Great comparison Saturday at 21.00 on Sky Sport Action between Avalanche and Penguins, very launched lost the playoffs where they will eventually meet only in the final
It may be the best season in their history, but i Colorado Avalanche they know that there is no glory in regular season. There may be records, of course. They have value and meaning. Not to be underestimated. Then, only the Stanley Cup it can give that sense of completeness and accomplishment, where records become a prestigious and authoritative outline. Colorado leads the NHL with 102 points and when it went over 100 it often made history. Like in ’96, when he won the first Stanley Cup in the first year of his move to Denver, at the time of the captain-legend Joe Sakic and a goalkeeper-legend like Patrick Roy. Or like in 2001, the year of the second Stanley, when he reached 118 points in the regular season and then won the cup always dragged by Sakic and his monstrous season of 54 goals and 64 assists. Now Sakic is the General Manager of a team he has still 14 games to play to close the season and that can take away some records. The lighthouse that lights up Denver is now called Nathan MacKinnon, a concentrate of physical strength, technique and speed. The most defining player for his team in the entire NHL, with the sole exception of Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers). Around the two centers, MacKinnon and Nazem Kadri (one of 83 points this season so far …), the great attack of the Avalanche has an impressive amount of players producing. Mikko Rantanen above all (34 goals + 46 assists for 80 total points), but also Nichushkin e Burakovsky which are close to 20 goals. And one of the best scorers on the team is a defender: Cale Makar (24 goals so far, a huge amount for a full-back). There lack of Captain Gabriel Landeskog, however, it is particularly painful. Out for knee surgery, hopefully he’ll get him back for the final playoff battle. You have to get there, of course.
We need a title goalkeeper
In short, as far as outfield players are concerned, the Avalanche are in very good shape. After hitting bottom with the 48 points of the 2016-17 season (a negative record since the former Quebec Nordiques team is in Denver), Colorado has always qualified for the playoffs with coach Jared Bednar. He lost once in the first round and three consecutive times in the second. The ambitions have grown in the last few seasons in which it is establishing itself as one of the best teams ever. We need to go a little further. To do it, in the playoffs you also have to defend, because you will hardly travel to almost 4 goals per game on average as in the regular season. The first defender of the team is the goalkeeper. Darcy Kuemper is producing a season with excellent statistics: percentage of saves of .924 and 2.37 goals conceded per game. Better than him only Markstrom, Sorokin, Andersen and Shesterkin. As an age (31 years) he can express the best of his potential. He remains partially unknown in the moments that matter, since his is between Minnesota and Arizona career playoff experience is very modest. It is doubtful that the Avalanches must be removed. This is a good year to understand.
Pittsburgh: continuity in excellence
Years pass, the capacity of the gods does not pass Pittsburgh Penguins to reinvent themselves and present themselves in the spring with good cause for concern for the opponents. They have continuously qualified for the playoffs since 2006-07, the longest active streak in all of the NHL. It was the year when the Russian Evgeny Malkin joined Sydney Crosby. They defined an era, winning the Stanley Cup three times. A team that loves continuity, also built with coach Mike Sullivan, who arrived in 2015 and became the most successful in the history of the club. And also with Kris Letang, another regular presence since the 2007-08 season. The heart of the team has been beating for a long time: 34 years Crosby and Letang, 35 Malkin, but we must also mention the 37 Jeff Carter (two Stanley Cups with the Kings in career) and di Brian Boyle, one who won the toughest competition of all, the one against leukemia. People who know how to do it. A warranty. Of course the intensity of the playoffs is a very tough test. In recent seasons the adventure of the Penguins did not last long, they are there legitimate doubts about their resistance and willingness to resist. For this the arrival of the Swede Rickard Rakell, who arrived on March 21 from Anaheim, is definitely a good idea. A winger very well suited to the game in speed and who can multiply his figures in a team with players so good at dictating the pace and delivering the right puck at the right time. A bit of Pittsburgh youth can also be found in door Tristan Jarry. Above all, he can find many reasons for it. Last year it was one of the main culprits behind the first round exit against the Islanders, giving reason to those who still considered him too inexperienced for such an important moment. A series closed with .888 as a percentage of saves, which translated into words means that it went very badly. He came out destroyed. He took it as a personal matter. The start of the season was psychological reconstruction. Successful rebuild. Jarry’s regular season has been solid. And the time is approaching that will lead him to meet his ghosts. With the desire to tame them and make them become a nightmare for the opponents. If he succeeds he could lead Crosby, Malkin and Letang’s latest ice dance. He is missing a masterpiece to leave in style.
La NHL su sky sport
Here because Colorado-Pittsburgh it’s a match not to be missed. It can be seen in live at 9 pm Saturday 2 April on Sky Sport Action. The Avalanche are in first place in the Central Division and the Western Conference, the Penguins are in third place in the Metropolitan Division (Eastern Conference). If they find themselves in the playoffs it will therefore only be in the last act. It will eventually be in the final.
