Dater: Avalanche Pull One out of the Fire

I gotta admit, I thought the Avs were going to blow this one. Oh man, I did not like their chances after Jordan Kyrou tied it up. Some of the people I text with would confirm this. Basically, I said to one friend a couple of times, “This is the one that got away. They somehow rescued defeat from the jaws of victory.”

It seemed like there were 18,000 people who were about to go into cardiac arrest after that Kyrou goal, then all through that agonizing wait between regulation and OT. Many previous Avs teams probably would have blown that game tonight, but not this one.

Just like that Game 2 against Nashville, when Connor Ingram was standing on his head and you didn’t think the Avs would ever put one by him, the Avs just kept coming. Finally – finally – they got one past Jordan Binnington at a little past eight minutes played in OT and the Avs are now up 1-0 on the Blues instead of already being in a hole and everyone coming out with their “Here we go again” Round 2 storylines.

Who had Josh Manson in the OT goal pool? I know I sure as heck didn’t. After the Avs pounded the posts and crossbars behind Binnington, after being robbed many other times by him, it was a just a little wrist shot from the top of the circles, with Gabe Landeskog setting a great screen, that won it. Hockey is a weird game.

So many things happened in this game, so I just kind of want to jump around with thoughts and observations on it:

• A horrible change on the PK almost ruined the whole night. The Avs had had a great PK when, with about 15 seconds left for Devon Toews to serve, they left the entire left side of the ice open while four guys came off for a change. Next thing you know, Darcy Kuemper is beat through the 5-hole on a medium-range shot and it’s tied 2-2 when it should have been about 10-2 by that point. The Avs have GOT to be smarter than that in such situations. I mean, that nearly cost them the hockey game.
• That was such a big screen by Landeskog on the winner. Binnington never saw the puck until it was too late, it seemed.
• The Blues’ BIG weakness, it’s clear, is on defense. Their D-men are too slow and take too much time to get the puck out a lot. They can’t match up with the Avs’ top-six on D. And yet, they almost won the hockey game.
• It’s tough to say anything too bad on Kuemper, as that first Blues goal, by Ryan O’Reilly, was very lucky, having bounced off a couple guys behind him then, boom, it’s right on his stick in front. And the second goal was off a horrible change. But, Kuemper made a lot of people nervous tonight with the lack of any huge, killer saves. But a lot of that is credit to the Avs’ D and checking. The Blues just did not get a lot of good scoring chances.
• Poor Bo Byram. The kid made a GREAT pass to Erik Johnson for what should have been a goal, but EJ fanned a bit on it. Not fanned, but not enough wood on it. Byram and EJ were good together tonight though.
• Yeah, I thought the Brayden Schenn penalty on Manson late in the third was a “fortunate” one for the Avs. I don’t love that call if I’m a Blues fan, not at all. Schenn sure didn’t like it. He tried to break the camera in the penalty box with his stick, it seemed like.
• “We’ve talked all year about being resilient and mentally tough,” Jared Bednar said after the game. “We didn’t capitalize on the (late) power play, but we just kept doing what we were doing, stuck with our game plan. Eventually, we thought we’d get a chance to break them down. Our guys believe it, worked hard for it and I think they earned it.”
• “That’s one thing about St. Louis – they can win by being opportunistic. We saw that tonight. We know the next one is going to be equally as tough,” Bednar said.
• Bednar said Manson’s defense was “fantastic tonight.”
• Bednar said Manson was “thinking too much” after he first came to the Avs, but that he’s gotten better and better as time has gone along. I agree.
• Avs outshot the Blues 13-0 in OT. Is that good?
• Avs won 64% of the game’s faceoffs.
• Blues coach Craig Berube kinda-sorta said his team was outworked too often in the game to win.
• Said Landeskog: “It was like the second game against Nashville. But we just stressed, ‘just keep playing, just keep playing.'”

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