Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon was direct in his assessment of his team’s effort in a 4-1 Game 2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
“We were bad. We were very bad tonight,” MacKinnon said, as the Western Conference second round was now 1-1. “We just didn’t make our jump tonight. But we still feel like we are a great team. We have to forget it and move on.”
Although Colorado needed overtime to win Game 1 against St. Louis, the Avalanche controlled that game. They fired 54 shots at Blues goalkeeper Jordan Binnington and had 106 shots that night. In Game 2, they managed 31 shots and only 60 total shot attempts.
“We were working hard and getting locked out,” said Colorado coach Jared Bednar. “They were better, and we were worse. Our biggest problem, especially in the beginning, was that nobody wanted to skate with the puck. They did well in the neutral zone, but we didn’t move.”
When they did have the puck, the Avalanche couldn’t let much happen at 5-on-5. Their only goal of the game came from captain Gabriel Landeskog on the power play early in the third period. Perron scored another goal to make it 3-1 before Brandon Saad ended it with an empty netter.
“Our execution was over. We didn’t feel it. We just fought it out,” MacKinnon said. “It’s a shame, but it’s 1-1. We get to go on the road and hopefully we steal one there. Hopefully two. We have to forget it and move on and get back to the way we play.”
The Blues started Game 2 with a very different approach than in the previous game. They didn’t overload their forecheck, leaving the defenders to hide in the neutral zone and provide puck support in the defensive zone. They also handled the puck better. Once they entered the Colorado zone, they let the Avalanche defend more than they did in Game 1.
More importantly, St. Louis extended its lead when it had the chance, taking 2-0 on a 5-on-3 power play goal by David Perron late in the second period.
“I’ve seen it all year. We’re a good team. They know they didn’t do well enough in Game 1, and they’ve responded all year,” said Blues coach Craig Berube.
Now the pressure is falling on the Avalanche, and part of that is the pressure of recent history.
Colorado has been knocked out in the second round in three consecutive seasons. In the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Avalanche defeated the Blues in the first round, dominated the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the second round, then lost in six games.
This postseason, they defeated the Nashville Predators, controlled Game 1 of the second round, then saw the Blues flip the script and even set the series for Game 3 on Saturday night in St. Louis.
MacKinnon said the Avalanche are determined not to let history repeat itself.
“I think in recent years we might just stop and put ourselves and each other down. We just need to pick each other up and move on and stay positive,” MacKinnon said. “We have a great team. We still believe we can pull this off and win the series. We’re not going to win every round. It’s fine.”
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