For the first time since 2014, the Avalanche will finally be host a home playoff game. It's about time, eh?! The Colorado Avalanche will be entering The Can Monday currently trailing two games to none against the league’s best team during the regular season. Normally, I would say this is not good. However, while the scoreboard shows that the Avs have lost two games in a row, the score doesn’t always coincide with the reality of the game.
The last two games, the Avalanche have proven that they can not only play playoff hockey, but they can play playoff hockey against a team who everyone assumed will make a deep run in the playoffs. The Nashville Predators made it to the Stanley Cup Finals last season, and have made it clear by their level of play that they have every intention of retuning again this year. They finished with the best record in the league with 53 wins and 117 points. That is 73 points more than the Avs had last season. Their team is built for the playoffs. In Game 1 the Avalanche had eight players dress for their first ever Stanley Cup Playoff game. Ever.
What has impressed me most about the Avs’ level of play so far is their resiliency. In Game 1 after Watson evened the scored at one, Comeau came back to give the Avs the go-ahead-goal immediately following it. Then in Game 2, despite allowing three unanswered goals in the second, MacKinnon scored a goal late in the period to make it a one-goal game. Likewise, it would be Landeskog who brought it back to a one-point game again in the 3rd, and then even after trailing by 2 in the final minutes of the game, Kerfoot scored the fourth goal for the Avs. While it might not have been enough to tie the game, it still shows much strength and determination from the boys in burgundy and blue. We might be down, but it ain’t over.
While being down 2-0 in the playoffs is never a great feeling, I must admit that I’m not that upset about it. It is common knowledge that my temper can get the better of me when it comes to hockey, especially playoff hockey, but the Avalanche have been playing with such confidence (minus a few errors and some bad luck) that I am proud of the team. If they can continue to play at this level in Denver, in front of their fans where they have preformed so well this year, I think we could be looking at a tied series.
The Avalanche have now lost 12 games in a row to Nashville, but all streaks must come to end. That end will be coming Monday night.