UPDATE: 2 p.m. MT START
Have to admit I thought it was over for the Avalanche after they lost Game 4 to drop into a 3-1 hole in their best-of-7 Stanley Cup playoff series with the Dallas Stars.
Yet here we are, looking forward to a decisive Game 7 on Friday following a 4-1 win on Wednesday.
“Our goal wasn’t to get to Game 7, it’s to win Game 7,”
Ian Cole said Thursday.
NHL.com GAME 6 STORY
Teams that win Games 5 and 6 after trailing a series 3-1 are 29-28 (50.8 percent) winning a best-of-7 Stanley Cup playoff series.
The Avalanche lost 3-2 to San Jose in Game 7 of the second round last year.
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WESTERN CONFERENCE
SECOND ROUND
Best-of-7, Rogers Place, Edmonton
All times Mountain Time
Series tied 3-3
Game 1 -- Dallas 5, Avalanche 3
Game 2 -- Dallas 5, Avalanche 2
Game 3 -- Avalanche 6, Dallas 4
Game 4 -- Dallas 5, Avalanche 4
Game 5 -- Avalanche 6, Dallas 3
Game 6 – Avalanche 4, Dallas 1
Friday, 2 p.m. USA, SN, TVA
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“We’re confident in what we do,” coach
Jared Bednar said Thursday. “I think we have been the whole series. After Games 1 and 2 (both losses), and even after Game 3 (a 6-4 win), we knew it was going to be a real difficult series, a real hard series, that Dallas was going to present certain challenges, that we had to get better as the series went on. I believe we’re doing that.
“I don’t think this is a series where you’re carrying a ton of momentum into the next game. Both teams are playing hard, they’re playing well, and it just comes down to tomorrow night’s execution, tomorrow night’s performance from players on both teams.
“For us to think because we won the last couple games we earned something, I think is the wrong approach.”
The Avalanche scored 10 goals the past two games despite going a combined 0-for-11 on the power play. They've also climbed into a 3-3 series deadlock without goalies
Philipp Grubauer and
Pavel Francouz, defenseman
Erik Johnson, and forwards
Matt Calvert and
Joonas Donskoi.
Two more players could be missing Friday: captain
Gabriel Landeskog, whose knee was cut by
Cale Makar’s skate in the second period, and rookie
Conor Timmins, who took a hard hit into the glass from
Andrew Cogliano in the second. Landeskog returned for 16 seconds in the third; Timmins, who missed the entire 2018-19 season because of post-concussion symptoms, played briefly after the hit and missed the third period.
Bednar on Thursday said he thought it was a clean hit. Let’s hope Timmins is going to be OK.
Calvert, who has yet to play in the series because of an undisclosed injury, was on the ice for the second day in a row Thursday.
Asked if any of the injured players might play Friday, Bednar said:
“I guess there is a chance … to be honest with you, I guess there is a chance, but I just don’t know how probable it is at this point. We’re probably not going to know until game time.”
Third-string goalie
Michael Hutchinson stopped 27 of 28 shots Wednesday, has turned aside 58 of 62 shots in the first two playoff starts of his NHL career and 61 of 65 – a .934 save percentage -- since relieving Francouz in Game 4.
Can he do it again Friday? Can he keep this magical run going?
“He’s been fantastic,” Cole said of Hutchinson. “He has a very cool and calm demeanor back there in net. I think that kind of permeates the team a bit when you see your goalie being calm. Actually, all of our goalies are that way. He’s stepped in, he’s made some great saves, he’s made a lot of really, really good saves.
“We’re not asking him to have a 50-save shutout, but he’s done his job well. If we play well as a team, play well defensively and limit their chances, we can make his job a little easier and at the same time put up some points and score.”
Oh,
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, stretching his point streak to 14 games, tying him with
Mark Messier (Edmonton in 1988) and
Bobby Orr (Boston in 1970) for the second-longest postseason-opening streak in NHL history. He leads all playoff scorers with 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists).
Bryan Trottier had a point in all 18 of the New York Islanders' playoff games in 1981.
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