Oilers’ McDavid and Draisaitl are being smothered by an Avalanche
DENVER — The indelible image from the first volley of the Western Conference final did not come from any one of the 18 goals scored. Or an electrifying Nathan MacKinnon rush. Or Zack Kassian ripping off Bowen Byram’s helmet on the bench.
It came in the opening minute of Game 2.
Watching from high up in the press box, you could see Connor McDavid winding up just inside the Oilers’ blue line. No. 97 fired up the rocket boosters he uses for skates and McDavid was in full video game mode as he weaved through the neutral zone.
He went to go wide, and you’re on the edge of your seat, thinking this would be the highlight-reel McDavid magic to kick off another stupidly entertaining night in the Stanley Cup playoffs – the same kind of greatness that he makes happen so routinely that you take it for granted.
And then Cale Makar entered the chat.
Makar was ready, on his toes from the moment McDavid scooped up the puck. His gap was nearly perfect. His edge work allowed for an exceptional pivot, and with one perfectly-timed poke, Makar thwarted the threat and the collective heart rate of 18,004 in Ball Arena returned to normal. It was a jaw-dropping sequence in a series full of them already, Makar going stride-for-stride backwards with the crossover king.
The best skater the hockey world has ever seen met his match with one of the few players on the planet that can hold a candle to him. Now, after just two games, it certainly feels like the Edmonton Oilers have met their match in the Colorado Avalanche.
On a night when the Avalanche were without starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper and 61-point contributor Andre Burakovsky, Colorado launched an all-out and sustained assault practically from puck drop to take a two-game series lead to Oil Country. Teams with a 2-0 series edge are 91-7 all-time in the Conference Finals.
The Oilers are swimming in the deep end of the pool now. They’re feeling what the Flames experienced in Round 2. Their stars have been smothered by, well, an Avalanche. There’s no oxygen, no room to breathe under all of that snow. The Oilers were shutout, 4-0, by Avalanche backup Pavel Francouz – the second time they’ve been held off the scoresheet this postseason.
Those are the only two games McDavid doesn’t have a point in the playoffs.
“I probably haven’t been at the top of my game here,” McDavid admitted. “They’ve done a good job of limiting chances and stuff like that.”
If that McDavid rush against Makar didn’t illustrate it, this stat will: the Avalanche held a 26-8 advantage in chances generated off the rush through the first two games of the series, according to Mike Kelly of SportLOGIQ.
26-8.
The Oilers’ bread has been buttered all year by chances off the rush. They haven’t threatened against an Avalanche team that entered the series allowing the most goals in the playoffs off the rush.
What’s happened? The Oilers have been beaten at their own game.
“They’ve got good players, they’ve got good [defensemen],” McDavid said. “We haven’t had a ton of chances off the rush. We’ve got to find a way to create off the forecheck and off [offensive] zone play. They do a lot of good things, and we’ve got to find a way to figure them out.”
Part of the reason for it, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar explained, is Colorado hasn’t added fuel to the fire.
“We definitely cleaned some things up,” Bednar said. “Tonight, I felt like it was start-to-finish. [We] got more disciplined and stronger, as the game went on, in our checking game. Guys just really committed to it and we didn’t make those mistakes. We didn’t make those mistakes with the puck, and we didn’t make those mistakes in our coverage or in our reads or on our rush coverage.”
Colorado played as clean and crisp as that Mile High air, and then were absolute killers, pouncing on Edmonton mistakes. Whether it was Darnell Nurse’s costly turnovers, Jay Woodcroft’s decision to send the fourth line out immediately following the Avs’ first goal, or Mike Smith struggling on a Nathan MacKinnon shot while he didn’t have a glove, the Avalanche feasted on all of it. Colorado was clinical.
They scored three times in a span of 2:04 to break the game open. The Avs had such sustained pressure at times that they were able to change forwards on the fly and still keep it rolling.
“We had a [three]-minute lag there in the second period,” Zach Hyman said, “and they just shut it right down.”
McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had four shot attempts. Woodcroft separated the two stars in Game 2 for the first time since Round 1, then put them back together in the third period to try and create a spark, to no avail. By no means are the Oilers’ struggles all on Nos. 97 and 29. But in a series where the Avalanche hold the clear advantage in depth, who is supposed to pick up the slack?
“I think we’ve had some chances, not as much as we’d like,” Woodcroft said. “We’re in the Final Four, the other team does good stuff, too. But we think there’s more to be had there, we can do a better job of shooting the puck, shooting through structure. Tonight didn’t go our way, but we’ll go back to the drawing board and we’ll prepare to regroup and head home to friendly confines.”
He couldn’t have slept easy on Thursday night trying to come up with a creative solution to clot the bleeding caused by Colorado, because the Oilers are leaking everywhere.