Once again in the 2019 NHL playoffs, the final second card seed was able to upset the first seed. This time, the Calgary Flames were the victim of a relentless Colorado team who showed no mercy. After a game one shutout, the Avalanche won four straight on route to the second round.

Calgary Flames

Calgary had their best season since the 1988/1989 season (the last year the Flames won the cup) and have had a plenty of momentum going into the playoffs. The Flames were not expected to be one of the best teams in the league nor finish with 107 points at the start of the year. Aswell, the Flames were not in most discussions for winning the cup prior to the season and were able to turn that conversation in a few months. Calgary had a very convincing campaign which threw them into cup discussion as the year progressed.

The Flames started the playoffs quite well with a 4 – 0 shutout at home, but that soon changed for the worse. Despite a close game two, they were edged out in overtime in a game where they had momentum for most of the contest. Calgary never seemed to recover and in their third game they were decimated 6 – 2 and were outshot 56 – 29. Game four was very respectable on the score sheet, Calgary allowed 52 shots to come towards goaltender Mike Smith and blew a two goal lead they had built up in the third period. Mikko Rantanen put the dagger into Calgary with his overtime goal in game four and finished the Flames with a three point performance to put them to rest in game five. Calgary had more than a few turning points in this series and they were unable to use any of them. It is not the end of the world for this Calgary squad, as a majority of they key players are returning and they have some potential wiggle room cap wise.

Forwards

Surprisingly the top line did not give much in the scoring department during the postseason. There is no real analysis to give, but plenty of blame to give. Sam Bennett was the only point per game player but continued take bad penalties which cost the Flames more than a few times. This was not the dangerous team that had four 70 point scorers during the regular season and one of the deepest and scariest top six forward core in the NHL. The bottom six was fine but never actually played good enough to compensate for the lack of production. In the final two games of the series, Calgary looked desperate, not in a way where the players would get down to block shots and play harder… They played like an eighth seed team that had nothing to lose. There were so many penalties at important moments and so many overextensions leading to bad turnovers and odd man rushes. While the score was close for a few games, the margins were mostly thanks to a stunning performance from Mike Smith. The offense was much worse than what is shown on paper.

Defense

There is one defenseman on the Calgary flames that played very well this series. Travis Hamonic was doing everything for his line. He had double the blocked shots than the next player on his team, he got in the way of passing lanes and he was always in position to not get obliterated. He did not score and he was a minus four overall, but Hamonic had zero support. His forwards were turning over the puck way too often and he played more than five minutes a game on the penalty kill which leads the league. The rest of the Flame’s defense has been awful. The Calgary Flames allowed an average of 41 shots on their own net. Colorado had a average of 32.6 shots against per game in comparison. While Calgary’s poor offense was highlighted, their defense arguably deserves more flack than they are getting.

Goaltending

Mike Smith was left to die on the ice almost every game. He has faced the most shots out of any goaltender who has played five games this postseason and faced 31 more shots than the next goaltender. However Mike Smith did hold his own and kept Calgary in games they should have been blown out. In game five, Smith was gassed and could no longer hold the floodgates. Between the onslaught of quality chances and the shot total he faced, it is suprising he held the Flames together as long as he did. A .913 save percentage is respectable given the quantity of shots and a 3.20 goals against average is understood. Mike Smith was just as good as Philipp Grubauer but had a much worse team defensively.

Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche came into the playoffs on a crazy hot streak. They were 7 – 1 – 2 in their last 10 to enter the playoffs and had players like Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, and Nathan MacKinnon all having career highs. There is not really much to the Avalanche coming into the playoffs outside of their hot streak. They have continued to be a one line team with a solid defense who normally makes it into the playoffs as a lower seed. It was business as usual until Colorado decided that they wanted to murder the Flames.

Forwards

The case can be made that the Rantanen, MacKinnon and Landeskog line is one of the best lines in hockey right now. These three have cut through every defense with ruthless efficiency all year and show no signs of slowing down. The same was true for the playoffs; The Calgary Flames had no answer to Colorado’s first line. In fact, the Avalanche first line outscored all of the forwards for the Flames 21 – 18. It is also important to mention that there are some more players on the team and they stepped up massively when they needed to. Matt Nieto and Colin Wilson had a great round and were instrumental in frustrating the Flames into make poor plays and taking bad penalties. The forward core will be getting a bigger spotlight at the playoffs continue, their opponent will find out very quickly if the Avalanche depth can keep up.

Defense

The defense for Colorado has been fairly average all year. During the first round they have not had to do much to stop Calgary. It has been fairly simple and basic play for the Avalanche defensively and they really were just able to get into passing lanes and disrupt plays or force a bad pass. They were bigger and stronger but not sloppy in their play. Nobody did noticeably poor and everyone made up for a lack of performance in another aspect of the game. Newcomer Cale Makar made history by being the first player to make his NHL debut in the playoffs and score. After adding an assist, Makar is plus four has seven takeaways and zero giveaways with six blocked shots in three games. The defensive core for Colorado will be looking more and more dangerous as the playoffs progress.

Goaltending

Philipp Grubauer was pretty much perfect for the Colorado Avalanche in net. He was really good and there is not much more to say. Grubauer rarely faced a changing shot that he had to get in the way of and most saves were pretty easy for an NHL goaltender. His .939 save percentage was third out of all starting goaltenders and a 1.89 goals against was good enough to land him second. Half of his goals allowed were on the penalty kill which could be a problem moving forward, but that responsibility mostly falls onto the defense. Grubauer had a pretty easy series and will be very well rested when he takes the ice during round two of the playoffs.

Summary
It was another tale where one team was much more hungry than the other. The Colorado Avalanche were infinitely better than the Calgary Flames in every department. The Flames looked like they were not ready for the kind of playoff hockey Colorado brought and tried to compensate but ended up taking silly penalties which put them on the back foot for most of the series. The Avalanche had a great plan which forced Calgary to play to their style and stuck to it despite getting shut out in game one. Mike Smith faced too many shots and was unable to carry his team. Grubauer was good and is one of the best goalies this post season so far. Colorado moves on rested and ready for the winner of San Jose and Vegas.