The Colorado Avalanche picked up in the 2nd Round, right where they left off in the 1st Round as they cruised to a 6-1 victory over Vegas in Game 1 of their 2nd Round Series, Sunday Night at Ball Arena.
Nathan Mackinnon, who had 9 points in the 4 games vs. St. Louis, had 2 goals and an assist Sunday night. He was matched by his line-mate Mikko Rantanen, who had the 1st Colorado goal, as well as 2 assists on the pair of goals by Captain Gabe Landeskog. Forward Brandon Saad scored, and defenseman Cale Makar found the back of the net in the 3rd period on a Power Play Goal that game during a 9-minute penalty. That 9-minute penalty, something not often seen in hockey was given to Ryan Reaves. The Knights winger slammed Avalanche defenseman Ryan Graves to the ground and drew blood during their fight. Thus, he was sent off with a game misconduct and may likely face a suspension. He was also slapped with a roughing penalty.
MacKinnon looked like the MVP candidate that is and his Captain noticed especially on his 2nd goal, where he blew past the Vegas defense, "I thought he played a great game," Landeskog said. "He was dangerous every time he was out there…it’s our job to lead our team offensively, and we try to do that on a nightly basis, and Nate has an extra gear in his pocket, and it’s good to see him use it.”
Between the pipes Phillip Grubauer was nearly perfect for the Avs, stopping all by 1 of the 25 he faced. On the other side Robin Lehner started in goal, after Vegas played Marc-Andre Fleury in all 7 games last round against Minnesota. Although Lehner has been good this season, he was not on Sunday, as he was peppered all night. Colorado Head Coach Jared Bednar weighed in on the goalie choice for Vegas, "I'm not really surprised with Lehner," he said. "They've been riding 2 guys all year...Fleury's been carrying the load...they go 7 games, long, hard fought series, you know rest is important. There's an emotional toll, then you jump right into the next series. I'm sure we'll Fleury back in there soon. It didn't really change anything for our group...it was business as usual as far as who's in the net."
The Avs looked rested and ready following 6 days off, and clearly there was no rust to speak of for anyone in a Colorado sweater. "I love the way our team played tonight," Head Coach Jared Bednar said, "right away... relentless...the top line set the tone again, but the whole team was involved, playing well, skating well…our talk before the game was we didn’t want to wade into this series..."
The 7-1 win matches a pair of wins in the opening round of last year's playoffs over Arizona, and is tied for the 2nd largest margin of victory in the playoffs for Colorado. Makar, who also tallied 3 assists, becomes the 1st Colorado defenseman to record 4 points in a playoff game since Rob Blake did it in 2001. Bednar certainly noticed the outstanding play of his young defenseman, "I thought he was fantastic, heads up plays, skating right away, I thought he was fantastic."