GDT: Game 23, November 23: Avs vs Leafs | 5 PM MT | Hey Man, Nice Shot

[Avsboy]

Leaf fan just coming with some observations.

Nate MacKinnon has taken over the league. Man is clear cut 2nd best player in the league. His skating, hands, shot and vision are up there with anyone playing today.

Kadri was great. Had 2 assists and like 3 posts. Love the guy one of the harder workers you'll see who'll play a tougher game to protect the younger guys.

Makar is a dynamic player. Elite offensive abilities along with good enough defense. The puck was on a string for him tonight.

Avalanche have a very strong team. Offense-defense are top notch. Goaltending seemed a bit weak from the starter but probably an off game.

We are happy Barrie is starting to work out for you guys.

 

[CB Joe]

Tyson is gonna get paid. $10m, at least.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

So... it’s becoming more clear with each passing game that Makar is carrying this defence. It’s almost like the rest of the D have become reliant on him.

What we need most of all is for Girard to start playing better in his own zone. We’ve seen him do it, but just not a lot this year.

I think we can get by with EJ, Graves and Zadorov, but Cole might have to go.

It kind of hurts to say it, because I actually like the guy. But I think he’s finished. He hurts the team so often when he’s out on the ice.

 

[crue7]

Tyson is gonna get paid. $10m, at least.

Ya, Jost is gonna pet paid 10 million in Monopoly dollars.

 

[Hornstar]

One thing that stood out to me tonight was on our pp, they were cheating to Mack's side hard. They didn't respect the right side with bura there. Even after he scored they still wouldn't get off Mack. I think once rants is back, this opens up Mack and Cale to do what they do. Kadris penalty in the 3rd crushed us. We had all the momentum and were gonna score again. He threw us in a hole on that stupid play

 

[Alex Jones]

So... it’s becoming more clear with each passing game that Makar is carrying this defence. It’s almost like the rest of the D have become reliant on him.

What we need most of all is for Girard to start playing better in his own zone. We’ve seen him do it, but just not a lot this year.

I think we can get by with EJ, Graves and Zadorov, but Cole might have to go.

It kind of hurts to say it, because I actually like the guy. But I think he’s finished. He hurts the team so often when he’s out on the ice.

Graves is the worst, he should be the one out.

 

[UncleRisto]

Well, Nichushkin scored and the credit is mine alone for believing in him.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

This team really, really needs an upgrade on Graves.


Seriously, give Rosen or Timmins a shot. Especially if we are going to give Zads/Makar a real shot as a pairing.

Zadorov - Makar
Girard - EJ
Rosen/Timmins - Cole


As it is now Cole and Graves are just a disaster. Ultimately a lot of tonights blame can be put on those two as it was that pairing that gave up the breakaway goal to Kapanen off an awful pinch that ultimately was the GWG.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

First time seeing this team live in 3 years.

Mackinnon. Lol. He just has a gear nobody else has. His separation ability is insane to watch.

Kadri was the next best player imo. Dumb penalty but he was a force all game long.

Makar was quiet in transition which was a little disappointing. Was hoping for him to show that rushing ability for me. He was however an absolute beast walking the blue line. He controlled the play more than anyone in the offensive zone. Never seemed to leave the ice either.

Gru looked bad, Frankie looked great. Fans were chanting “Gru” still in the third which I found funny. A lot of people had no idea of the change.

Donskoi and Burkie were both fantastic. Nuke as well. I’m taking credit for his goal because of my presence.

the final few minutes were the most exciting of my life. Sucks that we didn’t get a win but holy domination. The can was absolutely rocking. How they didn’t tie it up was beyond me but that was a whole lot of fun.

edit: also I love you tboobs. So cool to be there to honor him in his return.

 

[The Kingslayer]

We better be ready to play the Oilers they look fantastic tonight.

 

[S E P H]

So was at game,

- First period was a **** show after MacKinnon's goal. I thought we would build on that, but Leafs have talent, can skate, and that combination made major problems for the Avs. They spent more time defending due to not having the skating legs and that took away from their forecheque which was fantastic all night long...when they got to do it.

- However, that doesn't excuse Avs brain-dead decisions which went rampant in that first period. So many lost coverages'. Nieto was terrible, Nich was terrible, and Burakovsky all lost important defensive battles which lead to goals or penalties which indirectly lead to goals. Burakovsky is a player who rips your hair out if you're a coach, he lost like 98% of any one-on-one battle he found himself in, but you want to play him because his raw talent is very impressive.

- Goals were clearly not Grubauer's fault, but you gotta make a big save on one of them. I thought the breakaway was very stoppable alongside the goal which went under his armpit. Now I am not saying he should've stopped both, but at least one. Francouz was effin' fantastic coming on, which was a good sign in itself.

- Avs dominated the ending sequence, but everyone was so reluctant to shoot and that looks like a problem. It's not just defenders, but Makar could've had like three prime scoring chances which he decided to differ to either Burakovsky or MacKinnon. Mack had that prime scoring chance and it sucks that he whiffed it at the worst possible timing, essentially the game was lost after that.

- I am not a Graves hater, but I get why you lot bash him here on a daily basis. He has NHL calibre everything except decision making and even though he's with us I can't see him being a long-time NHLer. I mean I hope the best for him, but he constantly puck-watches and goes out of position. Actually, Avs have three primary puck-watchers on defence and it most definitely is not good in Zadorov, Cole, and Graves. Half of your defensive core, instead of reading a potential play and dropping back in case, they make a pass and just watch the puck carrier putting themselves in no-man's land. That's how Graves allowed the breakaway.

- I was very impressed by Kapanen, he might not be a perfect piece back from the Kessel trade, but he has a lot more talent than what the average hockey fan gives him credit for. On the other hand, I wasn't very impressed by Tavares or Matthews. I mean you can see their talent, but I think their games get limited by the physical elements.

- I get it that the Avs had two penalties to Torona's four, but let me say that the Leafs could've had at least three more. There was a holding the stick on Burakovsky during a prime scoring chance, there was an interference on Kadri, and an elbow on another Avs player. Pretty terrible reffing, especially when they wanted the "boys" to play. PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPlllllleeeaasseee.

- None of the AHLers looked good, but O'Connor was easily the worst. I am still a fan of him, but he didn't look like he belonged today. Not sure why Kamenev only played 9:00 minutes today, he is a loser at faceoffs, but he was quite good today. Compher was also quite good I thought. After the first period, Nich was one of the best players today for either team. He is very smooth, has decent amount of IQ, and skates well for his size. It sucks that his offensive vision, reaction speed, and hands are at the sloath level.

- Kadri was easily the best player tonight on the ice.

 

[S E P H]

A lot of people had no idea of the change.

In my section they were chanting Froooooooouuuuuuuu.

 

[Muffin]

One encouraging thing I saw from Makar was that he started to take one timers from the points. Might be the first time all season he's started to use it. He's going to be a PP machine if he figures how to one time from the point too.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

One encouraging thing I saw from Makar was that he started to take one timers from the points. Might be the first time all season he's started to use it. He's going to be a PP machine if he figures how to one time from the point too.

Yeah that was nice to see. He didn’t have a perfect game, but I liked him a lot tonight. He was fighting physically in his own zone which I think fires him up offensively. It was crazy when he flew in and ripped that puck off the crossbar. He’s super dangerous when we get the extra attacker too.

 

[Pokecheque]

I had a bad feeling losing Calvert was one injury too many. I get that he's not a star or big-time scorer, but I think MacKinnon misses the defensive play and puck retrieval he provides, not to mention the speed and occasional net-front presence. Not sure if that's a major cause of the lackluster starts these last two games, but I will say I think it's a contributing factor toward the Avs not being able to get that game-tying goal despite some monumental efforts.

Cole was horrendous to start but I'll admit he stepped it up quite a bit once EJ was temporarily dealing with injury. Zadorov with some God-awful turnovers, including a horrendous behind-the-back clearing attempt/drop pass that the Leafs picked up and nearly scored on. The Leafs were very careful not to give Makar too much space. They regularly challenged him, especially on the power play.

Anyway, it was nice to see Sammy get some of his mojo back. I think rotating the pairings a little and using him and Makar as an attack-zone duo is really working.

Didn't like the line shuffling to start the game.

And not many people are saying it but I am not liking Compher's game at all. Losing puck battles all over the place, he's really not making any plays or getting it on net. Something looks very broken in his game. Nieto also just looks overworked and lost at present.

Obviously a pretty bad game from Grubauer. It happens. He certainly wasn't the main reason the Avs lost, but we know he can play better. Frankie was amazing in relief. Unfortunately after letting in that softy, so was Andersen.

Avs really could use some bodies back. This is ridiculous.

Lastly, pretty disappointed in Kerfy. I'm positive he feels terrible about it but hits like that at any level in hockey are inexcusable. He should sit for a couple for that one.

 

[The Kingslayer]

I had a bad feeling losing Calvert was one injury too many. I get that he's not a star or big-time scorer, but I think MacKinnon misses the defensive play and puck retrieval he provides, not to mention the speed and occasional net-front presence. Not sure if that's a major cause of the lackluster starts these last two games, but I will say I think it's a contributing factor toward the Avs not being able to get that game-tying goal despite some monumental efforts.

Cole was horrendous to start but I'll admit he stepped it up quite a bit once EJ was temporarily dealing with injury. Zadorov with some God-awful turnovers, including a horrendous behind-the-back clearing attempt/drop pass that the Leafs picked up and nearly scored on. The Leafs were very careful not to give Makar too much space. They regularly challenged him, especially on the power play.

Anyway, it was nice to see Sammy get some of his mojo back. I think rotating the pairings a little and using him and Makar as an attack-zone duo is really working.

Didn't like the line shuffling to start the game.

And not many people are saying it but I am not liking Compher's game at all. Losing puck battles all over the place, he's really not making any plays or getting it on net. Something looks very broken in his game. Nieto also just looks overworked and lost at present.

Obviously a pretty bad game from Grubauer. It happens. He certainly wasn't the main reason the Avs lost, but we know he can play better. Frankie was amazing in relief. Unfortunately after letting in that softy, so was Andersen.

Avs really could use some bodies back. This is ridiculous.

Lastly, pretty disappointed in Kerfy. I'm positive he feels terrible about it but hits like that at any level in hockey are inexcusable. He should sit for a couple for that one.

I been grilling his ass for about 3 weeks now.

 

[S E P H]

Anyway, it was nice to see Sammy get some of his mojo back. I think rotating the pairings a little and using him and Makar as an attack-zone duo is really working.

And not many people are saying it but I am not liking Compher's game at all. Losing puck battles all over the place, he's really not making any plays or getting it on net. Something looks very broken in his game. Nieto also just looks overworked and lost at present.

Compher was good tonight, deserved to be out there in the last segment siege I though. Girard has almost zero offensive ability anymore compared to the start of the season and he will be limited until he can evolve his game beyond fake shots and spins.

 

[avsfan09]

We're a team of pretenders. Incapable of playing 60, not even close to Stanley Cup-calibre. Everyone on here getting excited over Nuke's first ****ing goal in years is a perfect image of how mentally weak we are both as a team and as a fanbase. Wow, good job, Nuke! You did what you're supposed to do! We're overhyped and painful to watch. **** outta here.

I think people who dwell on the negatives are more likely to end up as the losers compared to the ones who focus on the positive in my experience. Be mad all you want but we are missing some very well important pieces and outside the first I think we played a good game against a talented team. Yes we need to be better but I think you’re overreacting here.

 

[Balthazar]

Avs really could use some bodies back. This is ridiculous.

Yeah, we may have reached the end of what was possible to do with this "survival" crew. We need Calvert and Rants back.

 

[Pokecheque]

Compher was good tonight, deserved to be out there in the last segment siege I though. Girard has almost zero offensive ability anymore compared to the start of the season and he will be limited until he can evolve his game beyond fake shots and spins.

I get why he's the go-to guy for Bednar given his past heroics but so far this season dude has just looked off. The puck has been a grenade on his stick for a while now.

I'm not too worried about G, he's working his way back.

 

[Balthazar]

Compher was good tonight, deserved to be out there in the last segment siege I though. Girard has almost zero offensive ability anymore compared to the start of the season and he will be limited until he can evolve his game beyond fake shots and spins.

Girard needs to be forced to learn to play with a real size hockey stick instead of a toy. Once that's fixed he can work on his shot and that will give him better reach for defensive duties.

 

[dahrougem2]

I think a lot of Makar's reluctance to shoot comes from the fact that the dude has literally destroyed Kadri with shots at least 4/5 times this season, and luckily it hasn't resulted in serious injury but eventually it's going to.

I don't know if that's on Makar just rifling with his head down, or on Kadri for not knowing how to avoid those shots (Landeskog certainly does), but something has to give here. Because Makar's shot is too good for him to continuously pass up opportunities because he's destroying Kadri in the slot.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I think a lot of Makar's reluctance to shoot comes from the fact that the dude has literally destroyed Kadri with shots at least 4/5 times this season, and luckily it hasn't resulted in serious injury but eventually it's going to.

I don't know if that's on Makar just rifling with his head down, or on Kadri for not knowing how to avoid those shots (Landeskog certainly does), but something has to give here. Because Makar's shot is too good for him to continuously pass up opportunities because he's destroying Kadri in the slot.

I think it was just one of those fluke things. But Landy is definitely a lot better than Kadri in front of the net. He knows where he’s supposed to be and how to deflect the puck.

 

[dahrougem2]

I think it was just one of those fluke things. But Landy is definitely a lot better than Kadri in front of the net. He knows where he’s supposed to be and how to deflect the puck.

At this point, I don't know if it's a fluke. One of them is doing something wrong, because Makar has hit him so many times from the point with Kadri standing in the slot.

It's such an awkward position to be in as a forward when the shot is coming from the point. You aren't far enough away from the puck to avoid it in time, most of the time.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

At this point, I don't know if it's a fluke. One of them is doing something wrong, because Makar has hit him so many times from the point with Kadri standing in the slot.

It's such an awkward position to be in as a forward when the shot is coming from the point. You aren't far enough away from the puck to avoid it in time, most of the time.

It’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on with that, without seeing the camera angle looking directly from Makar to the net. But, yeah they do need to get it fixed. May have cost a goal tonight.