Colorado Can Learn From its Game 1 Win

The Colorado Avalanche has an early series lead in its Round 1 matchup with the St. Louis Blues, but the team wants to continue to improve as the best-of-seven series progresses.
The Avs got their first puck on net 5:56 into the first period after the Blues had fired three already but finished the frame with an 18-5 edge in shots on goal and a 1-0 advantage on the scoreboard. There was even more fire power from the teams in the middle stanza with Colorado leading the category 14-11 through it and eventually finished the game with a plus-27 shot differential.
The Avalanche's top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen scored three times in the third period and combined for eight points and a plus-8 rating in the club's 4-1 victory over St. Louis in Game 1 on Monday at Ball Arena. Cale Makar also tallied a power-play goal, while goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 22 saves.

"I think we can definitely play better. A little bit of a slow start, first five minutes or so [we] gave up a couple scoring chances. The last half of the second period I didn't like our game, we did not manage the puck properly, too many turnovers in our zone, neutral zone, high in the offensive zone," said head coach Jared Bednar. "We weren't as disciplined with the puck, led to a momentum shift for St. Louis. They ended up tying it up with an odd-man rush on a poor puck play from us. I mean give them credit, they put pressure on us in some areas, but I think that there's some adjustments and some corrections that we have to make.
"Hustling back for pucks and getting there quicker, we kind of wandered back for some and invited pressure and then didn't get out of it. I think you have to have a little bit more urgency going back for pucks and making sure that our puck play is cleaner. I thought we had a couple D that struggled with the puck, I think if we improve some of that the game is not as close as what it was last night."

On Tuesday, Colorado stuck with the same recipe that it used in the regular season, hosting an optional skate so the players can get the rest and recovery they need between Games 1 and 2.
In total, 15 players got on the ice but only four of those skaters played on Monday. Rookies Alex Newhook and Conor Timmins were joined by veterans Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Valeri Nichuskin as well as the team's scratches and taxi squad.
However, all of the players were at the rink however to go over some of the details of Game 1 and emphasize some of the aspects of the game that the coaching staff sees room for improvement. in.
"Today we had a couple brief meetings on some things we didn't have a lot of time for before the series that we just touched on briefly, so we elaborated today… We get back at it to present it to the team tomorrow, make the adjustments that need to be made, if any, and turn them loose for tomorrow night," said Bednar. "That's been our process here for a few months now. We haven't been doing a lot of practice, but guys are coming in on all of the off days and getting what they need. Some guys on the ice, some guys in the gym and then we'll give them the pertinent information on game day, and like I said, turn them loose for game time."

NEWHOOK'S PLAYOFF DEBUT

Alex Newhook made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut on Monday, recording one hit and one shot on goal in 7:07 of ice time. He started the contest on the fourth line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and J.T. Compher.
He signed with the Avalanche on March 31 after finishing his sophomore season at Boston College and made his NHL debut on May 5 in San Jose. Newhook skated in each of the final six regular-season contests, recording three assists.
"It is definitely a step up, I think to be expected. The intensity rises to another level I think in playoffs in any league, but especially in this league and for our team it's no different," said the rookie of his first NHL postseason contest. "Our approach was that much more amped and that much more tuned to the details. We came out flying and hoping to carry that intensity throughout the whole series."

QUOTABLES

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Alex Newhook on making the jump from college to the Stanley Cup Playoffs:"It's definitely cool to look back on and see where I was a couple months ago, but it's not really something that goes through my head too much right now. Pretty focused on what the task is at hand here now and this time of year in playoffs it's kind of only hockey and that's really my mindset right now. Just do what I can to win and do what I can to help our team here moving forward in playoffs."
Conor Timmins on the atmosphere in Ball Arena in Game 1: "I think our crowd did a great job for momentum swings. They were behind us the whole night creating a ton of noise. It was definitely noticeable for us as players and I think it gave us an edge over us."
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on being Colorado's nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy:"I'm pretty honored obviously. What it means and where I come from and the work that has to be done to be able to be here. Sometimes you're not trying to lead, you're just trying to do whatever you think is right and, in my case, I come every day and I'm enjoying this. Compared to the different places I have been playing hockey, this is awesome and every day I try to make the guys understand that it is fun, and I think this is one of the reasons I am in that position. It's nice, it's also kind of a good tap on the back. Even if sometimes I do stuff [and] there is nobody in the room, sometimes when you work it pays off and you get rewarded with those kinds of nominations. There's a lot of names on that list, which is really impressive and everything but just to be nominated, I'm really honored."
Head coach Jared Bednar on injury updates after Game 1: "We got through it healthy, so everyone is good to go. [Bowen Byram] is skating and cleared to play, I guess. I guess he's an option whenever we want to use him."