Avalanche Game Two Plus/Minus: Shutout Stars, Avoidable Penalties

– MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Mittelstadt

There is one stat that really stands out when looking at these three players, who are essential to the success of the Avalanche.

0.

As in 0 combined shots on goal at 5-on-5 between the three of them. 99 out of 100 times, the Avalanche will lose if these three were to combine for zero shots at even strength again. I do think that Mittelstadt helped create a little bit of offense for his line, setting up Lehkonen a few times for some good looks, but I certainly think he’s been quieter to start this series than he was against the Jets.

Full credit to the Stars. Sure, these guys didn’t play up to their capabilities, but Dallas deserves some credit for slowing them down, especially Chris Tanev. He stuck to MacKinnon all night long and made his life difficult.

Bednar was very honest in his assessment of MacKinnon and Rantanen after the game, so I’d expect them to respond in Game Three.

– Avoidable Penalties

People can squabble over some of the penalties called (or not called), but four of the penalties the Avalanche took were complete gifts for the Stars. Nathan MacKinnon and Josh Manson both had time to make better plays than they did, but instead, both airmailed the puck out of play, giving Dallas’ powerplay a chance to work. They scored on MacKinnon’s penalty, and the Manson penalty was indicative of everything that was going on in Colorado’s game in the second period.

The too many men penalties are just very avoidable. The second one was painfully obvious from up in the press box. Andrew Cogliano jumped on the ice and no one got off, so Colorado had six skaters out there for a while. He tried to sneak off, but the refs had already caught it. The first one was just a case of Mittelstadt hopping a little too early to try and break up a rush chance for the Stars.

Six penalties is brutal in a playoff game, but four of them were just Colorado making it easy for the refs.

+ Alexandar Georgiev

This game certainly felt like it could have been worse if not for Georgiev. 10 seconds into the game, the Stars had a Grade-A chance off the rush, and Georgiev stretched across to stop it with his left pad. He also made some great saves late in the first to keep the game close. He essentially was hung out to dry in the second period, as Colorado was completely out of it.

I was actually wondering if Bednar would pull Georgiev to start the third, given the score, just to let him rest for Game Three, but that wasn’t the case. The numbers don’t look good for him on the stat sheet, but he wasn’t the problem in Game Two.

– The Benn Hit On Toews

This could be controversial, but the more I watch this hit, the more I can see why they pulled the major. I think they very easily could have called a minor for charging, but the initial point of contact looks to be the shoulder, at least to me. Benn did just enough to avoid getting the boot.

The problem is two things. One, it’s Jamie Benn. He has a history, everyone knows it, and very few will give him the benefit of the doubt. And two, if you watch the replay, he clearly knew what he was doing. He starts lining up Toews before he even picks up the puck. The hit certainly seems to be predatory, even if the initial point of contact isn’t just to the head.

I would be stunned if Benn faces any discipline from the NHL, but I do think the hit at least warranted a minor penalty. That’s twice this postseason where the refs have called a major to review a hit (which is the right move), and then not even called a penalty at all. Seems a little bizarre. I’m not sure if it’s an all-or-nothing situation with the league, but just find that interesting.

+ Joel Kiviranta

It’s not even the goal that Kiviranta scored late. On his first few shifts, Kiviranta came out flying and throwing the body around. There was even a Stars fan a few rows in front of the press box that was wearing a Dallas Kiviranta jersey. I’m sure he was conflicted during this one, but a nice return to the lineup for Kiviranta.

– The Second Period

“(Our) game can’t go away for 20 minutes in the playoffs.”

That was Bednar after the game, and he was talking about the second period in which the Avalanche were outscored 3-0 and outshot 15-9. The team was stuck in mud, took undisciplined penalties, and struggled to gain any momentum. It wasn’t just one player making mistakes. It was everyone.

This game was lost on the shorthanded goal to end the second. It’s an ugly look for pretty much everyone on the ice, but Rantanen just gliding by Seguin in front of the net isn’t going to look good when the team goes through video today. Colorado can come back from a big deficit, but four goals in 20 minutes is a tough one to overcome. If that fourth one doesn’t go in, who knows how this game ends.

+ No Reason To Panic

The goal, when you start on the road, is to come home with a split. The Avalanche accomplished that. Sure, the way they went about getting that split is interesting, to say the least, but you don’t care about that at this point. The series is coming back to Ball Arena tied up, and that’s something this team will take. There’s a lot that they can improve on, but they have flipped home-ice advantage, at least for now. That’s not a bad result at all.