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No discipline for hit on Barrie; too many squandered chances |
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Rick Sadowski
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The Avalanche played as well as could be expected for two periods and had plenty of chances to win Game 1 on Thursday. They just didn’t take advantage of them.
I have to think the Predators will play a lot better to start Game 2 on Saturday than they did in the opener when they needed three goals (one an empty-netter) in the third period to grab a 5-2 win.
More on that in a bit.
First, Predators forward Ryan Johansen won't be disciplined by the NHL Department of Player Safety for his hit on Tyson Barrie in the second period. Johansen knocked Barrie to the ice with what sure looked like a high hit after Barrie released a shot.
ESPN reported that the department determined Barrie’s head wasn’t the main point of contact, that it was a “full body hit” through the chest and shoulder.
Barrie didn’t take part in Friday’s optional skate, but he did return after the hit and should be fine for Game 2.
Not that he is happy with the league’s decision, especially after Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty was given a one-game suspension for his hit against Vegas’ William Carrier on Wednesday.
“I didn’t love the hit, for sure,” Barrie told the Denver Post and BSNDenver.com on Friday. “I didn’t see him, at all, coming, and I thought he maybe got the head a little bit. The league obviously has decided to take no action and that’s their call.
”I didn’t see him coming at all. He kind of came from the side and he definitely caught my head. I’m not sure if they determined that he hit my shoulder or whatever it was first. But it's part of the game and that’s in the league’s hands so you can’t really control it. I think you move on.
"If those are the hits you’re allowed to take, then maybe you take one or two runs at guys that you might get away with. But you just got to move on. We got a long series here and there’s not much point in dwelling on that.”
*****
As for the game, the Avalanche went 0-for-3 on power plays, had back-to-back power plays in the first period after Nikita Zadorov gave them a 1-0 lead and they couldn’t capitalize. A 2-0 lead there could have made a huge difference.
They're going to need more from Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen for any chance in this series.
"I'm happy with the way we played,” coach Jared Bednar said. “I felt like we did enough to almost earn a better result, but now we're going to have to dig even harder and make sure we do earn a better result.
“We're capable, we played hard. It was a good game by our group. It could have gone the other way, but it didn't so we have to find a way to break this cycle and make sure we get the win in Game 2."
Sure, they got a little unlucky. J.T. Compher took a shot that rolled over the back of Predators goalie Pekka Rinne into the crease and was about to cross the goal line when defenseman Matt Irwin swept the puck away with his stick in the nick of time.
Rantanen, who fed Zadorov for the early goal, bolted down the slot between two defenders late in the second period looking to break a 2-2 tie, only to have Rinne stretch his right leg to make a spectacular save.
“The first two periods, how played, we had a lot of chances to put the game to 3-2 and Rinne made some very nice saves,” Rantanen told reporters Friday after an optional practice. “In the third we were a little bit sloppy and they are too good of a team to be sloppy against, so we have to bear down.”
Goalie Jonathan Bernier was decent, but he gave up a soft goal to Austin Watson to tie the game 1-1 early in the second period. Wilson beat Bernier short side from a sharp angle in the right circle.
The Avalanche regained the lead on Blake Comeau’s deflection of Carl Soderberg’s shot, but the Predators forged a 2-2 tie on Craig Smith’s power-play goal following a giveaway by defenseman Mark Barberio behind the net.
The Filip Forsberg Show ended the Avalanche’s hopes in the third after Rinne made a glove save against MacKinnon on a 2-on-1 rush.
Roman Josi’s point shot was going wide when it bounced off Forsberg’s stick to put the Predators ahead 3-2. Forsberg proceeded to undress rookie defenseman Samuel Girard with a highlight reel goal for a two-goal advantage they weren’t about to relinquish.
The Avalanche will stick with the same lineup for Game 2 Saturday.
Goalie Spencer Martin was recalled from San Antonio, but that was only so Bernier could take Friday off. Martin and Andrew Hammond practiced.
Nashville has beaten the Avalanche 11 consecutive times, outscoring them 47-24. The Avalanche last defeated the Predators 4-3 in Nashville on March 28, 2016.
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