Post-Game Talk: Game 2 | Stars @ Avs | Salvation Achieved

[IndustryLeech]

Last night's game was the salve I needed after that horrible Minnesota game. That game felt like a gut punch. I thought we finally had shaken the Wild mojo...and then utter sadness.

I will echo other's thoughts on team unity. I have missed guys sticking up for each other. The last few years have been hard to watch, with the low point probably being that game against the Bruins when Lucic tried to pick a fight with Landy and there was zero response from teammates.

 

[lonelybadger]

Watching cormeau punch roussel in the face in the scrum by the net even had my wife laughing.

I loved the game as a whole for the avs. Started shakey but unlike last year (and much more like 2 seasons ago) they never gave up and kept skating. Obviously they cannot keep their ridiculous pp numbers up but with MacKinnon running the pp like he has been they will be much more successful than last season.

I will officially stow my #fireroy hashtag for now, especially after he moved zadorov up with Barrie and stopped throwing Barrie against the seguin-benn line.

I hope he continues keeping guenin away from Barrie, gives gormley a shot and moves rantanen to Duchenes rw.

 

[klozge]

Watching cormeau punch roussel in the face in the scrum by the net even had my wife laughing.

I loved the game as a whole for the avs. Started shakey but unlike last year (and much more like 2 seasons ago) they never gave up and kept skating. Obviously they cannot keep their ridiculous pp numbers up but with MacKinnon running the pp like he has been they will be much more successful than last season.

I will officially stow my #fireroy hashtag for now, especially after he moved zadorov up with Barrie and stopped throwing Barrie against the seguin-benn line.

I hope he continues keeping guenin away from Barrie, gkves gormley a shot and moves rantanen to Duchenes rw.

I hope that, too. Seems so obvious.

 

[Drury_Sakic]

Holden has had some moments of decent play. Guenin has been terrible all along.

I might have missed it, but is Stuart hurt? He and Holden formed a decent pair at the end of last season and I would much rather see him in the lineup versus Guenin.

I love the fire from the roster early, but Lando DOES need to control it just a little bit. His passion cost the Avs the game against the Wild, as he let his dislike of Parise get the better of him, and Parise made him pay.

 

[Metallo]

i track and tracked them. plan on tracking for the whole season and did so last year until about february when i got tired of it.

Great stuff. Maybe you should make a thread to share the data.

 

[Freudian]

I don't mind Landeskog being physical early in the season. He's bringing the others into battle with him.

In the long run, of course he won't be able to hit like he's doing now. Takes too much of a toll on the body.

 

[hoserthehorrible]

Lot's of positives from the game last night...

Beuchamin and Johnson looked great together. They are looking like the best D pairing since Bourque was here. And, they got more ice time than the two stooges.

Landeskog looked great. He's hitting everything in sight, dishing the puck nicely, and scoring goals.

MacKinnon looked great. He's a lot stronger on the puck this year and is looking like a man amongst boys. He was also on the plus side on faceoffs.

Zadarov looked very good; specially after he was paired with Barrie. He was hitting, making good passes, and using his reach to shut down the opponent. A sample of great things to come from him I think.

The fourth line was dominant again. If they can continue what they're doing they'll be a big asset this season.

Iginla starting fast? Wait, what ?!?

Comeau and Skille are excellent additions to the team.

After not tracking his man on the first goal Rantanen looked a bit more comfortable and made a couple nice plays. He's green as hell but you can see he's going to be good.

Powerplay clicked again; yahoo!

PK was solid.


A few negatives too unfortunately...

The two stooges, Holden and Guenin, are simply brutal. They have no business being in the lineup and they are marginal nacho eaters in the press box at best. At least their ice time was cut and they only polluted one of three pairing for most of the game.

Duchene was pretty bad again. Horrible on faceoffs and not a factor in the game.

Soderberg looked a little better and did decent on the PK but his faceoffs were poor.



After the first two games the Avs look fast and they're a lot more physical this year than in year's past. They have a shut down D-pair that is good offensively and their fourth line could be their best 4th line in a long, long, long time. Soderberg is nowhere near a replacement for O'Reilly but Beachamin, Zadarov, Comeau, and Skille are excellent additions so far and add a lot to the team. The PP is clicking and Iginla is off to a fast start. Rantanen and Zadarov have some growing to do, their game not their height, but they look to be great long term additions.

On the flip side it's clear, yeah like it wasn't already, that the two stooges should not be playing. They are simply brutal defenseman at the NHL level. Duchene needs to stop thinking and start playing a simpler and more aggressive game and both Duchene and Soderberg need to work on their faceoffs.

That is all.

 

[Freudian]

Credit where it's due, this was a great hit by Holden.

 

[hoserthehorrible]

Credit where it's due, this was a great hit by Holden.

Agree 100%. Nice hit by Holden.

The problem is that Holden will make nice hit or score a nice goal every once in a while and it gets him more top two pairing ice time for a quite a while. Then he loses his man in front, he makes bad passes, he gets beat time after time on the dump in, and he pretty much plays like garbage for the majority of the time. Just when it looks like he might be in the press box he'll make another nice play or two, or play a good game, and it'll get him back in good graces with the coaching staff.

I think Holden is better than Guenin however Holden should be a #7 Dman and when he does play he should be limited to less than 15 minutes of ice time.

 

[The Merchant]

It's hilarious in the Stars GDT that they are belly-aching about losing to such a ****** team yet they had TWO more points than us last season and over the last two seasons we have 214 points versus their 183. They are really drinking the off-season kool-aid...I missed when they suddenly got to be such a superior team. They'll be solid like the rest of the Central but Sharp is in steep decline, Spezza is completely one-dimensional, their depth after their big guns looks like nothing special, they've got a stud in Klingberg but still an overall mediocre defense and two "meh" aging goalies in Niemi and Lehtonen.

They're just mad that the Avs are now 10-0-1 against them. The Avs are simply the better team.

 

[AvsRobin]

Landeskog and Iginla have five goals in five shots so far. lol.

 

[22FUTON9]

They're just mad that the Avs are now 10-0-1 against them. The Avs are simply the better team.

To be honest it was only one guy.

 

[Tralfamadore]

Landeskog and Iginla have five goals in five shots so far. lol.

Unsustainable. Coming back down to earth any minute now.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Beauch 4 Norris

 

[kchan9]

I liked how McLeod effed up Roussel. I remember the gif from last yr when McLeod was mocking Rousell by calling him a cry baby. That ******* deserves a beating!

 

[Freudian]

Avs have been lacking players with natural aggression the last few years. As good players O'Reilly and Stastny are they don't push back. It's pretty much only been McLeod, Landeskog, EJ and I guess Bordeleau with natural aggression. Iginla with some dormant aggression, but he can't be running around at this point in his career.

Comeau and Zadorov are in your face players and Skille is more hard working than pure agression. Beauchemin is one of those calm, quiet guys you don't want to get angry. Ask Iginla.

I think having more aggressive players around will help McLeod the most since the last few years he's been trying to do way too much and it almost looked chaotic at times. If he just can focus on skating, hitting and fighting from time to time I think he'll look better. When he feels he has to start fights all the time for momentum reasons because the team doesn't push back, he takes himself out of the game more than anyone else on the ice and he becomes a liability.

 

[hawk30]

I think having more aggressive players around will help McLeod the most since the last few years he's been trying to do way too much and it almost looked chaotic at times. If he just can focus on skating, hitting and fighting from time to time I think he'll look better. When he feels he has to start fights all the time for momentum reasons because the team doesn't push back, he takes himself out of the game more than anyone else on the ice and he becomes a liability.

This is a great point. I always thought the same dynamic was in play when Bordeleau was in the lineup.

 

[StayAtHomeAv]

I think Blake Comeau is turning into my favourite player. Seeing him and Jack Skille provide endless energy is a huge difference especially compared to the last few seasons where he haven't really had those type of guys.

Me too. I love what those two are bringing to the table.

 

[Avs_19]

Forgot to give the 4th line some props in my post late last night. They were great again. There were so many shifts with sustained pressure in the offensive zone. The scoring is nice and always welcome too.

 

[Tweaky]

Watching the game now. Just because I think highly of my own opinions, and feel that you all should be graced by them, I will type comments as I think of them, and not edit...just as if I was watching the game live, but obviously with knowing the Avs win. And it is the FSSW feed, so I still have nto getting to hear the golden tones of Haynes or McNab's intriguing stories.

So far through the first period.

Sad defensive breakdown leads to Stars goal. Rantanen got out-skated, and both D were doing .... something?

McLeod wins a fight, bet some fans are surprised, despite his 9-6-4 record last year. This is what makes him an acceptable 4th liner (not ever any higher if at all possible).

Nice goal by MacK off an amazing pass from who else...Tangs. But WTF with the what-what crap after the scoring announcement. Is that new, or have I been successfully blocking it up until now?

Another bad D play all around on Eakins goal. Why are EJ and Beauchemin not out there against Seguin? Blame Guenin with an assist to Farrish.

Nice hit by Holden. Does not make up for 7 minutes of heav...no wait, failure, so far this game.

Overall first period...good jump, bad D, need to get the puck out, too much dump and "chase," Duchene could be better, but not the hole in the ice he was last game. Soderberg ditto. Landy seems to be trying, but not there yet. Mack is flying, maybe feet too fast for hands...but he scored, so what the hell do I know. Varly still looks a bit shaky: not quite square, losing his posts, fighting the puck, not seeing through traffic...none of them all the time, but more often than I like to see.

Now to watch the second.

As soon as Been goes to the box, he breaks his own stick. He gets a new one, but I think he should have to wait until the penalty is over, and skate to the bench to get one (or change). It would be one thing if it broke during play...but to intentionally break a stick and waste time having a ref/linesman get you a new one is odd to me. Not a big deal though.

Seeing some Viking mode from Landy. Hope it helps, not hurts, 'cause I like it. Even though it was on my boy Johnny.

Hell of a shot by Eakins for his 2nd goal. Was a PK, things maybe could have been better, but not worth whinging about.

MacPing on the PP.

Cannon from EJ...love it.

Zads/Barrie paired together...good. Guenin/Holden...not so good.

So the powerplay is looking fair to middling Pretty give and go with between Captain and Gordie.

The won the period, but still some issues...but they all seem to be concentrated in one pairing now...but I saw that pairing out against Seguin


On to the third...

Mitchell ping...

Good work by Barrie to deny Fiddler a chance.

4th line goal...hard work pays off. Like the way that line operates.

Boom, El Capitan from Old Guy Number Two.

Good play by Zads on Hemsky.

Nice power move by Landy. Good keep by Holden and pass by MacK as well.

Comeau may get a call from DoPS. Janmark needs to not poke the Peacock. Nice to see some fire from the guys, though.


Overall, good win. Want to see more from Duchene, but as long as they win, he does not have to pressure himself so much, so it should come. Would like to see more of Rantanen and Rendulic...but not sure who to take minutes from. Would also like to see Stuart and Gormley next game...but Roy wont change anything after a win.

The Avs currently have 3 guys tied for second in the league in scoring. One of them should be our 3rd scoring D. None of them are our #1 center, who is pointless...but not gonna bash him today.

Now I will skim the GDT and PGT to see what everyone else thought. Especially looking forward to the sky falling portions when they were down 3-1. One of the advantages of living 12 hours out...I wake up to final scores most days.

 

[the_fan]

Hopefully Roy doesn't go crazy and puts Guenin with Barrie again next game. I don't really care if Guenin or Holden play as long as they are on the 3rd pairing, keep Zadorov with Barrie please

 

[avs1dacup]

Hopefully Roy doesn't go crazy and puts Guenin with Barrie again next game. I don't really care if Guenin or Holden play as long as they are on the 3rd pairing, keep Zadorov with Barrie please

His post game comments about the d change hints that it might stay that way. Hopefully.

 

[Avs_19]

Unfortunately, it those post-game comments, Roy also said he likes the Holden-Guenin pairing. That's going to be a problem.

 

[ghostofweezman]

Wednesday feels like a long way away.

 

[Avsboy]

The Huenin pairing gets Hemmed In