Colorado’s top players have a few hours to wake up to the ongoing playoff series, writes Tommi Seppälä, Urheilu’s NHL editor.
Tommi Seppälä NHL reporter
Match series are not brothers. The charm in Denver a couple of weeks ago is a distant memory right now, when the local Colorado is losing 1-3 in the second round match series against Dallas in the NHL playoffs. If Thursday morning’s match in Dallas ends in a loss, the champion from two years ago will have an early summer vacation.
In the result-oriented NHL world, the reasons for Colorado’s current state do not have to be far to look for.
Let’s pick up the slack: the trio Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar has scored one goal against Dallas, Artturi Lehkonen zero goals. The Russian star who scored two goals Valery Nitshuškin According to American reports, he was caught in a drug test during the fourth game and had to undergo a half-year long NHL treatment program.
And the numbers continue to subjugate the top players in terms of power statistics: Lehkonen -7, Makar and MacKinnon -6 and Rantanen -5.
Behind the lead, Colorado has had three hits in four games against Dallas.
Especially now, when power forward star Nitšuškin is out of the picture, the situation is clear: either Colorado’s top players will single-handedly carry Colorado from the series to the next stage with three consecutive wins, or they won’t and the season ends at the weekend. In the background, there is no solution to the situation at hand.
However, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that Colorado’s sled will suddenly turn. Vice versa.
On Tuesday morning, the team played by far the weakest, and most worryingly, the most spiritless match of the spring at home. No emotion, no despair. A clear and ugly 1-5 loss made the hole really deep. And who was fried in butter in the match?
MacKinnon, Rantanen, Makar and Lehkonen. Powers 0+0 and -3.
Sports don’t tend to make excuses, but Colorado needs to be given a straw for Tuesday. Nitshuškin’s undeniably selfish and cocky behavior definitely messed up the team’s nerves during the match. The Russian got drunk and left his team in the middle of the playoff series for the second spring in a row. In addition to this, the playing lineup was missing a top defender Devon Toews.
The big picture doesn’t change either.
After all, the top of Colorado was not at its best in the series before Tuesday either. Rantanen has played mainly with MacKinnon and won five-on-five high-quality goal posts with two different chains, crushingly 12-1. At the same time, there have been only ten shots on goal from the Turku man’s platform, five against five only seven.
At the same time, the power play, which operated with 37 percent efficiency against Winnipeg, has dropped to 20 percent in the Dallas series. While against Winnipeg, Colorado shot 73 shots per hour in its dominance game, the number against Dallas has collapsed to 33. Against Winnipeg, the number of top spots per 60 minutes was almost 40, now just under 17.
Dallas has come and gotten under Colorado’s skin more than once. It hardly surprises anyone that Dallas has blocked 90 shots through four games, more than any other team in the second round.
Of course, the game is always relative to the opponent, and Dallas is the best that the Western Conference can offer, but Colorado’s overall performance has left a strong impression in the second round. The foot doesn’t move as in the best days, more as individuals than as a collective, and the “mojo” that shines through at its best does not shine through from the joint play of the top players.
The pain has started to creep in.
There are some good moments, but at the same time Colorado lost 0-3 in the first game and even 0-4 in the second game. The foursome was a totally soulless performance from the team.
When the teams meet early Thursday morning in Dallas, all eyes will be on Colorado’s top players, led by Mikko Rantanen. Now there is a gear of desperation to be found in the gearbox. The soul must be beaten out, because no one else can lift Colorado out of this hole. The Dallas defense Esa Lindell and By Chris Tanev in the lead has gained a strong upper hand over the stars of Colorado and the answers to this must be found here and now.
Especially if they were injured in the previous match Roope Hintz and Tanev are unable to play, Colorado will have to make the most of their absences.
The MacKinnons, the Ransets and the Makaris are able to lift themselves out of the deep hole in Colorado, there are no two words about this. The problem is that the margin of error will be zero in the future and there will be no more walks in the park like Tuesday’s.
It must be a matter of professional pride that if we go on vacation, we go there fighting and not surrendering.