For myriad reasons stemming from long breaks to unfamiliar game plans, Game 1 is usually identified as the one the road team is best positioned to steal. The adage of “a series doesn’t begin until a home team loses a game” is generally true, and if the St. Louis Blues had pulled a win out of their hat last night, there would be immense pressure on the Colorado Avalanche today, as their recent years of second-round playoff failures would become the white-hot focus of this series. Instead, the Avalanche grinded a win out of a game they controlled from (near) start to finish, and today St.
Blues had to win that one, but Avalanche defense shut them down
