Brock Nelson is enjoying the ride in Avalanche burgundy and blue. But he’s already tired of feeling like a passenger over the first week of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“Trust me, I believe (the puck is) going to go in,” the Avalanche’s second-line center said before Saturday night’s Game 4 of Colorado’s series with the Dallas Stars. “And that (next one) would be a timely one.”
No kidding. Avs coach Jared Bednar has had to weather a handful of little frustrations through the first three games with the Stars, but the two that keep recurring are scoring from his top power-play unit and scoring from his second line.
Bednar is looking to one player who might solve both issues. Captain Gabe Landeskog, whose return from cartilage surgeries after three years away from the sport was highlight of Game 3, practiced with both units before Saturday night.
After playing with two different left wings in the first three games of the series, Nelson says he’s quickly taken to life with Landy.
“Obviously playing with Landy and Val, we’re capable of doing the same thing (as a unit),” Nelson said. “And Val, of course, creates a lot of space (for others) and creates a lot of space for himself.”
It’s the first postseason series for the 33-year-old center in which he hasn’t logged at least a point through the first three games since Islanders-Hurricanes in 2019 — a series Nelson’s Isles went on to lose, 4-0.
After jelling so well in Game 1 of the Stars series, the plethora of new faces the Avs acquired after Christmas slowed down in the two tilts that followed. Nelson went into Saturday night without a point. First-line winger Martin Necas had a point going into Game 3.
Avs icon Mikko Rantanen, who was traded to Carolina for Necas, finally registered a point in Game 4 and helped set up Dallas’ overtime winner.
Colorado fans have been waiting for a similar in-series turnaround from Nelson — and from the second line, which accounted for only 0.44 expected goals per game as a unit in the opening three contests.
“It doesn’t matter who you (played) with last. You know, it’s going to be tight. Space is tight,” Nelson said. “Teams lock it down.
“And yeah, (Dallas) is a deep team. Big defenders. (Their) defenders all move well. A lot of skill up front. So it was a tough matchup to play … (the matchup) in the regular season was tough. So yeah, it’s kind of what we expected. But we just have to find a way to keep pushing and unlock a little bit more.”
By inserting Landeskog higher up the line combos, Bednar thinks he might’ve found the key.
“So, a little bit quiet at the start of the series,” the coach said of Nelson. “But I thought he played a really good game at home (in Game 3).
“I think he comes back out and plays the way he did the other night at home, then that’s a pretty good game from him. Part of that line’s responsibility is to help produce, right?
“So as long as they’re getting those chances, that can be really helpful and beneficial to our team. But I’m pretty happy with the way they played Game 3. And hopefully they just ramp it up from there.”
