10-30-2018, 07:49 AM
DENVER (AP) There were moments in such a sour season a year ago when Gabriel Landeskog doubted himself as a player. It just wore on him that much.Never once did he ever question this: His ability to lead the Colorado Avalanche.The longtime captain who’s still just 25 galvanized a youthful squad this season through dinners Jack Johnson Jersey , pingpong games, stepping into the role of mentor, assisting on one of the best lines in hockey, getting feedback from fellow veterans and even being a tour guide. His teammates have followed Landeskog’s lead straight into the postseason.”Sometimes, you can doubt the things you’re doing as a captain or if you’re doing it right, but never if I wanted to be a captain,” explained Landeskog, whose team opens the first round Thursday night in Nashville against the top-seeded Predators. ”That’s an honor. That’s a privilege.”Naturally, there have been growing pains along the way for Landeskog, who was appointed captain on Sept. 4, 2012, at the tender age of 19 years, 286 days.But last season took a toll on him and everyone else. The team had a league-worst 48 points in 2016-17 – the lowest in a full season since 1999-2000, when the expansion Atlanta Thrashers had 39.”When it’s going that bad, when you’re that bad of a team, no doubt you start doubting yourself, as a player and as a person,” said Landeskog, a Swedish winger who was drafted by Colorado with the second overall pick in 2011. ”At the end of the day, you have to believe in yourself and find that inner confidence and believe that you can do it and you are good and that you are doing the right things and stick with it.”It set the stage for a major turnaround. Their 47-point improvement this season is the tied for the fourth-highest year-to-year improvement in NHL history for a full season.”I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a group with such team chemistry,” said Landeskog, who helped seal the playoff appearance with a goal and two assists in a 5-2 win over St. Louis last weekend during a winner-take-all, regular-season finale.That chemistry began in training camp. It escalated even more nearly 5,000 miles away in Stockholm, Landeskog’s hometown. Colorado took a trip there in November to play two games against Ottawa. Right before that, the Avs made a three-team trade that sent Matt Duchene to the Senators and got them such players as defenseman Samuel Girard from Nashville in return.While in Sweden, Landeskog became a tour guide. He set up museum excursions and organized dinners at his favorite spots. Although the Avalanche dropped both games, they found something greater – cohesion.”We really came together as a team Womens Josh Anderson Jersey ,” Landeskog said. ”There’s something about spending five or six days with the team and nobody has family or friends or other obligations. It’s just team, team, team and that’s it.”Team dinners on the road have been frequent. Pingpong games began happening (Landeskog keeps a paddle with a picture of himself taped on it in his locker). And lines of communication that have always been open are even more open.”He’s very selfless. He doesn’t care about his own personal numbers,” standout Nathan MacKinnon said. ”He’s definitely the perfect captain for this team.”He’s just trying to be his even-keeled self.”I have a support staff – my fiance, my dad and my family and things like that to support me and try to bring me up when I’m down,” Landeskog said. ”It’s just something that’s always been engrained, to keep working and keep doing the right things, keep being a good teammate, to be a good example for other guys, and guys will follow.”He’s had a solid season with 25 goals and 37 assists. Then again, it doesn’t hurt to play on a line that includes MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.”He leads the way on the ice and rarely does any mistakes,” Rantanen said. ”The way he speaks to the team is so calm. He’s a role model for young guys.”Landeskog already is in full playoff mode with his beard game. He started growing it months ago, with the Avalanche trying to claw their way into the postseason. It’s a contrast to, say, defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who hardly even has a whisker.”Zadorov brought me over close to him before practice and was like, `Look I got some (whiskers). I got some,”’ Landeskog recounted. ”I walked up there close to him, and there wasn’t a whole lot to brag about.”A light-hearted mood – that’s where the team is at heading into a playoff series as a decided underdog.”Standing here after a season like this, I think you can look around the room and say everybody had a bounce-back season,” Landeskog said. ”Ultimately, everybody in this room helped this team get to the playoffs.”— NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Injuries left the Avalanche playing their backup to the backup goaltender while needing a victory to stave off elimination.The goalie nicknamed the ”Hamburglar” came through.Andrew Hammond made a career-high 44 saves for his first postseason victory, and Colorado rallied to beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 on Friday night and sent the first-round series back to Denver for Game 6.”Obviously, it was a lot of fun,” said Hammond, who was mobbed in the locker room. ”We’re excited to have another game. We didn’t want this to be the last one of the season, and I think to a man Adam Henrique Jersey, we all did whatever we could to make sure that wasn’t the case.”This is the third time the Avalanche had trailed 3-1 in a series since moving to Colorado. They lost the first two but have a chance Sunday to push the defending Western Conference champs to a seventh game after rallying with two goals in the final 4:11.They also became the first to win a playoff game in regulation when trailing in the final 5:00 of the third since Chicago won at Boston in Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final.Gabriel Landeskog started the rally with his goal into an empty net with Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne caught outside the crease with his own teammate Ryan Ellis in his lap. Then Sven Andrighetto gave the Avs the lead off a rebound of a shot by J.T. Compher with 1:28 left that stunned a sold-out Nashville crowd that had expected to celebrate advancing to the second round.”We’ve got a series again going home, and it’s going to be exciting,” Landeskog said. ”As we talked about before tonight, just to win one. We don’t have to win three in one night.”This was not only Hammond’s first playoff victory, it was his first postseason start since April 17, 2015, with Ottawa and just the third of his career. He started only one game during the regular season after being traded to Colorado in November.”You never know when you’re going to get a second chance,” Hammond said. ”I’ve played two games basically since the start of January – at times it felt as though that day would never come again when you’re going to play again. You keep battling in practice, you stick to the process, when you get your chance, you’re ready.”Colorado coach Jared Bednar said he loved Hammond’s demeanor since learning he would be starting.”He’s waited a long time this year for this opportunity, and he’s making the most of it,” Bednar said.The series winner will face Winnipeg in the second round.Nick Bonino scored for Nashville.This game was scoreless until Bonino’s goal with 9:42 left, a big change for a series that had been the highest-scoring of the first round averaging 7.25 goals per game coming into Game 5.The Predators peppered Hammond, and the only time Nashville beat him was when Mattias Ekholm’s shot bounced off his left pad and went in off Bonino’s right skate. The official on the spot immediately waved it off. Officials huddled, then reviewed the play.During the review, fans sang ”Let It Be” while holding up their cellphones with the flash on. Referee Kevin Pollock announced the call on the ice had been overturned , starting a long-awaited celebration.The lead didn’t last long as the Avs rallied.”It’s not like we didn’t have opportunities,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. ”They did a pretty good job in front of him. We had lots of looks, lots of opportunities. We couldn’t get in.”The Avalanche came into the postseason with goalie Semyon Varlamov and defenseman Erik Johnson sidelined by knee injuries, then defenseman Samuel Girard missed three games with his own upper-body injury before Jonathan Bernier, Varlamov’s backup, suffered his own lower-body injury. That pushed the Hamburglar into the net.The Predators started and ended the second period on the power play but couldn’t beat Hammond. Their best scoring chance came with a 4-on-2, but Hammond stopped Roman Josi’s shot and then handled Calle Jarnkrok’s attempt off the rebound at 12:36. Hammond also made a big pad save on Ellis’ slap shot and then stopped another Josi shot late in the period.NOTES: The Avalanche snapped a seven-game skid in Nashville with the win. They ended a 12-game skid to the Preds overall in Game 3. … Nashville had been perfect last postseason with a chance to clinch a series on its own ice, winning all three series to reach the Stanley Cup Final. … Predators forward Ryan Hartman sat out his suspension for a hit on Carl Soderberg in Game 4.UP NEXTGame 6 in Denver on Sunday night.—