Josh Manson plays mind games with Evander Kane

Josh Manson was acquired by the Colorado Avalanche to help the team go all the way. That’s what he intends to do even if that means going up against his father, Dave, the Edmonton Oilers’ assistant coach, during the NHL’s Western Conference final.

Manson prefers to focus on his physical game and pissing off Oilers forward Evander Kane.

During a hectic Game 1 between the two teams on Tuesday night, the Avs and Oilers combined for the second-most goals ever in a conference final game with 14 tallies, and the game also featured 83 shots.

Manson ended the contest with a single shot on goal and a minus -4 rating. He will need to do better, especially after NHL legend Wayne Gretzky called out the clubs’ lack of defense during the first contest of the series.

However, Manson did play mind games with Kane and fans and pundits were quickly to notice and applaud the defenseman’s antics on social media. He flicked his helmet close to his ear and skated away, acting like he was not the one to blame. Kane looked back, somewhat confused, and we love how Manson is trying to get under his skin. 

Kane did however finish Game 1 with a goal and an assists and five hits, which is three more than Manson.
The Avalanche’ blue liner will have to do more to get to Kane and we cannot wait to see what he has in store for him.

Manson joined the Avalanche from the Anaheim Ducks ahead of the NHL trade deadline and posted seven points in 22 regular-season games with Colorado to go along with one goal and four assists in 11 playoff contests this spring.

The NHL isn’t keeping track of his antics on Kane, but we sure will throughout this wild series.