When the Avalanche fell behind 1-0 Tuesday night in the first period of Game 1 against the Blues, no one panicked.

It was only the second time this postseason the Avs had trailed their opponent, and it was the longest, as they were behind for 16 minutes and 49 seconds before Valeri Nichushkin tied the game in the second period.

Instead of altering their game plan, the Avalanche stayed even-keeled and continued their aggressive offensive play, eventually winning in overtime 3-2.

“That’s what’s one of my favorite things about (Tuesday) — after they scored that first goal, there was no change of the mentality on that bench,” said Josh Manson, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime. “It’s easy to get deflated when you get a bounce like that and you feel like you’re playing well. But there was a response right away, and I think that’s a good sign for a team.

“That’s a good team across the way there. They’ve got a lot of returning guys that have won. So they know how to win, so it’s easy to get deflated. But we found a way.”

The Avalanche dominated Game 1 in nearly every category, having more 29 more shots on goal (including a 13-0 advantage in overtime) and had 39 scoring chances to the Blues’ 11, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. Colorado also had five shots go off the post, including three in the first period.

Despite the game being close, it was clear the Avalanche were the better team Tuesday.

“Reality is that sometimes, you’re going to play really well and you feel like you deserve to win, but you don’t,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said after the game. “I thought we played a pretty good game, to be honest with you. At times maybe not as sharp with the puck.

But at the same time, I thought we worked really hard and guys were covering for one and another and we were taking care of the puck for the most part. When we didn’t, we got in trouble at times. That’s kind of the main message: Take care of the puck, and make them earn everything.”

From St. Louis’ perspective, forward Brayden Schenn said Wednesday, “I liked our goaltending — that’s about it.” After the first period, the Blues struggled to create scoring chances, but capitalized on the Avalanche’s mistakes, such as a poorly timed line change in the third period that led to an easy goal that sent the game to overtime.

And for the Avalanche, that could be their downfall. While they have the talent to win the series, and possibly reach the Stanley Cup Finals, they can’t allow teams to hang around like the Blues did Tuesday night. To advance this postseason, the Avalanche will need to put teams away when the opportunities present themselves.

Still, the Avalanche showed their ability in Game 1 and never wavered despite the puck not bouncing in their favor at times.

“I liked our game the whole night. I thought we were resilient,” coach Jared Bednar said. “We’ve talked to our team all year long about being resilient and being mentally tough, and we came out and got right back to our game.

“Our guys believed it, they worked hard for it, and I felt like they earned it. ... We got the job done (Tuesday) and now, it’s onto the next.”