In its five-game series win over the Minnesota Wild in Round Two, the Avalanche received contributions from the entire team. The Avalanche had 21 skaters and two goalies play in the series, 18 players posted a point and 16 Avs posted multiple points. When asked about the team’s 16 different goalscorers, Avalanche Head Coach Jared Bednar said he loved it.
"That's hard to beat,” Bednar said. “When you have different guys stepping up every night, you can’t key on one guy. There’s no sort of coming in to play our team and like, ‘well if we shut down the MacKinnon line, we’re gonna win.’ To me, that’s not a recipe for success, right? So you’re trying to get everyone in the right spots, in the right matchups that everyone on your team can excel in their role, and that’s what we’ve been getting so far in the playoffs, and that’s what we’re gonna need to get continuing on in the playoffs in order to keep advancing.”
In addition to its 16 different goalscorers, the Avalanche had 11 players post multi-point games. After Game Five, Gabriel Landeskog emphasized the importance of the team’s depth.
“I think we’ve talked about it from day one of training camp,” Landeskog said. “The depth, that’s what’s gonna win you down the stretch here in the playoffs, and guys are stepping up all over the place. And even guys who aren’t getting on the scoresheet, like you look at Nelly (Brock Nelson), you look at Val (Valeri Nichushkin), go up and down the lineup, guys that aren’t getting on the scoresheet still contributing with so many important plays all over the ice.”
Unlike its Round-One series, goals were not hard to come by for the Avalanche in Round Two. Colorado outscored Minnesota 24-18 in the series, with five of its goals coming on 13 power-play attempts (38.5%). The Avalanche scored nine goals in Game One, five goals in Games Two and Four along with four tallies in Game Five.
Leading the way offensively for the Avalanche was Nathan MacKinnon, who posted nine points (5g/4a) in the series and extended his goal streak to six games that included the game-tying goal in Game Five. Additionally, Martin Necas recorded nine points (1g/8a) while Nazem Kadri, Cale Makar, Parker Kelly and Jack Drury each scored two goals.
Not only did the Avalanche score 24 goals in the series, but 14 of those came at five-on-five, compared to the 11 it allowed.
It took a full team effort for the Avs to defeat the Wild and earn the right to play the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final that begins on Wednesday.
