The Colorado Avalanche controlled Game 2 vs. the Minnesota Wild.
They won a vast majority of the faceoffs, turned good shot opportunities into goals, and skated around the Wild with speed.
If the Avs can continue to play like that, they’ll not only beat the Wild, but win their fourth Stanley Cup.
Colorado Avalanche controlled Game 2 vs. Minnesota Wild
At the end of Game 2, Erik Johnson said the Avs completely controlled the game.
Yes, he’s a former Avs defender, but Johnson is also a hockey expert and that takeaway was what even a more casual hockey fan like me could also see.
Unlike in the first round series against the LA Kings, and even unlike Game 1 vs. the Wild, the Avalanche were more or less able to do whatever they wanted in Game 2.
The Avs jumped out to a 1-0 lead less than 3 minutes into the game when Martin Necas scored and was assisted by Nathan MacKinnon.
And even when the Wild scored a mere six seconds later—which was insane—the Avs never panicked.
Gabriel Landeskog scored on the power play—something that’s haunted Colorado a bit this year, they were 27th in scoring percentage with the man advantage—and never gave the lead up the rest of the way.
Nicolas Roy scored early in the second period to make it 3-1, and that’s when you could see the Wild getting really restless and frustrated. Minnesota took three penalties in the third period, and the Avs again scored on the power play, this time it was Nate the Great to make it 4-1 and basically cement the victory.
Minnesota kept fighting and scored, but an empty netter pushed the Avs win to 5-2.
How the Avs commanded the Wild
It’s no secret that Colorado is one of the fastest teams in the NHL. And they’ve been putting that speed on display during the postseason.
They were able to control the wild with that speed, by taking advantage of their scoring opportunities, and then frustrating Minnesota and drawing penalties late.
Let’s explore how it was done.
Winning faceoffs
Throughout the regular season, the Avs were great at winning faceoffs. Their 51.2% was 8th-best in the NHL.
But on Tuesday night, they were spectacular.
Colorado won 39 faceoffs vs. 23 for Minnesota. That’s an incredible 62.9%. What was also special about that high number was it was a flip from Game 1.
The Wild won 63.1% of faceoffs in that second-round opening game, and that helped them stay in the high-scoring affair.
Speed skating
If you watched some of the Winter Olympics in Milan not just for hockey, but other sports as well, you likely saw some speed skating.
The Avs are so fast, they look like one of those world-class speed skating relay teams at the Olympics.
According to NHL Edge, Colorado’s 18 bursts of 22+ miles per hour leads the NHL during the playoffs. That includes all six games they’ve played, while Minnesota has only seven such high-speed bursts.
One likely immediately thinks of Nathan MacKinnon’s blazing speed, but five teammates have gone faster on the ice than him during the postseason.
Cale Makar’s 23.92 MPH is the fastest of anyone in the playoffs, and Valeri Nichuskin (23.66) is right behind him. Both Martin Necas and Brock Nelson (23.25) were in the top-10 among forwards, and even Nick Blankenberg (22.51) was 10th among defenders.
All that speed makes it easy for the Avs to control the puck, keep it in the offensive zone, and wears out their opponents. They chase Colorado players around the rink while the Avalanche skate circles around them.
Scoring opportunities
Colorado’s been bad on the power play this year, at 17.1% (27th). But in Game 2, they scored two power play goals on five opportunities (40%). Not only that, but the Avalanche’s power play percentage has increased to 22.2% during the postseason, which is fourth-best. The three teams ahead of them have all been eliminated, too.
Over the course of the playoffs, the Avs have averaged 3.5 more shots than opponents, and 1.4 more shots on goal.
And they’re turning those into goals.
Colorado leads the NHL in goals per game in the postseason (4.5, Wild are second at 3.88), and the Avs shooting percentage (14.3%) leads the league as well.
Frustrating the Wild
As the game wore on, the Avs frustrated the Wild at every turn.
Arturri Lehkonen buried Quinn Hughes behind the Minnesota net with 7 minutes to go in the third period. Vladimir Tarasenko retaliated soon after with a high stick to Nazem Kadri’s face, and Landy found MacKinnon for the game-cementing score.
MacKinnon was also more physical than usual, crunching Matt Boldy into the boards and one point, and running over the aforementioned Hughes.
Finally, Scott Wedgewood frustrated the Wild; he enjoyed a .935 save percentage, stopping 29-of-31 shots from Minnesota. Wedgewood’s 2.17 goals against average are second-best in the playoffs; he’s been fantastic. Even with that six-goal Game 1.
The Avs are playing fast, smart, and precise hockey. If they keep playing like they did in Game 2, they’ll win the Stanley Cup at the end of this playoff run.
They’re controlling the puck with speed, shooting lights-out, and Wedgie is on top of his game.
Tonight, we’ll see if Colorado can keep up the dominant performance as the series shifts to Minnesota. The Avs and Wild go head-to-head with puck drop set for 7 p.m. MT on TNT.
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