DALLAS – The Colorado Avalanche had barely scored a spectacular overtime victory when head coach Jared Bednar was already thinking about Game 2 of the series against the Dallas Stars.
“It’s clear that there are a lot of things we can do better than tonight,” said the pilot after his team’s 4-3 overtime victory in the first game of the second round series. of the Western Association, played at the American Airlines Center.
On Wednesday, Bednar opened up more about what his team could improve on in order to return to Denver with a 2-0 lead.
“Our forecheck will have to be better,” said the pilot. We got caught away from the puck several times and we allowed overcounts. Our defense did a good job of closing the door on those overtimes and limiting the scoring chances, but there were definitely too many dangerous situations for my liking in Game 1.”
The majority of these situations occurred in the first period, when the Stars took a 3-0 lead. The Avalanche looked rusty and undisciplined in giving the Stars three power plays, including a 1:32 5-on-3 sequence that ended with a goal from Jamie Benn.
“We have to tighten up some things and try to limit their attacks because they’re a good team, and when they get going, they can create momentum,” said Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson, who robbed Benn of a goal late in the first period by blocking his shot while goaltender Alexandar Georgiev was out of position.
“I don’t think we can stop this team for 60 minutes, but we have to limit their chances as much as possible, especially when they are caused by our mistakes. »
One of the reasons that may explain the Avalanche’s poor start to the game is the fact that the team had not played since April 30. The players obviously practiced while waiting to decide who won the series between the Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights, but it’s still difficult to replicate the intensity of a game during a session training.
“After the break, some players reacted well,” Bednar said. They were willing to execute the little details well and they had the work ethic and level of competition necessary for this series. It took other players a little longer to get there.
“That’s part of the reason I said we can reach another level. We’ll need everyone to fire up the machine from the opening puck drop tomorrow night. »
The Avalanche certainly bounced back, dominating the second and third periods on Tuesday, but getting off to a good start in Game 2 will be key.
The Stars lost their first two home games in the series against the Golden Knights. They bounced back, winning four of the next five games to move on to face Colorado.
The Avalanche are assured of at least a 1-1 series heading back to Ball Arena, where they posted an excellent 31-9-1 regular season record. She is 2-0 at home in the playoffs. However, the Avalanche will do everything possible to take a 2-0 lead against the team that finished atop the Western Conference.
“We talked about a few things we need to improve on,” said forward Andrew Cogliano. “Their strengths were evident last night, so we need to tighten up the game to give ourselves the best chance tomorrow.
“In general, we played well. We got better as the game went on, our forecheck kicked in and we played the way we wanted to. But they will be desperate to secure a victory at home. We will have to review what we did and what we saw in their game plan. Hoping to be better at neutralizing them. »
