In 1983, on his way to becoming the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
The Avalanche can use this advice Thursday night against the Blues.
Producing more than 100 more shot attempts in Game 2 — like the Avs did in the series opener Tuesday night — should give Colorado a great chance to take a 2-0 lead over St. Louis for games 3 and 4.
Generating shots was no problem in Game 1, a 3-2 overtime triumph for Colorado. The Avs had 106 attempts. The Blues blocked 27 past Jordan Binnington and the keeper stopped 51 of the other 54 who passed. Colorado missed the net 25 times, including five shots from the post.
Alas, playing the same way but with more shooting accuracy will probably be highlighted before Game 2.
It worked against Nashville in the first round. In Game 2 against the Preds, Colorado attempted 103 shots. But 34 were blocked past Connor Ingram and the goalie stopped 49 of 51. The Avs missed the net 18 times.
In Game 3 in Nashville, Colorado won 7-3 en route to sweeping the series.
St. Louis, the 2019 Stanley Cup champion, looks like a tougher outing. But the Avs aren’t about to take their foot off the gas pedal.
“If we prepare properly for the next game and this series, we can expect ups and downs and we can expect their goalie to be big,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday. morning. “We can expect times when it doesn’t go our way and being resilient is key, and being mentally strong. It goes back to our belief system. We believe as a band that if we keep playing the right way it will work out in our favor and you just have to stick with it.
The Avs outscored the Blues 54-25 in Game 1, and considering they had five shots behind Binnington, they could have easily produced a blowout. But they had to come back after a poor rebound that saw St. Louis take a 1-0 lead and overcome all near misses to deservedly win in OT.
“It’s easy to chicken out,” said defenseman Josh Manson, who scored the game-winning goal 8:02 into overtime. “But there was a response straight away (after leading 1-0) and I think that’s such a good sign for a team. They’re a good team up front. They have a lot of guys back who won. So they know how to win, so it’s easy to chicken out. But we found a way.
Colorado leads the series 1-0 despite only one goal from its first six forwards. First-line center Nathan MacKinnon and right-winger Mikko Rantanen got an assist on teammate Valeri Nichushkin’s tying goal. But the other two goals came from the defenders, including the second from Sam Girard.
But MacKinnon’s line had 16 shots. This line usually plays against St. Louis’ top three of center Ryan O’Reilly and wingers Brayden Schenn and David Perron. Bednar calls it a win, or at least a good push.
“It’s not just about being on the score sheet every night like that. They’re playing against a really good line,” Bednar said. “The MacKinnon line is against O’Reilly, and sometimes a wash is good enough. You’re not going to win this game every night because you’re playing against the best players on the other team.
“But I thought they were good and they played the right way and spent a lot of time in the offensive zone. They were dangerous. They couldn’t get the puck out, so they didn’t hit the surface. But everyone on our team watches these guys and how they play and how they compete and the details of their game. And when it’s good, everyone follows.
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