Here are 3 things to watch in Game 2:
1. On the defense
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar would not reveal who will go in for Makar in Game 2; Jack Ahcan replaced Makar in Game 1 and was minus-1 in 7:34 of ice time.
Defenseman Nick Blankenburg was a healthy scratch in Game 1 but came off before Ahcan during an optional morning skate Friday, suggesting he could make his series debut. Blankenburg has a goal and is minus-2 in four games this postseason, averaging 9:26 of ice time per game.
Colorado would like to get more minutes out of its No. 6 defenseman because they are having trouble absorbing the 25 minutes a game Makar was playing.
“I thought there were times in the game where D-core had a little bit of a rough night, you know, with the efficiency of our puck moving,” Bednar said Thursday. “That has nothing to do with Cale.
“Like, I'm just looking at the guys that are in the lineup, and I think I've seen them play a lot better when it comes to the way we move the puck. I think the defending side of it was there, but ... most of the chances that we gave up were more execution issues, mismanagement of the puck. There's some decision-making in there that wasn't great.”
2. Depth charge
The Golden Knights showed the full effectiveness the depth of their lineup possesses.
Four players scored goals in Game 1, including fourth-line center Nic Dowd, into an empty net, and depth defenseman Dylan Coghlan. Eleven players had at least one point.
That’s nothing unusual for Vegas; it has dressed 22 players this postseason and 20 of them have at least one point.
Four players already have reached double digits in playoff scoring, including forward Mitch Marner, who has a league-best 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 13 games. Eichel has 16 points (one goal, 15 assists), tied for second with Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens. Forward Pavel Dorofeyev, who scored in Game 1 on Wednesday, leads the League with 10 postseason goals. Forward Brett Howden, who has scored in each of his past six road games, has nine goals.
“I think that’s something special about our group is the amount of depth we have,” Howden said. “I think that everybody chips in every night. (Game 1), for example, that was a huge game from everybody collectively as a group.
“Going into every game, we all lean on each other. We don’t expect one guy to do everything. Going into every game, we feel confident in that way that we can all lean on each other in all different situations in the game. That’s something we can build off and keep going into Game 2.”
3. Line dancing
Colorado dropped its lines into a blender in the third period of Game 1 and found two goals to make things interesting.
The top line was split up with Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas placed on separate lines. Bednar did say he felt each player drove their new line in the third period and there is a chance he will stick with the reconfigured lines in Game 2.
If Bednar starts with the lines he has used through the majority of the series, with MacKinnon, Necas and Gabriel Landeskog as the top line and Artturi Lehkonen, Brock Nelson and Nicolas Roy behind them, they could change more readily during the game.
“I kind of like the lines after I switched them more than the first group,” the coach said. “I think (MacKinnon) line was a little spread out at times during the night, so they were, like, missing some detail in like their game with the puck, so they weren't as effective as I would have liked them.
“We'll reassess, talk to the guys, have already had some conversations, and then kind of make a plan for (Game 2), and then just kind of keep an eye on it. I would say (Friday), regardless of the lines I go with, I won't wait as long to kind of mix it up and try something else, just because we got a little bit of a look at some things we liked in the third period.”
