Hochman: Blues-Avs series will be fascinating because of the colliding styles

Now, the greatest matchups in sports are ones with collisions of styles — and, henceforth, some collisions.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the fast-breaking “Showtime” Lakers would face the “Bad Boys” from Detroit, who would punish anyone who pitter-pattered into the paint. In St. Louis, the “Greatest Show On Turf,” sorry to bring this up, ran into the Bill Belichick New England defense. In boxing, we’ve seen it often, famously with Muhammad Ali and, well, all the greats he fought, be it Joe Frazier, George Foreman or St. Louis’ Sonny Liston. And from a hockey standpoint, it’s harder to find two more contrasting styles than the blitzing offensive Avalanche of Colorado and the defensive-heavy Blues.

Well, in Game 1, the Lakers, Rams and Ali won. There were some collisions — fights and face-washes, too — but in the end, speed beat the Blues. But not just Colorado’s offensive speed — the defensive pressure and gap closures, too. The Blues’ defense was out-defended by its counterparts in burgundy and blue.

Quite simply, the Blues didn’t deserve to win this one. It was even a huge accomplishment just for them to get one goal.

“They were, by far, the better team tonight,” said Ryan O’Reilly, the Blues captain and former Avalanche player.

Oh, and it is hard to fathom just how much Colorado dominates the Blues on the power play. There’s good and then there’s great and then there’s this. In the regular season, the Avalanche scored on 13 of the 38 power plays against the Blues. This is something that will haunt the Blues in the series, and could be the reason the Blues are golfing in late May.