The Avs are going to light the scoreboard and the Blues up in Game 2
May 19, 2022, 9:57 AM | Updated: 8:12 pm
Avs fans should prepare for an Avalanche of goals in Game 2 tonight at Ball Arena.
This team is ready for yet another playoff explosion.
Colorado outshot St. Louis 54-25 in a 3-2 overtime win in Game 1, and that doesn’t even count the five (!) goal posts the team hit. Why that doesn’t register as a shot on goal, but a goalie snatching a puck going eight inches wide does is beyond me, but you get the point. The Avs peppered Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington and will do it again this evening.
What happened on Tuesday night reminded me a lot of Game 2 against Nashville in the first-round. Predators goalie Connor Ingram stood on his head, and the Avalanche still found a way to win in overtime. Other than the scores being slightly different, the games followed a remarkably similar pattern.
And what happened in Game 3? Ingram was not able to repeat the performance and the Avs cruised to a 7-3 win. In fact, they scored five or more goals in three of the four games against the Predators, with Game 2 being the outlier. Binnington is, of course, a better and more experienced goalie than Ingram, but no netminder can consistently stand barrages like the Avs put up.
Look, Colorado’s top stars didn’t even play all that well in Game 1. Cale Makar seemed a little off after dominating Round 1 and none of the big guns were responsible for any of the Avalanche’s three goals. When you get tallies from Valeri Nichushkin, Samuel Girard and Josh Manson to win a game, it’s a great sign. The depth Joe Sakic has built on this squad is far superior to the team that had a Round 2 meltdown against Vegas a season ago.
The oddsmakers have the Avs as 1.5-goal favorites, paying out basically even money. Colorado’s over / under goal total is 3.5. I would never offer wagering advice, but man, that number seems awfully low.
The Avalanche have beaten the Blues five straight playoff games, dating back to a Round 1 sweep in 2021. In fact, they’ve never lost a playoff series to St. Louis, and that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen now.
The Avs should have won Game 1 by a score of 6-2 or 7-2 if it weren’t for Binnington and those pesky posts. Expect a score like that later tonight in downtown Denver.
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