Davos' Playoffs Journey

[StamkosFan 72]

After a long-standing playoff drought, the HC Davos Dynamo found it within themselves to overcome the stigma of their past and advance to round 2. But not only did they advance; they advanced in commanding fashion, dominating a long-time top contender in the Riga Reign. Davos came away with a 4-0 sweep, but in order to pull that off, it required some heroics in game 3, where they edged Riga in OT 3-2. Katie Warren scored their first goal of the playoffs to win the game, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The first two games in the series were comfortable wins, with Davos winning 3-1 in Game 1 and 4-1 in Game 2; Riga's offensive efforts were meager at best. Davos finished it off with a 2-0 shut out win in Game 4 to put an exclamation point on what was an excellent performance from their entire crew. The defense was lights out in the series, and the offense didn't miss any golden opportunities to bury the puck. That was the difference in the series: execution. Davos executed their plan to perfection and Riga didn't have an answer for it. The players were elated coming off of the victory during their talks with the media before round 2, and seemed ready to tackle whatever opponent they would face next.

 

The Helsinki Titans, however, presented much more of a challenge in round 2 and would not be walked over; things right now look quite grim for Davos' Cup hopes, with the Dynamo trailing 3-1 in the series. It's quite a wide margin to trail by in this sort of series, and it got to this point by a series of mishaps out on the ice. They lost game 1 4-2 and game 2 4-3; allowing that many goals is devastating against such a ferocious opponent. Davos did get one win by smothering Helsinki's offense in game 3, earning a 3-1 win. But Helsinki extended their lead and forced Davos to the brink of elimination with a crushing 4-2 victory; again, allowing 4 goals proved to be too much to give Davos a chance to win. Now, Davos must win Game 5 to stay alive, but things aren't looking bright; they'll need more out of their goaltender. Finn Davison needs to play like he did during the Riga series and their game 3 victory for Davos to have a chance at pulling off a comeback. At the least, at least Davos won't have been swept in the way Riga was, because that would be an embarrassment for the players who have been suffering a long time to get this chance; they don't need their morale crushed that way. It's not over yet, but it's looking like Davos will need a miracle to just even up the series, let alone emerge the victory. Whatever the case, Davos will be looking for someone to play the hero in game 5 and the players should be playing as if they have nothing to lose.