Dallas has one goal in the series against Colorado: stop the opponent’s infamous No. 1 chain.
If by Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Valery Nitshushkin occupied by the star defender as the number one conductor Cale Makar stops, the entire Colorado puzzle falls apart and Dallas advances to the Western Conference Finals.
Of course, the coaching team has had to think carefully about who will be entrusted with shadowing the number one chain.
As for the defenders, it has not been necessary to think for a long time. It was clear from the start that Esa Lindell as well as Canadian bone bought for the club in the middle of the season Chris Tanev would get to watch MacKinnon and Rantanen almost from shift to shift.
Both Lindell and Tanev have long been among the best defensive backs in the league.
Lindell and Tanev surprisingly found common ground after the latter arrived in Texas in the winter. Already in the regular season, the duo dominated in their own area and in front of their goal in a convincing manner.
In the playoffs, however, the Finnish-Canadian pair has hit a new, at least convincing, gear.
Let’s start with the seven-game Vegas series. As a rule, Dallas plays with five defenders, so the pairings are always changing.
But with the guard shift of Lindell and Tanev, who mainly play together, the net did not swing against the reigning champion even once, five on five. The performance is absolutely mind-boggling when you think about how a tough match series is talked about.
Lindell personally played the number one center the most among the Vegas forwards in the series Jack Eichel against. And what was the outcome?
Goals 1–0 for Dallas.
Jonathan Marchessault against goals 1–1, Tomas Hertl 1–0, Ivan Barbašov against 1–1.
After putting Vegas in the back pocket, Dallas knew an even tougher challenge lay ahead. As a collective, Colorado is not at the level of Vegas, but with its number one chain stretched, Makar would be the most possible challenge that can be found in the series.
Stopping it – or at least slowing it down – would be the most important key to victory.
And again the gaze turned to Tanevi and Lindell.
Unbelievably top level
When Colorado’s No. 1 chain slides into starting offensive end, so do Lindell and Tanev. When the third match of the series was wrestled on Sunday morning, the story took a not-so-surprising direction.
With Rantanen’s goal on Sunday, Colorado’s first team got the first five-on-five game of the spring for the duo of Lindell and Tanev, but the three-game selection bodes well for Dallas. The duo has played the most against the Colorado stars mentioned above and gave them one hit in half an hour (in a 5vs5 game).
And in what way.
It is unfathomable how well Lindell and Tanev are able to defend the players of the superstar category with just the right positioning and timely stick pressure, but still hard and, above all, ice-free.
During the whole spring, Lindell has taken one ice. The performance is really tough, considering how fast-footed star players are against each other.
This is hugely important, as Colorado relies heavily on its possession game.
And it wasn’t just about survival or goalkeeper saves against Colorado. During the 30 minutes together, the two have given Colorado a meager four goals from the first sector. As individuals, Lindell has lost “only” 7-11 dangerous goal positions, and Tanev has fought them even to levels 6-6.
The importance of the above-mentioned pair of defenders cannot be overemphasized when talking about how even Dallas, who had a somewhat rough start to the spring, has taken a 2-1 lead in the second round match series after knocking off Vegas and losing to Colorado from a 3-0 lead in the opening game. Irreplaceable is by no means an overstatement.
And of course, we should not forget the importance of the five-a-side game. In ice hockey, megastars like Colorado are not driven to darkness by the power of two players. Dallas is an extremely well-coached team that defends excellently with four fives. This makes it possible to dribble in such tough games with practically five defenders.
Specialists appear more often
Lindell and Tanev represent a player profile that is not talked about nearly enough. NHL culture lives on goalscorers, superstars and star cults, but especially in the playoffs, I would like more talk about gambling and brakemen.
Championships are won now and tomorrow by defending. Then Lindell, Tanev or Alexander Barkov such defensive playing specialists.
The award for the most valuable player in the playoffs has been awarded based on goals or points to the top individual of the champion team.
Of course, games are not won without scoring goals, but the work that Lindell and Tanev have been doing for weeks on the back lines of Dallas is at least as important. Namely, on the day when MacKinnon and Rantanen get off the shackles properly, all hope can be thrown away.
The series between Dallas and Colorado is just beginning, but now Colorado’s top is in tighter grips than ever this season – and therein lies the solution.
Stats: Natural Stat Trick, Moneypuck, NHL.com
Colorado and Dallas will meet in their playoff series for the fourth time Finnish time on May 14. from 4:30. Dallas leads the series 2–1.