(Denver, Colorado) It is often said of elite athletes that one of their great qualities is their constant desire to improve, that state of mind that ensures that they are never satisfied. After three years in the NHL, Cale Makar is already one of the elite athletes and we understand his mentality better.
Posted at 7:32 p.m.
The Avalanche may lead this final 1-0, but Makar blundered in the first game and he knows it.
In fact, it was he and his partner, the very reliable Devon Toews, who were guilty on the play. Note that it was against Nikita Kucherov, one of the most creative forwards on the circuit. But on this streak, Makar and Toews looked bad.
Nonchalance? Bad game reading? Porpoising on the ice rink? Let Makar himself analyze the sequence, which ended with a goal from Ondrej Palat.
“There was way too much space between them and us, and then they did their crossover play,” Makar said after Friday’s practice at the Ball Arena. Normally we keep a good gap, we follow our player when he gets to the blue line, but since our gap wasn’t adequate, we backed off. I knew that Kucherov was going to try the pass to Palat if he managed to get around Toews. I was just lazy… Maybe it was a moment of mental wandering on my part. It doesn’t have to happen. »
Photo Ron Chenoy, USA TODAY Sports
Cale Makar (8) in front of reporters answers their questions
Makar can console himself: it doesn’t often happen to his duo, such blunders. The Albertan may already be considered the best offensive defenseman in the NHL, but his overall game is much more assured than other similar talents at the same age, for example Erik Karlsson.
Toews is the quiet force of the duo. He finished the season at +52, and over the past two seasons he’s posted a +81 rating, earning him first in the NHL for that span, well ahead of second-placed Elias Lindholm (+71).
When they are together on the ice, the indicators are insane. In season, at five against five, the Avalanche scored 55 goals with the Toews-Makar duo on the ice, against 24 goals against. This ranks them second in the NHL for the goals scored/goals against ratio.
No shots
If Makar was very hard on himself about Palat’s goal, he was less so about his attacking contribution.
His duo was limited to a single shot on goal, managed by Toews, and no points. That doesn’t mean they weren’t creating anything. Makar attempted nine shots, but three missed the target and six were blocked by Lightning skaters, including one by Mikhail Sergachev following a brave dive in the final seconds of the third period.
“We saw that a few times in the playoffs against Cale,” said Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. I remember a game against Nashville where they were still blocking his shots, but he didn’t let go and ended up scoring in overtime. »
Bednar here refers to match noh 2 in the series against the Predators, a game in which Makar was credited with 12 shots on target (!), in addition to 11 other attempts (!!) blocked by Nashville skaters.
“Lightning players are very good at blocking shots,” Makar said. But even when that happened, our forwards were generally good at recovering the pucks. »
This is a very relevant observation from Makar, because precisely this is how Andre Burakovsky scored in overtime. On the sequence, JT Compher’s shot is blocked by Victor Hedman, but Valeri Nichushkin recovers the puck to return it to Burakovsky, who scores the paying goal.
“I tried to block the shot, to make sure the puck didn’t go behind me, but they came back and made the play,” Hedman said. This kind of play does happen, but in general it’s best to try to get in the line of fire. They made a quick play and scored. We have to put that behind us and keep blocking shots. »
This series was seen as a duel between Makar and Hedman, considered by many to be the two best defensemen in the National League. This is also the first time since 2001 (Raymond Bourque against Scott Stevens) that two Norris Trophy finalists meet in the final. The first match, however, demonstrated it: even if their impact on a match is largely positive, it is not impossible to score against them!