Colorado Avalanche

2022 - 5 - 18

Post cover — Image courtesy of "Fox News"

Blues vs Avalanche Game 1 score: Josh Manson nets overtime ... (Fox News)

Josh Manson's goal won the game for Colorado, 3-2, and put the Avalanche up 1-0 in the NHL's Western Conference semifinals against the Blues.

It was his sixth of the playoffs. We have a good team. "They have a good team. "It feels good to get that (win) with your team." The Avalanche needed to dig deep for the victory. NHL's Colorado Avalanche took the series lead with the Game 1 win

St. Louis Blues had to win that one, but Colorado Avalanche ... (Mile High Hockey)

For myriad reasons stemming from long breaks to unfamiliar game plans, Game 1 is usually identified as the one the road team is best positioned to steal.

For all the hope that this year would be different with a healthier and deeper Blues team, Game 1 sure looked a lot like last year’s four-game sweep. Comparing this to St. Louis puts their dominance in stark contrast, as the Blue with the highest expected goals figure from last night was Colton Parayko at 0.68, with Ryan O’Reilly being his only other teammate to finish higher than 0.5. Aside from a first period where the Blues won a few races to the slot and got their sticks on some tipped pucks, the vast majority of their 5-on-5 shot attempts were confined to the corners or bad angles. The adage of “a series doesn’t begin until a home team loses a game” is generally true, and if the St. Louis Blues had pulled a win out of their hat last night, there would be immense pressure on the Colorado Avalanche today, as their recent years of second-round playoff failures would become the white-hot focus of this series. You can dig through Natural Stat Trick’s archives and find countless lopsided games this year that looked like this where the Avalanche won comfortably. Instead, the Avalanche grinded a win out of a game they controlled from (near) start to finish, and today St. Louis must be wondering whether that was their best chance to win a game in Denver.

Takeaways From Avalanche's Overtime Win in Game 1 Against the ... (The Hockey Writers)

Josh Manson scored his first career playoff goal lifted the Colorado Avalanche to a Game 1 overtime victory over the St. Louis Blues.

The goal was Girard’s first of the postseason and just the second playoff goal of his career. Ryan O’Reilly slid the first goal of the game past Kuemper midway through the first period, and Kyrou added the equalizer late, but Kuemper was still pretty sharp throughout the contest. It was his first goal of the playoffs, and only the third goal he’s scored with Colorado since arriving on March 14 in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. Kuemper was injured in Game 3 on a fluke play when Ryan Johansen’s stick poked through the gaps in his face mask, jabbing him in the eye. He made team president Joe Sakic look like a genius on Tuesday. Manson scored the game-winning goal in overtime, whipping a seeing-eye shot from the point past Binnington for the win. The first playoff goal of Josh Manson’s career proved to be the difference, lifting the Avalanche to a 3-2 overtime victory.

Ryan O'Reilly Avalanche Career Remains an Enigma (+) (Colorado Hockey Now)

He's since won a Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe Trophy with the Blues, while the Avs haven't been past the second round since 2002. If the Avs fail to get to a ...

And O’Reilly will be booed again, just as the Predators’ Matt Duchene was in the first round. He’s since won a Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe Trophy with the Blues, while the Avs haven’t been past the second round since 2002. And yeah, it’s always nice to see people.

'Our Guys Believed It' (BlueJackets.com)

The Colorado Avalanche take on the St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of the Second Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday, May 17. Puck drop is set for 7:30 ...

It's easy to get deflated when you feel like you're playing well and you get a bounce like that and it ends up in the back of your net, but there was a response right away. "We came back and got back to our game. "We got the job done tonight," Bednar continued. The regulation play came down the wire as the Blues capitalized on their only power play of the game late in the third at 16:46 and the Avs were unable to do the same when awarded their third power play of the night with 1:19 left in the game. "After they scored that first goal there was no change in the mentality on the bench. Despite dominating the game early on, the Avalanche found themselves trailing 1-0 to St. Louis heading into the first intermission.

Avalanche vs. St. Louis Blues Game 2: Three keys to victory for ... (The Denver Post)

St. Louis Blues left wing Brandon Saad (20) tries to collect the puck against Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard (49) in overtime during game one of ...

“You got to sacrifice in order to win hockey games at this point of the year.” The Avs also need more of what they did in the faceoff circle in Game 1. He said before Game 4 in Nashville that he’s just in a rut and he won’t lose confidence in his ability. Colorado swept Nashville in the first round and defeated St. Louis, 3-2, in overtime in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series on Tuesday at Ball Arena. “We have to have a couple of guys on the weak side … It’s a discipline thing. He’s a proven clutch performer and Colorado could greatly use that in Game 2. The Blues were on the power play and Colorado made a four-man change with no weakside defense.

All The Small Things: Rewind on the Avalanche Tradition (BlueJackets.com)

For the Colorado Avalanche, it's "All The Small Things." Viral clips have circulated of fans at Ball Arena rocking out, initially during a stoppage in play, ...

I've noticed a lot of other teams play - not necessarily "All The Small Things" - but other popular songs and the crowd will sing it after the play continues. It's all the small things." And while it's not purposeful that the song that's become the beloved anthem to Avalanche fans originated during the time frame that the organization arrived in Denver via Quebec City or in between the team's two Stanley Cup runs, it is a bit ironic and fitting. "It's not even a discussion that we have with producers or anything like that, we just know "All The Small Things" goes with the Avalanche," Brendan Burke, who is one of TNT's play-by-play announcers and a regular commentator for the New York Islanders, said. It's also allowed him to really notice how engaged the crowd becomes when the opportunity arises for "All The Small Things" to play. "Especially myself and a handful of other guys who have been through the tough times, just seeing how they stuck around and have really supported us through all the ups and downs. This has become a really tough place to play for visiting teams and one of the loudest buildings in the league. So, when I sent our playlist of songs to the DJ in the [Edmonton] bubble I gave specific instructions on how and when to play the song. Due to the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak across the globe, all professional sports - and normalcy of everyday life - were placed in a standstill. One afternoon while listening to a throwback radio station "All The Small Things" bopped through the speaker of his car. From there, Turner and Steve Johnston, the Executive Producer and Director of Game Presentation for the Avalanche, brainstormed over what circumstances to deploy the song and at what cadence. Viral clips have circulated of fans at Ball Arena rocking out, initially during a stoppage in play, to the opening verses and chorus of the 1999 Blink-182 hit and continuing to sing the song even as play resumes.

Avalanche's relentless offensive activity didn't produce blowout vs ... (The Denver Post)

Back in 1983 en route to becoming the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer, Wayne Gretzky said: “You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

They couldn’t get the puck to go so they don’t get on the sheet. The Avs outshot the Blues 54-25 in Game 1 and, given the fact they had five shots clang off iron behind Binnington, they could have easily produced a blowout. “If we’re preparing properly for the next game, and this series, we can expect there to be ebbs and flows and we can expect their goalie to come up big,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday. “We can expect times where it’s not going our way and to be resilient is the key, and be mentally strong. That’s a good team across the way there. In Game 2 against the Preds, Colorado attempted 103 shots. Colorado missed the net 25 times, including five shots off the post.

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