OffThePost.org

Was out of the country for games 1 and 2 so I saw nothing live. Game 1 was surprising, a 7-6 barnburner that left the Jets victorious, followed by a 5-2 Avalanche win in game 2.

Georgiev shat the bed in game 1 but roared back with a very good performance in game 2. Strangely, Connor Hellebuyck has been less-than-stellar in both contests, the game-winner for the Avs coming at the hands of Zach Parise on an out-of-net gaffe by the WPG netminder.

Much to my shock and delight, the Avs are standing upon a 3-1 series lead after two very decisive victories in games 3 and 4, and what's more, they CHASED this year's presumptive Vezina winner from the last contest.

Nikolai Kovalenko made his NHL debut in the last game, which makes for the first father/son duo in Avalanche history to suit up for the same team (but not NORDS/Avs history, since obviously Paul Stastny and his old man both played in Quebec/Colorado). I thought he looked perfectly fine for a guy who had almost zero notice before playing, though his and the third line's underlying numbers were...not great. And the ice time allotted made them more like a fourth line since Yakov Trenin's line actually played more.

3-1 series lead, Avs fans well know that it ain't over by a LONG shot.

So it doesn't sound terribly optimistic that Drouin will be ready for round 2. They finally revealed that the "lower body injury" he suffered near the end of the season happened when he accidentally cut his leg with his own skate blade.

Landeskog was seen doing some more vigorous skating than what's been previously posted but I'm guessing he's still a long ways off.

Adams nominees are Brunette, Tocchet, and Bowness. That just shows you how lazy the people who decide this award are. I'm not even trying to campaign for Bednar (who by the way absolutely clowned Bones in the postseason), I just get so irritated that a first or second-year coach almost always gets the nod in these things. What, Jon Cooper isn't any good? Those Bolts teams would've just succeeded as much as they did without him? Fuck off.

Well, according to this logic, they give it to old man Bones. Been in the league forever, everyone loves him. Great guy.

He’s also likely getting fired this offseason so that makes him the perfect recipient!

Okay then, it’s the Stars.

On one hand, the Avs are well-rested and hopefully managed to heal up a bit. On the other hand, they almost always play like horseshit after any sort of extended break between games.

Better find someone who can keep Wyatt Johnston in check. If the Stars go all the way, he’s getting the Conn Smythe.

A pair of uneven efforts lead to a pair of games with different results. Avs go down 3-0 in game one only to storm back and take the first one in OT (with Miles Wood delivering the dagger), but the comeback falls short in game 2.

Avs played a really poor first period in game 1 and then were dominant as far as shot share went most of the game up until the closing minutes of the third and the opening of OT. Then things were pretty even in game 2, but the bottom dropped out in the 2nd. What's most disappointing is that the top line guys were really listless in game 2 throughout. They just kinda got frustrated with Dallas's extreme trap and didn't do much to adjust their game or fight through it.