Avalanche’s Persistent Forecheck Proving Troublesome for Quinn Hughes

Things are moving along just as expected for the Colorado Avalanche. A decisive Game 2 win moved the series to 2-0 in favor of the Avalanche as the series shifts back to St. Paul, MN, for Game 3. Add in a pair of trophy nominations for Gabriel Landskog and Brock Nelson, and things couldn’t be better for Colorado.

We knew one of the most important matchups coming into this series would be the battle between epic defensemen Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar. While both have had their successes, it is the struggles facing Hughes that have stood out most.

Hughes is a Driver for the Wild

To call Hughes an impactful player would be a massive understatement. Since being acquired in a midseason trade, Hughes has become arguably the most important player for the Wild. He eats nearly 30 minutes of ice time each night, drives the play forward, and contributes offensively at a high rate.

Simply put, Hughes makes the Wild go. When he struggles, the team struggles. Even though he was impressive offensively in Game 1 – a goal and two assists – the Wild have struggled overall and there’s a good reason for it.

Avalanche Creating Issues for Hughes

The Avalanche have been aggressively forechecking the Wild and it has been paying dividends. Watch either of the first two games and you will see a pattern when Hughes is in the Wild zone retrieving the puck.

The Avalanche have someone on his heels almost immediately, forcing faster decisions. Hughes is good enough that he can make the right play more often than not, but he has been pressured into a few iffy plays as well. Even making him somewhat human is a huge advantage in the Avalanche’s favor.

His three giveaways in Game 1 stand out as proof that the Avalanche’s gameplan is working. Keeping Hughes under pressure, feeling like he doesn’t have enough time to make a play, will drastically reduce his effectiveness over the course of a game.

Injuries Playing a Role for Minnesota

The Avalanche have been getting contributions from everyone, but another major factor hurting the Wild is their injury report. Though Joel Eriksson-Ek will return for Game 3, he missed the first two in Denver and it showed.

Jonas Brodin, an unheralded shutdown defender, has also been out of action. That means leading more heavily on Jake Middleton to play top four minutes, something that he may not be comfortable with for long stretches.

It will be interesting to see how the Wild respond with Eriksson-Ek back in the lineup and the series shifting back to their barn. If they can’t find a way to be more effective against the Avalanche forecheck, this won’t be a long series.

Make-or-Break Game 3

The Wild are going to be feeling the pressure in Game 3, which means the Avalanche can play their game. Even a somewhat close loss is nothing that the Avalanche will sweat given they took both games at home to start the series.

The Avalanche have put themselves in a position to put a stranglehold on what should be their toughest series. If they can make short work of the Wild, there really may be no stopping this run to the Cup.