DENVER — John Tortorella punctuated the evening by anointing Jack Eichel the world’s best two-way forward.
“I think he’s the best 200-foot player in the game,” said the coach of the man who silenced Ball Arena with a plot twist few in attendance saw coming late Friday night.
“There are some good ones, but he’s right there. He did some things tonight, that you probably didn’t see, that were very important to us.”
What the hockey world did see was a sublime finish by the Olympic gold-medallist midway through the third period of a game that previously appeared destined to see the hosts even the Western Conference Final.
Two minutes later, he set up the Vegas Golden Knights' winner by linemate Ivan Barbashev that erased a 1-0 Colorado Avalanche lead the normally air-tight hosts felt comfortable they could protect.
Instead, following a 3-1 loss in Game 2, the Avalanche will wake up Saturday for a charter to Sin City where they’ll try to match a little NHL history written by guys named “Mud,” “Flash,” “Jud,” and “Terrible” Ted (Lindsay) with the 1945 Detroit Red Wings.
That group is the only team in 21 conference finals to win a series after dropping the first two games at home.
“Uphill climb, but we have to flip the script on them in their rink,” said Avs netminder Scott Wedgewood, who has been out-goalied by Carter Hart.
“Win two there and come back and have home ice again. They did it to us, no reason we can’t do it to them. It kind of sucks when you feel you are in control and you don’t get enough to put them away. They hung around.”
Indeed they did.
After Ross Colton put the hosts up 1-0 late in the first with a snipe from the slot that had the joint jumping, the Avalanche continued pressing in the second as the Golden Knights played a defenceman short while Brayden McNabb got some repairs.
In a hard-hitting affair in which the Golden Knights did well to continue blocking shots while giving Hart a chance to see the rest, it wasn’t until Eichel gained the Colorado zone midway through the third that the comeback started.
Moving in from the right boards until Devon Toews pressured him to shoot from the hash mark, the right-handed American snapped a bullet in off the far post, just over Wedgewood’s pad.
The only sound you could hear in the rink after the pinging of the post was Eichel’s roar, as he’d gone 10 games without a goal.
On their next shift, Eichel dished it to “Barbie” above the hash marks where he too beat Wedgewood with a snipe in off the same post.
“Phenomenal,” said Noah Hanifin when asked about Eichel’s heroics.
“He's such a good 200-foot player, but man, some of the offensive things he can do with the puck, how smart he is, how patient he is, and he steps up at big moments. And that's what you need out of your best players. Incredible by him tonight.”
Barbashev, who also scored the empty netter, was a one-man wrecking crew with seven hits to go with his three points. That line, with Pavel Dorofeyev, was the difference in a game in which Hart was equally as brilliant.
Eichel’s line has outplayed and outproduced Colorado’s big line in a series where the host Avs have only scored three goals.
“I think the three of us want to take pride in playing a complete game and doing things the right way defensively when we don’t have the puck,” said Eichel, who sits second in playoff scoring with two goals and 16 assists.
“It was good to be able to contribute offensively tonight. I think we had a few chances in the first game and weren’t able to capitalize. It’s one of those things where you keep trying to make plays when you have the opportunity. It was good to see a few go in. You’re just trying to do the little things right and those things come.”
The Avalanche controlled more of the play throughout the homestand, but Vegas has been more opportunistic and had better netminding.
We’ll see now if they can continue to be mentally stronger.
Asked if he was worried his team would get caught up having a 2-0 series lead no one thought possible, he was quick to respond.
“We won’t,” said Tortorella.
“I guarantee you, we won’t. I don’t have to say anything to them. They just understand the situation. I’m not sure where the series goes. I’m not sure where Game 3 goes, but I know I’m not going to have to worry about that, because they get it.”
4:20
