ahmon said:
Once you get into the playoffs its all about which team can swing momentum.
I thought the 5-3 was a weak call, but even after Avs scored, its 3-2 for the Canucks.
Why can't the canucks use that weak call as motivation to swing momentum back and play pissed off and forecheck the Avs? Instead you have the AVs line that has been running around all game, with cheap shots in Colton, Wood and you allow them to score? thats weak.
This team is not winning the cup - let's be real. This team doesn't know how to swing momentum and the PP which are our top players lack killer instinct.
Hope to win a round and learn and continue to add in the offseason. And if Allvin re-signs Lindholm to double down on his mistake, we are screwed.
I wanted to give credit to the post above from ahmon: It's scathing, and I'm not sure it's fair to damn them to be a loser, but it calls out the right thing:
1. This game was lost because the Canucks' top players couldn't wrest control back from the Avs' top players.
2. What a great point about the PP mimicking the same issue at ES: The top players are again the issue there too. Somebody has to lead it forward.
3. Which reminds me, Garland needs to be off the PP. COL didn't care about him being there. He was ignored. Retrievals are not more important than skill. Put Lindholm out there.
4. You must forecheck the Avs, period. In order to do that, you have to want the puck. The Canucks played scared after the successive shifts the Avs strung together in the late second. They then turtled.
5. For the first 35 min, the Canucks were full value. However, there was a point in the 2nd where COL chained 4-5 shifts together, and I believe Mackinnon's line alternated with Colton's line for three of them and then the Mittelstadt followed it up. That right there had the Canucks reeling. They never recovered.
It wasn't the bad calls (terrible non-call on Manson). It was the momentum changers on this team not pushing at the right time.
Mackinnon gives me Jordan vibes. He's got an impossible will to win and will drag his team forward. He's also got a gear most can't match. Great, great player.
Every team loses. This one stings, but every team has a few losses like this. I'm just looking for command from this team's top players. The tell tale sign will be the PP. They have to get it going and make it a weapon again. Gain confidence, then go from there.