The Avalanche are smart enough to realize how difficult this first-round playoff series with Nashville will be, and that no one is giving them a chance to pull off an upset.
It doesn’t bother them a bit heading into Game 1 on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
The
GAME NOTES.
“Our expectations are we’re coming here to win,” coach
Jared Bednar told reporters after the morning skate. “Maybe (that’s) a little naïve as a group, but that’s a good thing for us because we kind of have this carefree attitude.”
While the Predators finished with an NHL best 117 points to win the Presidents’ Trophy after advancing to the Stanley Cup Final a year ago, the Avalanche needed to beat St. Louis in the regular-season finale last Saturday to edge the Blues by a point (95-94) for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
The Avalanche went 0-3-1 against Nashville this season while being outscored 17-8, and have lost 10 consecutive times to the Predators by a cumulative 42-22 count since a 4-3 win in Nashville on March 28, 2016.
“The Predators are a great team, but it’s playoffs, you got seven games and we’re a good team too,”
Tyson Barrie said. “We’re going to embrace the underdog role and throw everything we can at them.
“I don’t think anybody really picked us as a playoff team at the beginning of this year. Can’t blame them because last year was just horrible. It’s a great turnaround and I know everybody’s proud of each other in here, but it’s not over yet.”
Jonathan Bernier didn’t play against the Predators this season, but he’s the man in goal now that
Semyon Varlamov is out with a knee injury. Bernier has a 9-4-0 career record against Nashville in the regular season with two shutouts, a 2.37 goals-against average and .917 save percentage.
Bernier started for Anaheim in Game 6 of the conference finals in Nashville last year when
John Gibson wasn’t able to play because of a hamstring injury. He allowed four goals on 16 shots in the Ducks’ 6-3 loss, ending their postseason.
“They're a great team,” Bernier said. “It's not going to be an easy series, but if you want to get further you have to beat the best team, and we start with the best team. I played against them last year, and it's really a tough building to play in.
“There's a lot of young guys in our group. We're the underdog and we have to go out there and work hard, that's the only thing we can do. Now we just have to show what we can do in the playoffs.”
One change for the Avalanche:
David Warsofsky is in for
Mark Alt.
The lineup:
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Tyson Jost -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Sven Andrighetto
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
Colin Wilson – J.T. Compher -- Gabriel Bourque
Nikita Zadorov -- Tyson Barrie
Patrik Nemeth -- Samuel Girard
Mark Barberio – David Warsofsky
Jonathan Bernier
Andrew Hammond
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
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