Mile High Sports

Deen’s List: Avalanche continue to overwhelm old friend Ryan O’Reilly

Aarif Deen

May 19, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; St. Louis Blues center Ryan O'Reilly (90) and Colorado Avalanche defenseman Patrik Nemeth (24) get tangled up on the ice in the first period in game two of the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis captain Ryan O’Reilly confidently gave his take on how the Blues would fare in this series before Game 1 and those words may come back to bite him. At least that’s how it feels after two games.

“We’re going to have some fun, and we’re going to beat them,” O’Reilly said.

St. Louis has done everything but have fun. And “beating them” hasn’t happened. Rather, it was O’Reilly that was on the receiving end of a game-changing hit at the hands of Avs captain Gabe Landeskog about 28 seconds into Game 2 on Wednesday. He was beaten by his former teammate. Physically.

Just like Landeskog did in Game 1 when he dropped the gloves with Brayden Schenn to set the tone, Landeskog flattened O’Reilly behind the net and the Avs scored seven seconds later. They scored five more times, twice on an empty net, on their way to a 6-3 victory, grabbing a 2-0 series lead over the Blues.

O’Reilly went on to have another less-than-stellar night, finishing with a minus-3 in 20:14. He is minus-6 in the series. If things don’t change at Enterprise Center, where the next two games will be played, O’Reilly may have to eat those words while enduring a long offseason.

The Deen’s List:

Kadri gets ejected

This seems all too familiar.

Nazem Kadri, Colorado’s underwhelming second-line center, was ejected after laying out Blues defenseman Justin Faulk with an illegal check to the head. The NHL is likely going to suspend him. Just as it did in the 2018 and 2019 playoffs when he was with Toronto — and why the Maple Leafs ultimately traded him to the Avs.

It’s the last thing Kadri needed. Especially this year. But everybody loves a good comeback story and if (keyword: If) Kadri is only suspended for the rest of this round and not longer, then a comeback in the next round and actually chipping in offensively would be a great revelation for him.

Kadri has just one goal in his last 29 games.

Hat-trick hero

The Avalanche haven’t had a player record a hat trick in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 24 years. So it’s only fitting that it comes from superstar center Nathan MacKinnon, who is off to an exceptional start in the postseason.

MacKinnon capped off his hat trick with an empty netter and celebrated as the ice was covered in hats from the 7,739 strong at Ball Arena. He has five goals and seven points in two games. Not bad after scoring just 20 goals in the regular season.

Playoff Nate doesn’t mess around.

35 seconds

The goal from Joonas Donskoi, which came on the heels of Landeskog’s hit on O’Reilly, was the fastest goal to start a playoff game in club history. Donskoi later added another goal and an assist to finish with his second career three-point playoff performance.

Donskoi redirected a blast from defenseman Ryan Graves with his stick. He got his second goal by taking a point shot from MacKinnon off the torso.

For a relatively small guy, 6-foot, 190 pounds, Donskoi is not afraid to go to the net.

Power play perfection

Two chances. Two goals.

When you have MacKinnon, Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and stud defenseman Cale Makar running your top unit, you’re likely going to score a lot on the man advantage. Colorado has three goals on five opportunities in two games. They’re heavily winning the special teams battle and it’s a large part of the reason why the Blues seem overmatched.

Faceoff wins

The Avs used to be really bad at faceoffs. They have changed their ways in that department.

O’Reilly is one of the best faceoff specialists in the NHL. But on Wednesday, he struggled, winning just 6-of-20 for a lowly 30 percent. MacKinnon, Landeskog and third line center Tyson Jost each went 8-for-11 at the dot. The team won 36-of-56 draws.

The Avs are already a strong puck possession team and winning faceoffs is only going to give them more time with the puck.

That’s a problem for the Blues.

 

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