Adrian Dater
First off, I do believe in the overall summation that most guys are “playing hurt” in the playoffs. At least, some bumps and bruises and things like that. Most guys are not playing seriously injured, because in today’s game playing hurt is more likely to harm your team tangibly on the ice than help intangibly off the ice.
Cale Makar sounds like one of those guys playing hurt some, right now.
“For me, just haven’t had the legs yet. Just have to get back in the groove,” Makar said. “There’s a lot of times where I can just work my way out of the situation, but just haven’t been able to the last (two games) because of. … . lack of juice or whatnot. So, I think a lot of it goes to me, but I give them credit still. They’ve done a good job. Can’t take that away from them.”
Makar was then asked about how he’s feeling physically right now, after going hard into the goalpost last night, when his right leg got twisted in a bad way. Keep in mind, he played the rest of the game.
“It’s playoff time, so you have to find a way. Just find a way I guess, yeah,” he said.
I watched Makar closely after he went into the goalpost in Game 2, and he was definitely shaking his right leg. But he didn’t miss a shift, and he looked as explosive as ever, to me at least. But maybe he’s not as explosive as ever, because of that, and/or something else lingering?
“Yeah, just a little bit of a weird one. Kind of watched it afterward and it seemed like I caught an edge there and went flying in. So, lucky it wasn’t more serious than it is,” Makar said.
Than it is. Probably just a semantics thing here. I don’t think Makar is badly hurt or anything. But, he’s probably banged up with some bumps and bruises, just like others. To his credit, Makar never makes excuses. And, I wouldn’t want to bet against him in anything. If he says he’s ready to rock for Game 3, I certainly am not here to dispute him.
“It’s just using our legs and finding that open space. I feel like when we’re playing our best, guys are moving their legs from the get-go, regardless of if we have the puck or not,” Makar said, about the mindset going into Game 3 Saturday night at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. “Moving our legs just opens up opportunities for us. It’s just something that, last night, we didn’t have. But at the end of the day, it is what it is and you move on.”
Bo Byram, drafted two years after Makar in the top four picks by the Avs, made a lot of sense with his comments today.
“We outplayed them one game, they outplayed us one,” Byram said. “There’s no reason to panic. You’re not going to win every game in the playoffs. They’re a good team, they know how to win and have won before. But there’s no panic on our end. It’s just a matter of readjusting for the next game.”