Returning to the ice after 1,032 days — during the Stanley Cup playoffs — was already an upset for Gabriel Landeskog.
But looking that good after such a long layoff? That might have been the upset of the century.
It's too bad the rest of his teammates weren't as effective in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars. That's a story for another time and, with both teams having two days off prior to Game 4, that time will be 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
For now, let's break down Landeskog's strong Game 3 performance analyzing three facets of the game: defense, offense and his physicality, starting with the latter:
Physical side
During Landeskog's first conditioning game with the Colorado Eagles, it took him a few shifts before he was comfortable getting involved physically. It took him about 25 seconds against the Stars on Wednesday as he barreled through Mikko Rantanen on the captain's first shift.
The physicality didn't stop after one shift. Landeskog led the team with six hits and was extremely effective along the wall most of the game. Although they've never played together, there seemed to be immediate chemistry between Landeskog and Joel Kiviranta. One reason for that could be the fact both kept their games relatively simple. Their physicality disrupted the Stars breakout multiple times and allowed the cycle the puck down low.
As long as Landeskog made it out of the game OK, and Jared Bednar didn't seem worried about Landeskog's health Thursday, there may be some of the old Gabe still in there. He also seemed to be moving around just fine.
Defense
This is the aspect of Landeskog's game you could expect to still be there after a long layoff. The hockey IQ doesn't just go away, and that was on display immediately after he broke up a Stars pass on his first shift with a good stick.
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The defensive instincts were there all night, as Landeskog was comfortable when he ended up as the third forward on the forecheck, staying high and covering for pinching defenders. There were a few occasions where he was in good position to make sure the Stars weren't able to break away on any odd-man rushes.
For years he was MacKinnon's safety blanket, covering for the star forward if he wanted to take chances in the offensive zone. It might be too early to put them back together given Landeskog's conditioning probably isn't at that level, but he looked like someone Bednar again can trust in defensive situations.
Dallas registered only two shots on goal during Landeskog's 11 minutes, 31 seconds, of even-strength time-on ice and did not generate a single high-danger scoring chance.
Offense
This is where it would have been reasonable to expect some timing issues — early in the game there was. The good news is you could see the improvement as Game 3 advanced, as the Avalanche finished with nine scoring chances during his even-strength minutes.
On one of his first shifts, Landeskog waited a split-second too long to hit the point man with a pass, allowing the Stars defender to get a stick on the puck and deflect it out of the zone. In the second and third periods he was able to complete that same pass with ease.
Perhaps the greatest improvement from Landeskog was off the rush. There was a rush in the first period where Landeskog took an odd route with the puck that looked to mix up his teammates, and the Stars were able to defend it relatively easily. In the third, after some of the rust had shaken off, he made perhaps his most impressive offensive play of his return.
Carrying the puck down left side of the ice on a 3-on-2, Landeskog cut to the middle of the ice. Once he entered the zone, he slowed down a bit, drawing one of the defensemen to him. That also drew the eyes of a back-checking Stars forward, who drifted away from Brock Nelson towards Landeskog. The Swede ended up hitting Nelson on the backdoor for a quality scoring chance that Jake Oettinger swallowed. Although it was stopped, that improvement over just two periods is impressive.
How much of this performance had to do with adrenaline? We'll learn Saturday when he's back at it, but there was a lot to be encouraged by from Landeskog's Game 3 performance.
The performance of some other players? That was a little more concerning.
