GDT: Game 3: Avalanche vs Flames | 8 PM MT | April 15, 2019 | World of Possibilities

[JoeSakic13]

I'm not feeling all the Tyson Jost love. He played a solid game, but if the guy can't get one in the net soon, all that hard work and great-effort backslapping is sorta useless.

I can't believe he wasn't able to slide that one past when smith was licking the ice....

Jost and Landsberg have been snake-bitten all series. Amazing chances for each of them yet Smith has bailed out Calgary. If Calgary starts Rittich, I can see them finding the back of the net.

 

[wayninja]

Jost and Landsberg have been snake-bitten all series. Amazing chances for each of them yet Smith has bailed out Calgary. If Calgary starts Rittich, I can see them finding the back of the net.

Landsberg, lol. I heard about that, but watched the altitude feed. If anyone has a clip of that, would be appreciated. He's definitely had the better chances, and Smith has made great saves, although I have to wonder why Landy keeps trying the same shot... No one on the team not named MacKinnon is firing them past Smith... the strat on Smith seems to be to wait him out, which no one is even attempting.

Which brings me to Jost.

Jost had him beat clean and looks to have had his stick whacked maybe a bit, but could not muster the hand-eye coordination to recover and bury it. At the risk of sounding pompous or insulting, a better player overcomes and buries that.

 

[flyfysher]

No doubt there was great experience playing under that pressure, but Bednar didn't intentionally orchestrate a situation to get them to be needing to win the last few games of the season to get in.

It's not about JB intentionally orchestrating the situation. That didn't happen. It's about JB motivating the team, communicating with the team such that he affected their play when the pressure was on. That tells me that JB still has the team's ear. You have seen it even recently when they came out for the last couple of games and stunk up the first period and then came out like gangbusters in the second period. Of course I'd rather not have had the first period flop but that is what young teams do.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

John Shannon said this morning on HockeyCentral at Noon on Sportsnet that Rants was almost a scratch for last night game. So our guess that he was still not 100% was right. There is no way it is ribs related though. I'm sure it is his left hip.

 

[The Abusement Park]

John Shannon said this morning on HockeyCentral at Noon on Sportsnet that Rants was almost a scratch for last night game. So our guess that he was still not 100% was right. There is no way it is ribs related though. I'm sure it is his left hip.

I think it’s rib related. The way he shot one of his one timers made it look that way.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

I think it’s rib related. The way he shot one of his one timers made it look that way.

I don't think so because after the hit into the board he put his hand on his hip into his pants while skating back to the bench.

 

[The Moops]

It's not about JB intentionally orchestrating the situation. That didn't happen. It's about JB motivating the team, communicating with the team such that he affected their play when the pressure was on. That tells me that JB still has the team's ear. You have seen it even recently when they came out for the last couple of games and stunk up the first period and then came out like gangbusters in the second period. Of course I'd rather not have had the first period flop but that is what young teams do.

I think we're both on the same page. I just think we have been better than our regular season record has indicated.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

We are all happy today, but in June 2021 we'll look back in regret.

 

[The Shermanator]

Well hopefully we can get this done in 5 to give Rants more time to heal. We will need him for sure in the later rounds.

 

[S E P H]

Holy ****, 2081 posts? You lads are nuts. Was at the game yesterday...

- The Can was rocking, not sure how it transpired on the telly. Not saying we were as loud as the Islander crazies, but it was underrated. The crowd went crazy for Grubauer's two insane saves...both had standing ovations.

- Chants last night were; "Smithhhhhhh", "Sam Bennett sucks", and "Smith you suck".

- Some Flame fans got thrown out of the game behind Grubs (had the big yellow cowboy hats on) and were trash talked by every Avs fan up to the concourse.

- MacKinnon is on another level, he's up there with Stone as super early Conn Smyths candidates, but nobody on the Flames can currently stop him. I've never seen a player almost score on every shift as what he's done the past two games. Simply unbelievable to watch and Flames might lose this series simply because the level he's playing at.

- Yeah, not sure what people on the main board were bashing Smith because that 2nd period in particular could've been 7-1 by itself and that's me not counting the other two. However, he is starting to get rattled out there with more weird bounces as rebounds, more rebounds in general, and is having a harder time tracking the puck.

- That play where Cole had two breakaways on the PK was hilarious, eerie similar to Malkin back in 2009 where he gets crunched, slow to get up, randomly gets a breakaway pass, and slapshoots it for a goal.

- I know a lot will say that Gaudreau has been invisible, but let me tell you that every single Avs player is finishing cheques on him. EJ was a horse last night and was easily the best defender, half of his hits were late on Gaudreau but his mission was to shadow him all over. Avs are clearly targeting him and giving him absolutely zero space which begs the question...where the **** is Monahan? Johnny has like three people on him every time which is opening space for Monahan and he's doing absolutely nothing out there. Most disappointing player

- Nemeth was unbelievable, holy cow his consistency is pretty remarkable.

- Cole was easily the worst player, his clears in the defencive zone are being too easy to read and Flames are ripping him apart. One play in the third where Grubs made a big save off of his turnover, he looked at Cole and started shaking his head. But then he goes out and saves that goal on Gaudreau, so like Corefoot you take the good with the bad.

- I am so ****ing glad I was wrong about Makar. He was amazing last night, but it wasn't perfect since he needs a couple more offseasons of getting stronger. You could tell he looked like a rookie in defencive corners where Flames went hard after him and he conducted some turnovers.

- Corefoot was afraid to get hit the entire game, but had a solid cheque on someone. Take the good with the bad I guess. However, the bloke loses so many board-battles, especially on the powerplay.

- Crowd probably hated Bennett more Tkachuk, but they were so riled up from the Bennett saga that Tkachuk got the brunt of it. A lot of middle fingers and way more booing and Tkachuk acknowledged this by shaking his head. Tkachuk is an amazing player, he's cowering towards Zadorov, but made the smart choice to go after Landeskog.

- How the **** did Calvert get a misconduct on that play with Bennett? I am not saying to suspend him, but that should easily be a fine (on Sam), he drew blood from Calvert's mouth from that shitty suckerpunch. Then him coming to the Avs bench and taunting them like a POS.

- At the end of the 2nd period when Smith was getting off the ice Zadorov was absolutely ripping into him.

- Not sure how the hell Landeskog missed that backhander on Smith, he was all alone and beat everyone.

- Jost was simply fantastic last night and one of the reasons is he's so good at dumbing passes and deciding to take it all by himself. That's how he got his mini breakaway and almost scored a beaut.

- Still not liking Yetis game, but that was the best thus far.

- Compher I thought had an underrated game, he is feisty and is surprisingly good when it comes to winning battles along the board. Andrighetto looked decent after his trash penalty.

- Probably missing some other actions stuff, but whatever.

 

[Pokecheque]

Huh, still not at all on the same page as the rest of you when it comes to "Corefoot." I thought he was fantastic last night, was zipping around the attacking zone and opening things up for his linemates, especially MacKinnon. When they first got paired together there was no chemistry at all, now I'm seeing them cycle the puck so fluidly and with speed it's just leaving the Flames looking very, very slow and unprepared. He wasn't mistake-free, in fact there was one instance he held onto it too long when a change was taking place and instead of dumping it he turned it over, but Bednar immediately went over to him and had a quick chat the moment he got back on the bench, he acknowledged he could've played that better. All part of the process.

And what is this "afraid to get hit" nonsense? He's never been afraid to get hit, just because a guy knows his limitations when it comes to physical play and uses his speed to avoid checks (yet not playing a perimeter game) doesn't make him "afraid to get hit." I suppose you'd rather he and Jost just let themselves get smeared along the boards. He does need to shoot it more though, but that's always gonna be a thing with him.

 

[Balthazar]

- I know a lot will say that Gaudreau has been invisible, but let me tell you that every single Avs player is finishing cheques on him. EJ was a horse last night and was easily the best defender, half of his hits were late on Gaudreau but his mission was to shadow him all over. Avs are clearly targeting him and giving him absolutely zero space which begs the question...where the **** is Monahan? Johnny has like three people on him every time which is opening space for Monahan and he's doing absolutely nothing out there. Most disappointing player

Ducks fans were saying at the beginning of the series that the way to make Gaudreau invisible was to hit him every chance you got. He absolutely hates it when it hurts and it changes his game.

I'm very glad that the Avs appear to be aware of that.

- Nemeth was unbelievable, holy cow his consistency is pretty remarkable.

Most underrated Avs player on this board by a country mile.

- Corefoot was afraid to get hit the entire game

Like Gaudreau, those small wingers are easy to scare off in the playoffs. He does lose tons and tons of board battles.

 

[Balthazar]

Huh, still not at all on the same page as the rest of you when it comes to "Corefoot." I thought he was fantastic last night, was zipping around the attacking zone and opening things up for his linemates, especially MacKinnon. When they first got paired together there was no chemistry at all, now I'm seeing them cycle the puck so fluidly and with speed it's just leaving the Flames looking very, very slow and unprepared. He wasn't mistake-free, in fact there was one instance he held onto it too long when a change was taking place and instead of dumping it he turned it over, but Bednar immediately went over to him and had a quick chat the moment he got back on the bench, he acknowledged he could've played that better. All part of the process.

And what is this "afraid to get hit" nonsense? He's never been afraid to get hit, just because a guy knows his limitations when it comes to physical play and uses his speed to avoid checks (yet not playing a perimeter game) doesn't make him "afraid to get hit." I suppose you'd rather he and Jost just let themselves get smeared along the boards. He does need to shoot it more though, but that's always gonna be a thing with him.

Sometimes I wonder if you watch the same games as everyone else.

 

[Pokecheque]

Sometimes I wonder if you watch the same games as everyone else.

Yep...sure do. And I still disagree with all of you Kerf-haters.

 

[S E P H]

Ducks fans were saying at the beginning of the series that the way to make Gaudreau invisible was to hit him every chance you got. He absolutely hates it when it hurts and it changes his game.

I'm very glad that the Avs appear to be aware of that.

Most underrated Avs player on this board by a country mile.

Like Gaudreau, those small wingers are easy to scare off in the playoffs. He does lose tons and tons of board battles.

- Yeah and it's not like EJ is simply hitting him for the sake of hitting him, he's trying to rub him out on his ass every time. He didn't look too good in the first two games, but getting last change really made him (EJ) shine through yesterday.

- Yeah, Nemeth was talking to Makar before every faceoff and during every segment on the bench. Just really taking him under his wing likewise with Barrie and Cole, my favourite partnership last night had to be Makar with Barrie as there was so much talent out there.

- Corefoot wasn't too bad, he has the vision and puck skills to deke out oncoming cheques, but he will never take a hit to make a play where that's part of Mikko's M.O.

Yep...sure do. And I still disagree with all of you Kerf-haters.

I wouldn't say I am a Kerfoot-hater, I just say it as I see it. Zadorov might be my favourite player, but I called him out in game 2 regardless if people thought I was right or wrong.

 

[Avs_19]

When MacKinnon tells Makar he's a bad mother.......

 

[henchman21]

- I am so ****ing glad I was wrong about Makar. He was amazing last night, but it wasn't perfect since he needs a couple more offseasons of getting stronger. You could tell he looked like a rookie in defencive corners where Flames went hard after him and he conducted some turnovers.

I'm not sure he is ever going to get strong enough to overpower people consistently, so he's going to have to get strong enough to hold his own, then use his skating and stick to really defend. Natural for a player his size in this league, but he has the skill set to be able defend the way needs to so he is effective. Experience should cover what he needs.

I've been texting with a coaching buddy of mine over the past day about Makar. One of the interesting points he made is that the step Makar took this year was his getting his game to be more creative and aggressive. He doesn't trust his skill set enough to where he is taking full advantage of it, but he's developing that. Felt he had another step he could have made with that this year. Another is the kid is unselfish to a fault. He will defer when he should attack. He will be so intune to his shift clock that he peels off when he should continue to attack (basically exact opposite of MacKinnon). That sort of stuff.

 

[S E P H]

One of the interesting points he made is that the step Makar took this year was his getting his game to be more creative and aggressive. He doesn't trust his skill set enough to where he is taking full advantage of it, but he's developing that.

No doubt he was accurate on that, Makar looked a bit too afraid to shoot from the point last night and he looked a bit troubled in using his one-timer in the NCAA national game against Minn-Duluth.

He will be so intune to his shift clock that he peels off when he should continue to attack (basically exact opposite of MacKinnon).

Also saw this, might be because he's a rookie and thinks he doesn't deserve extra seconds until he proves "something" to his team.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Yep...sure do. And I still disagree with all of you Kerf-haters.

Yeah I don't get the hate for Kerf as well. He has his fault like all players but put him with bigger players to open up space like Mack and Rants and he can be a very effective player. Like I said he has his faults but I never looked at him as being afraid of being hit. He is careful because of his size but he has made a lot of plays this year and especially in the playoffs when he knew he was going to get hit hard and still did it. I'm all with everybody else to replace him with a better fit but:

1. Be careful what you are hoping for because you might end up with a player that can't make plays, and
2. It cannot happen until we get at least two other guys better than him on the team or we will fill a hole to create another one.

That being said his next contract will decide on long he will be with this team as he might priced himself off the team. However I'm not worry too much about overpaying .5M or 1M too much as long as it is not more than three year contract as we will have the cap space to retain $$$ to trade if need be.

Right now and most likely next year as well we need the secondary scoring he brings.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

I'm not sure he is ever going to get strong enough to overpower people consistently, so he's going to have to get strong enough to hold his own, then use his skating and stick to really defend. Natural for a player his size in this league, but he has the skill set to be able defend the way needs to so he is effective. Experience should cover what he needs.

I've been texting with a coaching buddy of mine over the past day about Makar. One of the interesting points he made is that the step Makar took this year was his getting his game to be more creative and aggressive. He doesn't trust his skill set enough to where he is taking full advantage of it, but he's developing that. Felt he had another step he could have made with that this year. Another is the kid is unselfish to a fault. He will defer when he should attack. He will be so intune to his shift clock that he peels off when he should continue to attack (basically exact opposite of MacKinnon). That sort of stuff.

Agree about being unselfish. We saw it many times last night when he was taking very short shift especially on the PP2. He was always the first to get a change on the PP last night. I've seen it many times at the NCAA level as well.

 

[Balthazar]

That being said his next contract will decide on long he will be with this team as he might priced himself off the team. However I'm not worry too much about overpaying .5M or 1M too much as long as it is not more than three year contract as we will have the cap space to retain $$$ to trade if need be.

No next contract at all. Not with the Avs anyway. Let him walk and find someone else to replace him in his role.

 

[henchman21]

Also saw this, might be because he's a rookie and thinks he doesn't deserve extra seconds until he proves "something" to his team.

If you go back and watch his UMass games, he is a very consistent 30-40 second shift guy. Part of that is how UMass rotated all 3 pairings evenly and that being drilled in all season. Part is just his mentality as a player. If there is one thing he needs to learn... it is that he has the pure raw skill set to be a star in the NHL, he needs to learn the mentality to go along with it.

 

[S E P H]

If you go back and watch his UMass games, he is a very consistent 30-40 second shift guy. Part of that is how UMass rotated all 3 pairings evenly and that being drilled in all season. Part is just his mentality as a player. If there is one thing he needs to learn... it is that he has the pure raw skill set to be a star in the NHL, he needs to learn the mentality to go along with it.

Honestly wish he had a bit of Barrie's recklessness, even Tyson was making questionable pinches in the Flames zone when the score was 6-2.

 

[Pokecheque]

His forechecking was ok, but his decisions with the puck were bad. I'd be surprised to see him again once Girard is good to go

I don't recall him making particularly horrid decisions with the puck, just didn't generate a ton of offense. But that's kinda Sven-Ten in a nutshell. His possession metrics are always good and his offensive totals are always kinda meh, and when you see him play fully healthy you can see why. He's fantastic at exiting and entering the zone with control, he's great at forcing turnovers, but he just doesn't have the finish or playmaking ability to really produce offense off all those turnovers and what not. Personally I think he's perfect for foiling the Flames' breakout scheme, as he has the speed and ability to disrupt what they want to do before they even get started with it. At least for this last game, it worked. I hope Bednar doesn't take him out, but I could see him opting to keep the bigger guy who hits harder and kills penalties in (even though I'd politely disagree with him on the decision if that ends up being the case).

Whatever happens next game I'd rather he just keep Brassard out. The team as a whole just looked better without him.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I’m no Kerfoot supporter but I thought he was pretty good last night and the night before. Exponentially better since the season ended.