Special teams the ‘difference maker’ thus far in Avs postseason run
Aug 18, 2020, 7:00 AM | Updated: 7:11 am
Perception of the Colorado Avalanche before the pause from play in March had been its Achilles’ heel — and perhaps the roster’s only one — may be special teams.
However, the Avs have seemingly flipped that narrative on its head during the return to play and, now, the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“The penalty kill has been really good. The power play, now, has been really good as well,” head coach Jared Bednar said after Monday night’s 7-1 romp over the Arizona Coyotes.
And, boy, did Colorado’s special teams show up.
Within a span of four minutes, veteran offseason acquisition Nazem Kadri scored back-to-back power-play goals and all-star Mikko Rantanen added his own to cap things off.
“I think it’s just simplifying and not trying to do too much, shooting the puck, working hard to get it back,” Kadri said after Monday’s game. “I think that’s what makes us an effective unit.
“If our work ethic matches our skill, I mean, the sky’s the limit. So, we’re really going to look to the power play and special teams in general down the stretch.”
The offensive onslaught comes after a frustrating Game 3 — wherein Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper stopped 49 of 51 Avalanche shots — which rookie of the year candidate Cale Makar chalked up to better bounces.
“I think today we were just getting shots through,” Makar said. “We were able to get them to the net and, obviously, Naz had a few pretty good goals there just in the crease.”
But in just the past few games and the previous round-robin, Colorado has seemingly flipped the script on their special teams production.
Before the pandemic shut things down in March, Colorado ranked among the middle of the pack in terms of power play goals (ninth), shorthanded goals (eighth), power play goals against (20th) and shorthanded goals against (12th).
To boot, Colorado’s power play opportunities ranked top in the NHL (241) while opponents had 210 opportunities (16th).
However, the Avs rank second (32) in power play opportunities while giving up just 23 (10th) to opponents in seven games.
And while putting up eight power play goals (third) in Edmonton, the Avs have given up only three — good enough for 10th in the league.
“Special teams have been a difference maker for us here in order to get some of these wins. It certainly was tonight,” Bednar said.
