GDT: COL @ LA *Cinema Edition* 9:30pm ET / 7:30pm MT

[the_fan]

Naaaaaa

Or history

Yeah I was just kidding. I'm sure not all Germans are grumpy.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

I'll take a game like this versus having to play come back. We were "dominated" but for the most part didn't make huge mistakes. Goaltending was solid but didn't need to be spectacular.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

I'm not super concerned about the metrics, visual evidence was more than enough. We looked extremely tired, maybe 50% effort level, very lazy on pucks, won little to no puck battles. It was truly a bad game by us.

That being said you are also correct in saying not every night is going to be a domination and you are going to throw out some bad games. Tonight and even last night were very much one of those nights.

Nice to get wins when you don't play well. But it doesn't excuse their beyond piss poor compete and effort levels the last 2 games.

Dude, it is still possible to give 100% effort and lose most battles. When playing 5 games in 7 nights you are just not gonna have the strength and stamina to win those battles. I think they worked very hard tonight but they just couldn't get to those lose pucks in time. Same on the boards...trying hard but not enough strength to win the battles. The 3rd period was played extremely well. They fought hard and limited them to only 7 shots. It was really a great game considering how tired they were.

 

[Avsavsavsavsavs]

A good team is a team that may play poorly on the end of a back to back, or have an off night but still find a way to win.

 

[Mooserton]

Dude, it is still possible to give 100% effort and lose most battles. When playing 5 games in 7 nights you are just not gonna have the strength and stamina to win those battles. I think they worked very hard tonight but they just couldn't get to those lose pucks in time. Same on the boards...trying hard but not enough strength to win the battles. The 3rd period was played extremely well. They fought hard and limited them to only 7 shots. It was really a great game considering how tired they were.

There was one instance where Kadri had a puck bounce near him with no one else close and he failed to get it and LA player skated in. On any other night that would not happen. They were clearly exhausted.

 

[Bront]

I'll take a game like this versus having to play come back. We were "dominated" but for the most part didn't make huge mistakes. Goaltending was solid but didn't need to be spectacular.

I swear this board is incapable of giving a goalie short of Patrick muhfvckin Roy any credit without adding some detractor at the end.

When you are almost getting doubled up in shots yet are leading by two the majority of the game the tendy deserves all the respect. Call it great, call it spectacular but it sure as hell is better than just “solid”.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

There was one instance where Kadri had a puck bounce near him with no one else close and he failed to get it and LA player skated in. On any other night that would not happen. They were clearly exhausted.

Yeah and just like your strength and stamina are not all there it is the same for mental mistakes. You try hard but your brain is not firing properly. There will obviously be physical lapses as well. It is just human nature.

 

[chet1926]

This excuse is they were tired, is kind of lame. Every team in the league is on a condensed schedule. Everyone in the league is tired and will become more tired as the season progresses. Due to scheduling. So being "tired" doesn't really mean much.

 

[Cake Malar]

This excuse is they were tired, is kind of lame. Every team in the league is on a condensed schedule. Everyone in the league is tired and will become more tired as the season progresses. Due to scheduling. So being "tired" doesn't really mean much.

But every team in the league also has games where they dont play well and they win. No team is going to win every game 4-0 while leading in all the shot metrics. You do this after damn near every game. It must be an exhausting way to watch hockey. The season is 82 games. Who gives a shit how the played in some random game in January if they still won.

 

[amigo]

Great effort from EJ.

 

[amigo]

Yikes, I could barely get through that movie once. Let alone four times.

Hah I loved it, Tim Roth was great, part with Banderas and kids was best obviously.

 

[Pokecheque]

I don't know who this person is but that a really odd take. Kings probably win that game 9 times out of 10. They flat out dominated us. They were just unlucky that Darcy played his best game as an Avalanche last night.

He is probably right in the sense of, in a 7 game series they aren't ready to play with the best teams but that doesn't mean they can't compete with top end teams on a night to night basis.

At the end of the day we are year 5 to 6 of a rebuild and have now established ourselves as one of the best in the league took 5 years to get to that point. It's going to take time for LA. I mean they are 1 year removed from being one of the worst teams in the league, and the #2 pick and another top 8 pick last season. Based on what I saw last night LA is trending the right way.

No, I don’t think they do win that 9 out of 10 times. Sometimes effort gets beat out by talent. In fact a LOT of times it does. The Kings have some impressive pieces but they’re not a contender. I’d even say they’re not close either. A resurgent year from Doughty and Quick is still not enough. They threw everything they had against a tired Avs squad and couldn’t crack them.

And I still think, despite the bad show in the first two periods, that it was impressive that they were still the better team in the third. Score effects usually go the other direction but they found enough fuel in the tank to hold the lead and actually take it to the Kings.

 

[Tralfamadore]

Put the boys in a cryogenic chamber. They're exhausted.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

This excuse is they were tired, is kind of lame. Every team in the league is on a condensed schedule. Everyone in the league is tired and will become more tired as the season progresses. Due to scheduling. So being "tired" doesn't really mean much.

It is still pretty rare you see 5 games in 7 nights even in a condensed schedule. It seems very hard for you to give them a break on an off-night.

 

[duckbear]

I think Kuemper plays better with high shot volume and when the opponent has time in our zone.

The games where the other teams have offensive zone time, Kuemper looks good to very good.
The games where we are crushing and he gets no or little action, he just looks shakey.

Good win overall in a back to back on the road.

 

[dahrougem2]

No, I don’t think they do win that 9 out of 10 times. Sometimes effort gets beat out by talent. In fact a LOT of times it does. The Kings have some impressive pieces but they’re not a contender. I’d even say they’re not close either. A resurgent year from Doughty and Quick is still not enough. They threw everything they had against a tired Avs squad and couldn’t crack them.

And I still think, despite the bad show in the first two periods, that it was impressive that they were still the better team in the third. Score effects usually go the other direction but they found enough fuel in the tank to hold the lead and actually take it to the Kings.

Not only take it to them - they completely stifled the Kings defensively. I haven't seen the Avs play like that defensively in years.

 

[chet1926]

No, I don’t think they do win that 9 out of 10 times. Sometimes effort gets beat out by talent. In fact a LOT of times it does. The Kings have some impressive pieces but they’re not a contender. I’d even say they’re not close either. A resurgent year from Doughty and Quick is still not enough. They threw everything they had against a tired Avs squad and couldn’t crack them.

And I still think, despite the bad show in the first two periods, that it was impressive that they were still the better team in the third. Score effects usually go the other direction but they found enough fuel in the tank to hold the lead and actually take it to the Kings.

If you take the burgundy colored glasses off for 1 second you'd see that was easily the worst game the Avs have played in quite some time. The only reason we won is because our goalie was white hot and saved 40 out of 41, no one else even played a remotely competent game.

LA wins that game 9 times out 10 times without question. It was an insanely bad game by us for 2 periods, then we turned it up a bit in the 3rd to get it done, which is what good teams do, smell blood and go in for the kill. So good on us for taking advantage of a situation that we didn't really deserve.

But we were extremely fortunate to be leading going into the 3rd. Had we been down, which sans Darcy last night was much more likely when you get out shot like 35-15 through 2 periods. I can almost guarantee we'd had little to no push in the 3rd and probably lose.

And no talent doesn't just beat effort, it can to an extent where a good team plays an ok game and a bad/average team plays well and the good team just has more skill. But when a good team plays piss poor and a average team plays really well, more often than not the average team who plays well, will beat a good team playing like dog shit. This is the NHL all teams are good enough to win games especially when one of them is playing awful hockey.

That being said my point wasn't that LA is a contender, they aren't there yet, but there is no reason they can't compete with the best on a night to night basis. I just thought the guys comment was strange after a fluke of a game, where LA was significantly better than us.

 

[chet1926]

It is still pretty rare you see 5 games in 7 nights even in a condensed schedule. It seems very hard for you to give them a break on an off-night.

I'm fine with an off night, that's no big deal. When I watch 2 games in a row where they barely looked like they gave a shit that's frustrating. Very easily could have walked out of the road trip with 0 pts. Both games were garbage effort, with very strong goaltending that bailed us out.

Wins cover up issues. On the surface 2 wins is awesome and at the end of the day that's all that matters. But realistically I'd hope that Bednar and the team realize that the quality of our overall play the last 2 was pretty awful and we were super fortunate.

 

[Turbonium]

I swear this board is incapable of giving a goalie short of Patrick muhfvckin Roy any credit without adding some detractor at the end.

When you are almost getting doubled up in shots yet are leading by two the majority of the game the tendy deserves all the respect. Call it great, call it spectacular but it sure as hell is better than just “solid”.

Yes, this.

The Kings had several great chances, especially in the first two periods, and Kuemper was brilliant.

 

[Pokecheque]

If you take the burgundy colored glasses off for 1 second you'd see that was easily the worst game the Avs have played in quite some time. The only reason we won is because our goalie was white hot and saved 40 out of 41, no one else even played a remotely competent game.

LA wins that game 9 times out 10 times without question. It was an insanely bad game by us for 2 periods, then we turned it up a bit in the 3rd to get it done, which is what good teams do, smell blood and go in for the kill. So good on us for taking advantage of a situation that we didn't really deserve.

But we were extremely fortunate to be leading going into the 3rd. Had we been down, which sans Darcy last night was much more likely when you get out shot like 35-15 through 2 periods. I can almost guarantee we'd had little to no push in the 3rd and probably lose.

And no talent doesn't just beat effort, it can to an extent where a good team plays an ok game and a bad/average team plays well and the good team just has more skill. But when a good team plays piss poor and a average team plays really well, more often than not the average team who plays well, will beat a good team playing like dog shit. This is the NHL all teams are good enough to win games especially when one of them is playing awful hockey.

That being said my point wasn't that LA is a contender, they aren't there yet, but there is no reason they can't compete with the best on a night to night basis. I just thought the guys comment was strange after a fluke of a game, where LA was significantly better than us.

Burgundy-colored glasses...as if you don't wear them yourself.

I'm not here to say they didn't get a little lucky, but to me that was the difference between a rebuilding team and contender. I don't want to see that kind of effort in the next game, but I understand why they looked so bad. No team, no matter how good, is going to play 82 masterpieces. There's going to be a turd here and there.

And I never said talent beats effort every time, obviously that's not true...just saying it can and it does. I'm just glad to be on the other end of one of those games where one team had a much better effort, but the other team took full advantage of the few mistakes that were made and capitalized.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

and what you are again ignoring is that the first of those two games you are complaining about was still a 4th game in 6 nights which is still very demanding physically. Watching 4 games in 6 nights from your couch is not very tiring...You should try playing them...much, much, much more demanding physically AND mentally.

Edit: To clarify, that was in reply to chet.

 

[Pokecheque]

About the only thing Kuemper did last night that made me yell at the screen was when he misplayed a weak, bad-angled shot from Lemieux really early in the game. He angled his stick wrong and it ramped into the air, and he bobbled it all the way across the crease. Other than that minor flub, I thought he was pretty brilliant. I'm not expecting him to suddenly have Roy-level rebound control, but just stick to the basics, steer rebounds out of trouble, and don't get scrambly in the crease. He did none of those things last night.

 

[AvsFan29]

This excuse is they were tired, is kind of lame. Every team in the league is on a condensed schedule. Everyone in the league is tired and will become more tired as the season progresses. Due to scheduling. So being "tired" doesn't really mean much.

Do other teams win every night? Or do they take nights off and lose? We win

 

[Pokecheque]

Everyone, just let Chet throw his fit.

 

[The Kingslayer]

About the only thing Kuemper did last night that made me yell at the screen was when he misplayed a weak, bad-angled shot from Lemieux really early in the game. He angled his stick wrong and it ramped into the air, and he bobbled it all the way across the crease. Other than that minor flub, I thought he was pretty brilliant. I'm not expecting him to suddenly have Roy-level rebound control, but just stick to the basics, steer rebounds out of trouble, and don't get scrambly in the crease. He did none of those things last night.

One other minor gripe is he has to glove that Doughty shot on the PK. Lead to a rebound and the only Kings goal. I wasn't as upset seeing it was Kopitar who scored but you just have to glove that. So many times this season Avs goalie fail to glove a shot and it leads to all kinds of problems that wouldn't be problems if they just catch the puck. Beyond that Kuemper was lights out.