"My gut tells me that Dallas expected this to be a long, hard-fought series, as did we," said Bednar. "I don't think any team is going to give an inch on this, but I do think that we've seen some momentum swings during games and teams scoring in bunches and we've been on the losing end of that a little bit. Something we've addressed and talked about is how we can break momentum, and discipline would really help that and being able to stay out of the box as their power plays have been giving them a surge here through the course of the series."
Colorado has been shorthanded 20 times through the five outings of the set with Dallas and has allowed seven power-play goals against, two of which came in Game 5. Comparatively, in five games in their Round 1 series with the Arizona Coyotes, the Avs found themselves down a skater 15 times and only allowed the Yotes to score once with the man advantage.
Prior to Monday's contest, Bednar described his group as angry and that it had a snarl to its mood, and the way the Avs played in the first period was reflective of that and it benefitted them. After today's optional morning skate, he says the energy is comparable to what it was before Game 5.
"I think its similar. We are still sitting in a place where we are down in the series. It's a must-win game. There's some nervous energy and guys aren't happy with where we are at, so I still consider us a little grumpy, I expect that to continue through the series," said Bednar. "I also think that, you know, we talked a little bit about not giving Dallas too much respect and playing with a little swagger and getting our swagger back that we've had for the bulk of the year. We saw it a little bit after the first period, you know a little bit more of a confident group and a little bit more execution in our game and pace to our game and being tough to play against in our own way. It's a real good period for us to look back on and say ok, like it wasn't a surprise to me that we had success in the first period when you look at some of the attention to detail and commitment in the way we checked and played. It was fast, it was executed well, and it can be tough to handle so we got to try and continue that through as much of this game as we possibly can."
Much like it was in Game 5, the squad's focus for tonight will be to come out and play its brand of hockey to the best of its abilities, knowing that Dallas is going to be looking to do the same thing.
"In the course of the series, I just I believe that both teams really want this, and they are going to fight for it," said Bednar. "It's going to come down to the players executing, capitalizing on their chances, bringing everything they have to the ice, and you got to make sure that you are outplaying your opponent, they're not just going to give it to you."
