Avalanche Turning Point: Byram and Girard Run The Show (+)

In the Turning Point, we’ll take a look at one moment in the previous Colorado Avalanche game that changed the momentum of the game.

No team in the NHL possesses the skill on the blueline that the Avalanche do. On Monday, the Canadiens found that out the hard way.

Cale Makar and Devon Toews combined for five assists, but it was the second pair who showed off their talent on a shift in the first period that eventually led to a highlight reel goal.

Byram Spins Away

The play starts in the Avalanche end. Lehkonen seals his man off along the boards, and the puck gets in deep to Girard.

Girard reverses it to Byram, but the puck ends up in his feet. He recovers, and you get a glimpse into why his future is so bright.

He gets Tierney to bite enough going one way, and spins back the other way to escape. From there, he gets the puck out to Nichushkin in the neutral zone. The big man gets the puck in deep, and it’s time to go to work.

Nothing But Pressure

Right here is one of the many things the Avalanche are going to miss without Lehkonen. The Finn gets in on the forecheck, knows he’s going to take a hit, and doesn’t care. He reverses it up the boards, and then immediately starts battling to get to the net.

Byram feeds Girard, and he’s allowed to walk in and take a clear shot. I’m not sure it would have counted with the contact, but the Avalanche keep control of the puck. It eventually comes back to Girard at the point, and he spins away from pressure to keep possession of the puck. When he feels a second defender attacking, he chips it to open space for Nichushkin to pick it up.

Nichushkin makes a great feed to Compher in the slot, and Compher gets a decent shot off, but either misses the net entirely, or it gets blocked. Either way, he heads to the corner and recovers it.

Girard Turns it Back, Byram Does the Rest

After another shot is blocked, it looks like the end of the play, but the three Avalanche forwards keep pressuring, even at the end of their shift. Compher does a great job blocking a clean zone-exit pass, and at that point, all three forwards converge. The pressure leads to the Canadiens making a bad pass, giving it back to the Avalanche.

Girard could have very easily retreated back and waited for fresh forwards to get on the ice, but that’s not how the Avalanche are built to play. You see Byram spot an opening, and the two defensemen look to take advantage of the tired Montreal defenders.

And it works.

Girard makes a perfect bounce pass off the boards to hit Byram in stride, and the young defenseman does the rest.

This is what makes the Avalanche so dangerous. On one pair, you have Devon Toews and Cale Makar, who love to push the play. On the next pair, you have Girard and Byram. When all four of them are going at the same time, this is a tough team to slow down.