. As they had in previous games, Dallas blocked multiple shots and left Colorado scoreless when playing with the man advantage. The Avalanche, however, quickly demonstrated that scoring goals does not require an extra man on the ice when halfway through the period, Andre Burakovsky picked up a rebound off of a shot from Cale Makar that gave the Avalanche a 2–0 lead.

Thank you, Bellemare!

(And a first playoff point for O'Connor, too!)#GoAvsGo https://t.co/IYEOGjANVm

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 1, 2020

In the three minutes that followed, Colorado scored three more even-strength goals. The first was from Nathan MacKinnon, who received a pass from JT Compher and clapped the puck into the back of the net from high in the slot. The goal extends MacKinnon’s playoff point streak to thirteen games and places him fourth in line for the longest point streak to begin the NHL playoffs, behind only Bryan Trottier, Mark Messier, and Bobby Orr.

The next goal came from Nazem Kadri, who continued in Game 5 to fight for goals and pick up loose rebounds. He grabbed a bouncing puck on what should have been a save by Stars goaltender Ben Bishop, and after putting Colorado up 4–0, the Stars replaced Bishop with Khudobin. A net change did not appear to be what Dallas needed, however, because less than a minute later, Mikko Rantanen deflected the puck into the net after a drive and backhand shot by defenseman Samuel Girard. The Avalanche ended the period up 5–0, and two late penalties meant they would begin the second period playing with a 5–3 man advantage. The period also ended with Colorado up 23–5 in shots on goal.

So, that was fun!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/haOW9NpfRg

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 1, 2020

Period Two

The ability to carry their momentum from one period into the next was something the Avalanche had struggled with in previous games against the Dallas Stars, and while period two did not result in five unanswered Colorado goals, the Avalanche nonetheless maintained their lead. Dallas killed Colorado’s power play for a second time and proceeded to score on a goal from Joe Pavelski at 7:50 into the period. The team appeared to gain some momentum, taking the fight to Colorado’s defense, drawing penalties, and attacking the net. The second period saw eight total penalties from both teams, the Avalanche taking two for unsportsmanlike conduct from both Kadri and Girard.

After a second Stars goal by Miro Heiskanen on the power play, it seemed like Dallas was building the kind of momentum that had enabled previous multi-goal comebacks against Colorado. Bednar’s decision to place Burakovsky on the top line with MacKinnon and Rantanen, however, proved beneficial for a second time tonight when MacKinnon dished the puck to Burakovsky on the right faceoff circle, whose one-timer kept the Avalanche ahead of the Stars and ended the period with a 6–2 Colorado lead.

We're kinda digging Burky and MacKinnon on a line together!#GoAvsGo https://t.co/S0mbuqsEiw

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 1, 2020

Despite six power play opportunities, all of Colorado’s goals in the first and second periods were scored at even strength.

Period Three

The final period continued to see numerous penalties from both sides. Both Blake Comeau and Pavelski left the ice early with ten-minute misconduct penalties, and on a five-on-four Dallas power play with 5:48 left in the third, Jamie Benn scored a goal to cut Colorado’s lead in half. Dallas then pulled their goaltender to no avail, and the Avalanche beat the Stars 6–3, sidestepping elimination and continuing their race for the Stanley Cup. Colorado’s defense blocked 24 shots, and goaltender Michael Hutchinson saved 31 of the 34 shots he faced.

What’s Next

The Avalanche look to tie the seven-game series against Dallas in Game 6 on Wednesday, September 2^nd. The Avalanche will need to limit their penalties in Game 6 and focus on taking advantage of their own power-play opportunities. A loss in Game 6 would mean elimination for Colorado, so fans should expect the players to take to the ice Wednesday with the same urgency as they did today.

The post RECAP: Avalanche score five goals in first period, extend series against Stars appeared first on The Rink.

Colorado did come out strong initially, scoring two early goals and dominating early gameplay, but they suffered multiple penalties in the second period which the Stars capitalized on, resulting in four unanswered goals before the end of the second. And, despite a valiant effort by backup goaltender Pavel Francouz, the Avalanche now look to play from behind in their race for the Stanley Cup.

Starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer and defenseman Erik Johnson did not play and, per Bednar, are out indefinitely. In place of Johnson, the Avalanche pulled Eagles defenseman Kevin Connauton into their lineup, who worked hard but could not quite fill the role of Samuel Girard’s defensive partner. Forward Matt Calvert was a scratch for both Game One and Two against the Stars and continues to be day-to-day.

First period

Colorado began the game by putting pucks on net at every single chance they were given, and the scoreboard reflected their intensity. Dallas committed their first of nine penalties at just 5:54 into the period, and the Avs’ top line did not disappoint. Less than 30 seconds into the power play, MacKinnon slapped a beautiful saucer pass from Rantanen into the back of the net. The goal tied MacKinnon with Joe Sakic and Marian Stastny for the longest playoff point streak in franchise history.

Nathan MacKinnon wires home Mikko Rantanen's perfect saucer pass pic.twitter.com/w65AgPQ76Q

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) August 25, 2020

The Avalanche continued to put pucks on net in the period, with good shot attempts by Ian Cole and exceptional saves by Francouz. A double penalty for roughing on Gabriel Landeskog and Mattias Janmark generated no goals, but the Avs ultimately outshot the Stars 20–6 in the period. They put bodies in front of Stars goalie Anton Khudobin, dominated the crease and killed all three of Dallas’ first-period penalties.

Second period

The quick and aggressive Colorado team from the first period carried over into the first half of the second. After a slashing call on Joe Pavelski against MacKinnon, MacKinnon slipped a pass to Rantanen from behind the net, who shot it high above Khudobin’s right shoulder, and the Avs scored their second power-play goal of the game for a 2–0 lead.

Mikko and Nate on the power play.

It's like we've heard it before!#GoAvsGo https://t.co/RfwNp4Z0a5

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) August 25, 2020

After the goal, however, the Avalanche’s luck seemed to roll only downhill. The Stars attempted to dislodge a puck that Francouz had already covered, and a fight broke out that resulted only in a slashing penalty on Girard against Corey Perry. Then, at 9:43 into the second period, Cole committed an interference penalty against the Stars, and Pavelski and Radek Faksa scored two goals on the ensuing power play to level the score at 2–2.

The penalties from both teams did not stop there, but Colorado could not capitalize on any of their power plays and the game began to look chippy. At 15:34 into the second period, Dallas deflected a shot into the net over Francouz, putting the Stars up 3–2. With less than three minutes left in the second, Nazem Kadri—who has excelled in the playoffs for the Avalanche this season—left the ice after blocking a shot. He returned to the bench at the start of the third period, ruling out a serious injury. The Stars scored again shortly after, and although the goal was challenged by the Avalanche’s coaching staff, the referee review resulted in a good Dallas goal. The Stars ended the period with a 4–2 lead and having closed the shots-on-goal gap significantly.

https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/1298100905678692355?s=20

Third period

Despite hopes that the Avalanche would come out swinging in the third period, and despite two Dallas penalties that led to good Avalanche power play opportunities, Colorado continued to choose the extra pass over available shot attempts. The team looked visibly frustrated at times, and despite bursts of physicality and defensive hustle, they could not close Dallas’s goal lead and finished the game down 5–2 after an empty-net goal by Jamie Oleksiak. Although a couple of Stars goals seemed reliant on luck and bad puck bounces, the Avalanche defense ultimately could not immobilize the Dallas offense, and missed shot opportunities resulted in an Avalanche loss.

What’s next

With the Stars up 2–0 in the series, Dallas and Colorado face off for Game Three on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. MDT. Colorado will be playing from behind and looking to close the two-game deficit. Defenseman Erik Johnson will likely miss Game Three as well, and fans should expect Colorado to step up their defensive play in his absence. On stat watch is Nathan MacKinnon, who has scored at least a point in all 10 games the Avalanche have played this postseason and continues to climb the record boards.

The post Despite goals from MacKinnon and Rantanen, Avalanche fall to Stars in Game Two after five unanswered Dallas goals appeared first on The Rink.

Samuel Girard, Nikita Zadorov, and J.T. Compher also contributed goals. The Avalanche scored three of their seven goals on the power play, capitalizing swiftly on Arizona’s mistakes, and killed the only two penalties they took in the game. Goalie Philipp Grubauer saved 23 of 24 shots on goal.

First Period

The Avalanche took advantage of Arizona’s early mistakes, with Kadri scoring a powerplay goal at 15:21 in the first period on assists from Gabriel Landeskog and MacKinnon. The goal placed Kadri second only to Joe Sakic in powerplay goals scored by an Avalanche player in a single season’s playoffs. The Avs’ powerplay passes also looked sharper than usual this period, and at one point they rearranged their regular positioning so that both MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen set themselves up behind the net, with Landeskog hovering on MacKinnon’s usual left blue circle.

It proved successful, as only four minutes later Girard scored the Avalanche’s second powerplay goal of the game on a quick slap shot from the blue line. Arizona was penalized a third time in the first period for having too many men on the ice, and although the Coyotes killed the penalty, a successive turnover resulted in a breakaway goal for Kadri with only 1:32 left in the period. The Avalanche ended the second period up 3-0 and ahead in shots on goal 12-6.

Naz on a breakaway?

Beautiful. Inspiring. Perfect. Flawless.#GoAvsGo https://t.co/4Yv7iJcOHi

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) August 19, 2020

Second Period

The second period started off more slowly than the first, but the lack of action did not last long. The Avalanche demonstrated their depth in period two, with good shot attempts taken by Matt Calvert, Matt Nieto, and Compher. While Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper continued to make great saves, the Coyotes’ defense looked haphazard and the Avalanche never stopped putting pucks on net. Halfway through the second period, MacKinnon fired a one-timer into the back of the net, extending the Avalanche’s lead to 4-0. He was assisted by Rantanen, who passed the puck cleanly through four Coyote players onto MacKinnon’s tape.

This was the goal that Nate scored, right before the other one.#GoAvsGo https://t.co/dNjUrGOpWt

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) August 19, 2020

Less than a minute later, the Coyotes were called for a hooking penalty, and MacKinnon scored again on a second one-timer after receiving a quick touch pass by Rantanen. MacKinnon wasn’t finished accumulating points, however, and with 1:44 left in the second, he fired a wrist shot toward the net which was tipped in by Zadorov after a good cut across the slot. The Avalanche ended the period up 6-0, having scored three goals in both periods.

Third Period

Just as in game four, the third period of game five resulted in a single Arizona goal (scored this time by Clayton Keller) to deprive Grubauer of a shutout, as well as a change in net for the Coyotes, who replaced Kuemper with Antti Raanta. The Avalanche took two penalties in the third—one on Tyson Jost for holding and the second on Andre Burakovsky for the same—but killed both of them and continued to dominate the Coyotes both defensively and offensively. The Avalanche also continued to demonstrate their depth when, with 4:41 left in the period, Compher scored on a pass from Nieto from behind the net. Game Five finished similarly to Game Four, with Colorado beating the Coyotes 7-1 and eliminating Arizona from the playoffs.

Nathan MacKinnon:

"Things have changed a lot since (my rookie year)…the message from training camp a year ago now was to just win. Our time has arrived."#Avs

— Scott MacDonald (@0ffScottFree) August 20, 2020

What’s Next

It’s on to round two for the Colorado Avalanche! Colorado’s next playoff opponent will be either the Dallas Stars or the winner of the series between the Vancouver Canucks and the St. Louis Blues. Playing against Dallas or St. Louis would see the Avalanche face off with a division rival, and playing against Vancouver would see the Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes matchup many fans have been discussing. Game time is currently TBD, but fans should be looking to the middle of next week in anticipation for game one of round two.

The post Recap: Avalanche beat the Arizona Coyotes 7-1, advance to second round of Stanley Cup Playoffs appeared first on The Rink.

Fans talked a lot over the course of the 2019–20 regular season about the Avalanche’s mediocre-to-awful power play execution and what changes needed to be made in order to improve it. Whether the team relied too much on one-timers from Nathan MacKinnon in the left face-off circle, whether their passing lanes were too predictable, whether the second unit was underperforming or whether special teams simply needed to put more pucks on net were all issues discussed and debated as the calendar year turned from 2019 to 2020 and the Avs’ power play conversion rate…well, let’s just say it did not look much better.

Nathan MacKinnon fires a one-timer. (Photograph courtesy of Sports Illustrated)

The Avalanche ended their regular season with a power play percentage of 19.1, while the other top three teams in their division—the Jets, Stars and Blues—finished with percentages of 20.5, 21.1 and 24.3, respectively. The differential is not massive, although St. Louis ranks third in regular season power play conversions, and yet for a team currently sitting near the top of Western Conference power rankings and one that has made such a strong run this year for Ole Stanley, you would think their power play numbers would be a little higher.

But should you?

Yeah. You probably should.

On the other hand, I think most of us would agree that single statistics rarely tell the whole story.

Colorado is currently third in the league in scoring differential, behind only Boston and Tampa Bay, and despite much anxiety regarding the goaltending situation, Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz have brought their A game and kept the Avalanche’s save percentage hovering around .913. While Colorado did go 1/5 on the power play in their postseason exhibition game against Minnesota, they also went 18/80 on power play conversions from January through March, which puts their power play percentage over the second half of the season right around .225. And, there are some things stats just cannot track, like whether MacKinnon goes on a record-breaking 13-game point streak or just how good Cale Makar’s defensive playmaking abilities are going to be.

Oh, or if they manage to score a game-winning goal with 0.1 seconds left in the game.

Thanks, Naz.

So, for a little bit of postseason inspiration in the midst of anxiety surrounding Colorado’s special teams, let’s take a look at some teams who managed to grab the Cup in recent years while underperforming on the power play.

In the 2011–12 season, Los Angeles finished with a power play conversion rate of 16.96 when the league average that year was 17.31. When they won the Stanley Cup again in the 2013–14 season, their percentage was even worse at 15.14 when the league average was 17.89. But, they had a killer center in Anze Kopitar, who led the playoffs in points both years, as well as a top-scoring defenseman in Drew Doughty and a goaltending performance for the books from Jonathan Quick.

The Chicago Blackhawks also struggled on the power play in both of their most recent Stanley Cup finals. In 2012–13, their power play percentage came in at 16.67 when the league average was 18.82, and in the 2014–15 season, it was a little better, but still not great, at 17.69 when the league average was 18.66. But, they also had star forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, solid netminding from Corey Crawford and exceptional defensive performances from the likes of Duncan Keith, not to mention some good young draft picks contributing like Teuvo Teravainen.

So, what is it going to take for the Avalanche? And how much need is there to worry?

Clearly, the team has a lot of the ingredients it takes to win. Blue line depth, all-star forwards, two goaltenders who are both reliable enough that Bednar does not even decide who to play until the very last minute. Five on five, Colorado looks pretty darn good.

But five on four, or even five on three…

Maybe special teams need to force the puck to MacKinnon less often. Maybe Colorado needs to shoot more and stop looking for that extra short pass. As one Twitter user suggested, maybe the Avalanche could just…refuse to take the advantage?

Yeah alright, that is not an option.

But, while I certainly hope the Avs figure out a way to fix their special teams, I have also been a little less worried knowing that previous teams have snatched the Stanley Cup with worse regular season power play performances.

On the other hand, we probably should not let our guards down. Playoff hockey is never quite like regular season hockey, and in this regard, 2020 is no exception.

The post How successful can the Colorado Avalanche be with a mediocre power play? appeared first on The Rink.