By Jordan Long
The Colorado Avalanche are going to face the San Jose Sharks in round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Sharks ousted the defending Western Conference Champions Las Vegas Knights in 7 games. The Colorado Avalanche finished off the Calgary Flames in 5 games. Game 1 is on Friday night.
The Colorado Avalanche played San Jose 3 times this year and didn’t have a win. In 2 of the 3 games they played against each other San Jose skated off with a 1 goal win. The only blowout in the regular season series was on April 6th, the last day of the season. Both teams weren’t playing for anything and the Sharks beat Colorado 5-2.
The season series can be thrown away. Sure it helped that San Jose was 3-0 but in a best of 7 playoff series anything is possible. The Colorado Avalanche hope to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2002. This is also the furthest Colorado has been in the NHL postseason since 2008.
The Colorado Avalanche know they can score. They put up 3.40 goals per game against the Flames. Colorado has the talent with all 4 lines to light the lamp. The key for them is to keep shooting pucks at the goaltender and spend time in the offensive zone. Colorado averaged 41 shots in their 1st-round series and dictated the play. If they do that against the Sharks, they have a chance to steal a game or 2 in San Jose.
The power play and power play kill is what will decide the series. Colorado scored on 20% of their man advantages. San Jose on the other hand scored on 23.5% of their opportunities. Colorado needs to stay out of the box. San Jose can beat Colorado if Colorado keeps taking penalties. Colorado killed off 77.3% of their penalties in the 1st-round. That percentage will not get the job done against San Jose who has a veteran team.
This series will be decided by goaltending. Philipp Grubauer has been red hot for the Avalanche. He has been able to stop shots in the playoffs and doesn’t allow many rebound chances. Grubauer posted a 1.90 goals against average and an impressive save percentage of .939 against the Flames. He must play that way if Colorado wants to advance. Colorado can’t allow traffic in front of Grubauer. If they do, San Jose will score and it might be a short series.
On the other side is Martin Jones. He struggled at times for the Sharks in the 7 game series against the Knights. He gave up 3.20 goals per game with a save percentage of .904. In the offensive zone, Colorado needs to screen Jones from seeing the puck. Those will be opportunities for them to score. Jones will give up rebounds which could equal goals for Colorado.
This will be a hard fought series. The first goal of each game may not mean that much. Both teams have shown in the Stanley Cup Playoffs they can come back from a deficit. It will all start in San Jose on Friday night. fffff
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