The Colorado Avalanche have made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight season. Similarly compared to the prior season, they made a late push for the playoffs. And once again, it was a successful attempt. The Avs sealed their ticket to the playoffs fueled by the career season by defenceman Tyson Barrie. In these past few weeks, when the Avalanche recorded the most important wins, Barrie has been one of their biggest offensive threats.
Tyson Barrie Career Year Helped to Propel Colorado To Playoffs
In their regular-season finale, the Colorado Avalanche took on the San Jose Sharks who had already clinched their playoff berth. The Sharks won that meeting 5-2. But prior to that loss, the Avs were on the 10-game point streak with the record of eight wins and two overtime defeats. Ahead of this successful run, the Avalanche have lost five of their previous seven contests.
A win against the New Jersey Devils on March 17 changed the negative sequence. On that day, Colorado defeated the Devils in a 3-0 fashion and it was Tyson Barrie with two goals. Then the Avalanche went onto the road and faced the two teams in the head-to-head playoff battle, the Minnesota Wild and the Dallas Stars. The Avs won both of those games and Barrie scored a goal in each of these contests. Barrie ended up with two game-winners in those three games.
That week with three important victories changed the whole complexion of the season for the Avalanche. On their back-end, they could thank their goaltender Philipp Grubauer, but it was an unlikely offensive hero, who stepped in and snapped in some big goals. In those past 10 games, when the Avs got all-important 18 points, Barrie has recorded seven goals and four assists for 11 points.
Late Push Served The Avalanche Yet Again
When the Avalanche had the chance to finally seal their presence in the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, nobody can be surprised that Barrie had the goal as well. It had to be done in that way because elite winger Mikko Rantanen missed the past eight games with injury and captain Gabriel Landeskog returned just one week before the regular season’s finish from his shoulder injury.
The Avalanche had to find someone who will help them score goals and win important games. One of those stepping up big-time was the defenceman, Tyson Barrie. The Avs made it to the playoffs last season in game number 82 when they took down the St. Louis Blues.
This season, they punched their ticket to the playoffs with another home win, but this time in game number 81 of the regular season. Who would have thought after the Avalanche gathered just 48 points in the 2016-2017 season? Now they are in the playoff picture in the back-to-back seasons.
Slow Start, Career-Best Finish For Avalanche´s Tyson Barrie
Barrie is undoubtedly an offensive-minded defenceman. His 307 points in 484 games in the NHL would just indicate that. Throughout his career, the 27-year-old defenceman had to experience some injuries as he has never played in all 82 games during the regular season. This has been his eighth season with the Colorado Avalanche and it was his best one for sure.
During the present season, Barrie has notched 14 goals and 45 assists for 59 points. With that, he had tied his career-high in goals, set his new career-best in both assists and points. But it has not been solely about great offensive production. He has also improved his overall play. His CF% is at 53%, which is his career-best. Barrie had CF% at 54.8% during his rookie season seven years ago, but back then he played in just 10 games. Last season, his CF% was at 48.3%.
During the past season, Barrie has recorded 57 points, which was his previous career-high, but his overall play wasn’t as good. Last season, his CF% was at 48.3%, his xGF was at 46.5% and his xGA was at 62.6%. This season, his xGF is at 67.7% and his xGA is at 58.5%. That´s just nicely indicating the fact, that this year has been really his career-best season.
Barrie scored his first goal of the season in the 17th game of the year against the Edmonton Oilers on the road. Half of his goals, seven, came in the past 11 games when his team needed it the most.
Colorado Looking Forward To Playoffs With Barrie
Tyson Barrie has played in just nine playoff games so far during his career. He has posted six assists and no goals in those nine contests. Now he is hoping that he will have a big impact on the further run by the Colorado Avalanche. “I know there are some teams that are kind of sputtering in and they’re not super confident in their game, and we’re really confident right now,” stated Barrie last week.
Confidence can be seen among the Colorado Avalanche squad and it reflects in Barrie’s game as well. Looking beyond the upcoming weeks, Barrie is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the following summer in 2020. He currently earns $5,500,000 per season.
With the Avalanche progressing and moving forward, they will most definitely try to include Barrie in their future plans. It has been a nice career so far from a defenceman drafted 64th overall in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft.
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