Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
I have seen this series so far as a story of responses...
· After fighting through some penalty trouble in Game #1 the Flames essentially took over and won the game convincingly.
· Colorado responded; they pushed back in Game #2, but nearly lost thanks to some excellent goaltending by Mike Smith.
· In Game #3 the Flames were surprised by Colorado's speed and forecheck with last change on home ice, and did not quickly enough match their energy. I think the Avalanche essentially maintained the same mindset from the previous game, but the Flames after a close loss and with a change of venue did not respond.
* I would be surprised to see the Flames once again not respond tonight. They now know what to anticipate from the Avalanche in their own building, and I think this bodes well in their favour. If they win tonight, I do not anticipate that Colorado will have as easy a time mounting a new response once they get back to the Saddledome on Friday.
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This is the problem with every favorite that's about to choke to a lesser team. They are 'responding' to the underdog too often and assuming their superior skill will win them games instead of taking a workmanlike approach and outwork the other team. Favorite's need to play their game and force the underdog to respond and make adjustments. Every favorite that goes down in a 7 game series says something like 'We just need to MATCH, their compete level, blah blah blah' I noticed this was the kind of stuff Vancouver was saying to themselves in the media in 2015 and I'm hearing a lot of 'up our compete level to match them' from the Flames right now. Maybe a good sign for game 4, but probably not for winning the series.