3 things Golden Knights must do differently to beat the Avalanche in Game 2
2. Possess The Puck
Game 1 resembled a track meet, which the Avalanche are very well suited for. They have tons of players who play fast with skill. Nathan MacKinnon looked like he had turbo boosters on his skates. The Golden Knights were not well suited for that. In Game 2, they need to get back to dictating the game and controlling the tempo.
One thing Vegas can do to slow down Colorado is simply possess the puck and hem them in their own zone. You can’t score if you don’t have the puck. When the Golden Knights are playing their possession game, it’s hard to do anything against them. Even when it doesn’t directly lead to goals, possessing the puck wears down your opponent.
3. Stay Disciplined
In Game 1, the Golden Knights inexplicably lost their cool. They had 44 penalty minutes with 10 of those coming thanks to Ryan Reaves getting a match penalty for a dirty hit on Ryan Graves.
Ryan Reaves ejected late in Game 1 for injuring Ryan Graves pic.twitter.com/k60V8CPRvW
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 31, 2021
The Knights gave the Avalanche six power plays. Even though they only converted on two of those, when you’re down, the last thing you want to do is give your opponent power plays. Also, Vegas did precisely what Colorado wanted. They were more focused on retaliation and physicality than scoring goals.
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Game 2 needs to be a far more disciplined game for the Knights. The Avalanche’s power play has converted on 44.4% of their power plays in the postseason, which is the best mark in the league. There’s one proven way to neutralize a hot power play — don’t give them power plays in the first place.