A modern classic: How the Blues came back to stun the Avalanche in Game 5

Mike McKenna
Mike McKenna(MikeMcKenna56)
A modern classic: How the Blues came back to stun the Avalanche in Game 5

Wow. Game 5 of the second-round matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues was a modern classic.

Consider me stunned. Because after the first 35 minutes of action, it was all Colorado. I didn’t think St. Louis had a chance. The Avalanche were the better team. It wasn’t even close.

But with about five minutes remaining in the second period, I remember thinking out loud that it was time for the Blues to score, just like they did in Game 4.

Colorado’s three-goal lead seemed insurmountable until Blues right winger Vladimir Tarasenko potted a wrist shot at 14:42 of the second period, making it a 3-1 game in favor of the Avalanche.

The goal gave the Blues life, while Colorado went into safe mode. St. Louis kept digging. Colorado quit playing its game. And after a plucky performance by the Blues in the final frame and overtime, St. Louis came away with a 5-4 victory in overtime.

Here are some observations.

Nathan MacKinnon was on a mission.

MacKinnon’s coast-to-coast goal for the hat trick might be the dirtiest play I’ve ever witnessed in real time. There’s not really much else to say about it. I could analyze the details, but why bother? Just watch it. I’m still shaking my head.

Realistically there were probably a half dozen highlight-worthy plays by MacKinnon. Game 5 was by far the fastest he’s played the entire series. The Avalanche forward was stickhandling in a phone booth while skating 23 miles an hour.

In the first period, Colorado had 12 shot attempts with MacKinnon on the ice. St. Louis had zero. That level of dominance lasted for two periods and resulted in three goals for the first overall pick in the 2013 NHL draft.

The Blues finally received strong performances by Vladimir Tarasenko and Robert Thomas.

Through the first four games of the series, Tarasenko and Thomas were a combined minus-11. Only Tarasenko had recorded a point – a single assist in Game 2.

To put it bluntly: both players had been absent. And without improvement in Game 5 from Tarasenko and Thomas, I have no doubt that the Blues would have been eliminated Wednesday night.

I thought Thomas looked much more confident with the puck. And he was willing to shoot – something the Blues center has been hesitant to do at times. Thomas put six shots on goal and led the charge on several rushes. He finished the game with two goals and a plus-1 rating.

When Tarasenko scored late in the second period, I believe the emotional lift was just as important for the Blues as the goal itself. He’d had chances previously in the series that he couldn’t convert, and I think his frustration was somewhat contagious on the St. Louis bench. When Tarasenko scored, it freed up a lot of space on the Blues’ mental hard drive.

Colorado over-simplified, and it cost them.

Through two periods there was no way the Avalanche were going to lose. Not a single metric would have suggested that St. Louis had any chance of staging a comeback.

But fancy stats can’t predict the future. And for me, Colorado blew it. Instead of sticking to their game plan of playing fast and direct, the Avalanche started dumping pucks into the offensive zone and sitting back defensively.

That is not how the Avalanche should have played the third period. Colorado was crushing St. Louis with rush chances and zone entries for two periods. And then, in my opinion, the Avalanche fell victim to one of the biggest hockey cliches: they got pucks in deep.

For some teams, that style works. Put pucks behind the defenders. Crash and bang. And Colorado does have players like Darren Helm and Andrew Cogliano that are capable of playing that style. But the rest of the Avalanche need to look in the mirror and realize that the face staring back is probably really good with the puck. Colorado is fast and skilled and needs to play like it.

Despite MacKinnon blowing his door handles off on the fourth Avalanche goal, Nick Leddy had a huge game.

I know MacKinnon made Leddy look like a pylon. But he’s not the first and won’t be the last player to get walked by No. 29 on the Avalanche. MacKinnon was coming full blast without any pressure from Jordan Kyrou – the same Kyrou that won the NHL’s fastest skater competition at the All-Star game this past February. Kyrou quit skating and left Leddy by himself to absorb MacKinnon alone.

But The 31-year-old Blues defenseman had three assists in Game 5, including the primary helper on Tyler Bozak’s game-winning goal at the 3:38 mark of overtime. 

I know it’s not the best camera angle, but Leddy keeps the puck in the offensive zone with the boot of his skate – just like he did moments before Tarasenko’s goal. It’s a small detail but a valued detail. Players all know who is good at keeping pucks in. It’s an underappreciated skill.

Leddy has been a perfect fit with the Blues defense corps since coming over from the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL trade deadline. He can chip in offensively and plays a smart, measured defensive game. For a team like St. Louis that has experienced injuries on the back end, Leddy’s Stanley Cup-winning experience is invaluable.

Ville Husso played an important part in this win.

The stat line doesn’t matter. Typically four goals against on 34 shots wouldn’t be considered a strong outing. But when you consider how good Colorado was for the first half of the match, it’s amazing to think what the Game 4 could have looked like had Husso not been sharp.

I thought Husso’s biggest moment occurred midway through the first period, when he made a sliding save on Colorado’s Josh Manson to keep the game within one.

I’m not sure the shot was actually going on net. It looks like the puck might have gone wide past the far post had Husso not gotten a pad on it. But what a save.

Keep in mind, St. Louis was on the power play at the time and down by a goal. Had Colorado scored a short-handed goal to make it 2-0 in favor of the Avalanche, I’m not sure St. Louis recovers.

But what this save really meant was a huge jolt of adrenaline for Husso. When you make a stop of this magnitude, every endorphin in your body immediately reacts. It’s the most incredible feeling.

Sometimes athletes need a singular reminder that they are good at what they do. And I think Husso desperately needed that personal vote of confidence. He looked confident the rest of the night.

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