Before we delve into a breakdown of this series between the Avalanche and Wild, I’d like to appreciate how exciting this series was. Seven great games filled with fast-paced, high-scoring hockey. This series really gave legitimacy to Nathan MacKinnon’s wicked rookie season, as he totalled 10 points in his first ever playoff appearance. And, it all came to a fantastic conclusion on Wednesday; the Wild’s Nino Niederreiter scored an overtime winner after his team thrillingly tied the game late in the third.
When Colorado took control of the series after their first two games at the Pepsi Center, many critics of the Avs started to believe they may be the real deal. Obviously, they didn’t win the Central Division by a fluke, however a narrative for the Avs’ entire season has been that they’ve been constantly outshot, and outpossessed. Once the Wild evened up the series, of course, those critics were back out in full force.
There’s definitely something to all the talk about Colorado’s unsustainable style of play. They were outshot in all but two games (in game 6, both teams had 23 shots. In game 5, the Avs had 2 more). As we all saw, once Minnesota managed to stop the Avs from scoring (most notably in games 3, 4 and 6), their defence couldn’t keep up. Really, all the Wild needed to do was shut down their opponent’s top line of MacKinnon, Paul Stastny and Gabriel Landeskog. Once they did that, there was only so much Semyon Varlamov could do.
Earlier in the series, I talked a lot about the difference between the styles of leadership employed by the Avalanche and Wild. Minnesota have a core of veteran guys with playoff experience, whereas Colorado’s top players are all very young, many of them figuring out post-season hockey for the first time. I find Colorado’s approach refreshing, and predicted that it’d propel them to victory in this series.
Now, it looks like I was wrong. In situations like an overtime in game 7, experience like that of the Wild is clearly invaluable. It was obvious that Minnesota were much more capable of suppressing their nerves. I still believe that Colorado’s young, fast game is amazing, and that this team will have success in years to come – as soon as they sort out their defence. However, the veteran presence of Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, and many others proved to be crucial in helping the Wild break out of the deadlock.
Minnesota would technically have been the underdogs coming into this series, being a wildcard team, but they never really played like it. Through all seven games, the two teams were very evenly matched. Now, the Wild have just managed to edge out Colorado. Their reward? Another seven-game series, this time with the Chicago Blackhawks. Such is life in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Unfortunately, I find it hard to give the Wild much of a chance against the Hawks, who are surely on a high after dispensing of the St Louis Blues. Nonetheless, it’ll be a great series, which will give Minnesota some incredibly valuable experience.
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