GDT: Game 48: Avs vs Kings | 1 PM MT | January 19, 2019

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Highest 5v5 shots in the league? I guess more shots = less wins haha

But certain posters here have told me Bednar is our biggest issue and that we will suck with him as our coach.


good to see just how out of touch some people can be. Our struggles of late had everything to do with Goaltending and little to do with anything else.

 

[Raucherhusten]

Highest 5v5 shots in the league? I guess more shots = less wins haha

For some ppl here Bednar is the main reason why we lost so many games. Well, maybe not.

 

[Vaslof]

But certain posters here have told me Bednar is our biggest issue and that we will suck with him as our coach.


good to see just how out of touch some people can be. Our struggles of late had everything to do with Goaltending and little to do with anything else.

If number of shots was the deciding factor in how good a team is, Carolina would be winning the Stanley Cup every year. Turns out there's more to it, as you can see from our recent record.

 

[forsbergavs32]

Highest 5v5 shots in the league? I guess more shots = less wins haha

Lose the corsi, win the game obviously

 

[Freudian]

I enjoyed seeing Dries score that goal. Not that I particularly want him with Avs, but if he's going to be up here he might as well have a few good things happen to him.

 

[Ivan13]

Highest 5v5 shots in the league? I guess more shots = less wins haha

Score effects plays a big role in it, along with a dominant 1st line.

 

[Foppberg]

But certain posters here have told me Bednar is our biggest issue and that we will suck with him as our coach.


good to see just how out of touch some people can be. Our struggles of late had everything to do with Goaltending and little to do with anything else.

? How does a stat showing we're high 5v5 shooters have anything to do with Bednar or the goaltending?

 

[Ivan13]

But certain posters here have told me Bednar is our biggest issue and that we will suck with him as our coach.


good to see just how out of touch some people can be. Our struggles of late had everything to do with Goaltending and little to do with anything else.

This is gross oversimplification. First of all, when teams lead big they tend to let the other team control the play. Then there’s our big line that has their way with everyone they face. Then the fact that our coach did little to try to wake up the rest of the roster during the skid.

Sure the goalies are by far the biggest reason we are losing, but there are plenty of other warts througout the roster and system in place that are masked by 4 brilliant offensive players and one decent one.

 

[Balthazar]

Score effects plays a big role in it, along with a dominant 1st line.

Yep. I'm not a fan of advanced stats for that very reason. Teams play differently with the lead than when they are trailing, which affects the stats quite a lot.

 

[sethro109]

But certain posters here have told me Bednar is our biggest issue and that we will suck with him as our coach.


good to see just how out of touch some people can be. Our struggles of late had everything to do with Goaltending and little to do with anything else.

I've always echoed that Bednar's 5v5 game scheme is good. It's all other aspects that concern me. PP, PK, lineup, player minutes and player usage is what I don't like about the guy. Even if the special teams are handled by the assistant coaches, how does someone let a failing strategy go on for so long? Bednar seems like he's the perfect guy for a farm club, or an assistant coach.

 

[klozge]

But certain posters here have told me Bednar is our biggest issue and that we will suck with him as our coach.


good to see just how out of touch some people can be. Our struggles of late had everything to do with Goaltending and little to do with anything else.

So you think Avs played better hockey in December than in October and November? Not sure who's out of touch here.

 

[AvsFan29]

I've always echoed that Bednar's 5v5 game scheme is good. It's all other aspects that concern me. PP, PK, lineup, player minutes and player usage is what I don't like about the guy. Even if the special teams are handled by the assistant coaches, how does someone let a failing strategy go on for so long? Bednar seems like he's the perfect guy for a farm club, or an assistant coach.

Our powerplay is top 5 in the league. Our PK is bad this year, but was a top PK last year. The system on the PK is the same, the players and goaltending are not. Varly used to be an unreal PK goalie.

 

[Pokecheque]

I've always viewed injury proneness as being made of glass. Like Matthews and his shoulders or Varly and his groin. Can't take normal wear and tear of the NHL. Nothing you can do about a puck to the face.

Yeah, that has a lot to do with it but in a lot of cases the player is just damned unlucky on top of being not-quite-durable. Martin Straka, who was the king of injury-prone players in the 90s, once got badly hurt in the offseason because the equipment he was working out with broke.

And more to the point, Erik Johnson missed what would have been his rookie season falling out of a golf cart and tearing his ACL.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Our powerplay is top 5 in the league. Our PK is bad this year, but was a top PK last year. The system on the PK is the same, the players and goaltending are not. Varly used to be an unreal PK goalie.

He also started out this year really well too.

 

[sethro109]

Our powerplay is top 5 in the league. Our PK is bad this year, but was a top PK last year. The system on the PK is the same, the players and goaltending are not. Varly used to be an unreal PK goalie.

Our PP percentage is living off the beginning of the year when they were projected to be one of the best ever. They just went 2 for 18 on the road trip. Also have you seen how bad our zone entry on the PP has been?

As for the PK. If it's not working anymore maybe we should try a new system? A lack of change on a obvious falling system isn't a good thing.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Our PP percentage is living off the beginning of the year when they were projected to be one of the best ever. They just went 2 for 18 on the road trip. Also have you seen how bad our zone entry on the PP has been?

As for the PK. If it's not working anymore maybe we should try a new system? A lack of change on a obvious falling system isn't a good thing.

PP and PK both go through ebbs and flows all year. I actually love how Bennett has consistently found ways to turn things around on our power play.

The PK hasn't went on another run this year though, but your PK is probably going to suck balls if your goalies cant get it together.

Where I think I'd evaluate the coach and defensive assistant is on constant f***ing brain farts when it comes to team defense. Since Bednar has been here our breakouts have been better, but still not anywhere near consistent. Then you have to ask what level of credit for that goes to our top six defenders improving in talent.

I don't have a warm and fuzzy either when it comes to improvement of our NHL defenders in general, but that is more of a feeling. It is difficult to judge but I'm not sure we've seen anyone make consistent strides under Bednar/Pratt.

 

[AvsFan29]

Our PP percentage is living off the beginning of the year when they were projected to be one of the best ever. They just went 2 for 18 on the road trip. Also have you seen how bad our zone entry on the PP has been?

As for the PK. If it's not working anymore maybe we should try a new system? A lack of change on a obvious falling system isn't a good thing.

They PP has struggled a bit, but I wouldn't call it anything close to an "obvious failing system".

You may have noticed the new set play that lead to landeskogs PP goal last game.

 

[sethro109]

They PP has struggled a bit, but I wouldn't call it anything close to an "obvious failing system".

You may have noticed the new set play that lead to landeskogs PP goal last game.

They have been making some changes on the PP. I think we keep moving a guy behind the net when we have the puck on the wing now too. The "obvious failing system" was only meant for the PK.

 

[klozge]

They have been making some changes on the PP. I think we keep move a guy behind the net when we have the puck on the wing now too. The "obvious failing system" was only meant for the PK.

At least once they tried another way to enter the zone on the PP against the Kings as well. And it worked.

 

[Foppa2118]

But certain posters here have told me Bednar is our biggest issue and that we will suck with him as our coach.


good to see just how out of touch some people can be. Our struggles of late had everything to do with Goaltending and little to do with anything else.

Bednar is not the problem, but the fact you think the losses have everything to do with goaltending, and little to do with all the turnovers, bad starts, bad passes, bad coverage, missed assignments, bad penalties, bad PK, and bad PP, is pretty telling.

In your words, Varlamov holding off LA "isn't saying much" so that means goaltending didn't win them this game.

Somehow, coincidentally they played a near 60 minute game, both special teams were much better, they didn't have a bunch of bad turnovers, they played solid defensively, they stopped leaving their assignments wide open, and they won.

So which one is it? The goaltending that's been all to blame for the losses won them the game? Or the team in front of him played much better than they have been?

 

[AvsFan29]

They have been making some changes on the PP. I think we keep moving a guy behind the net when we have the puck on the wing now too. The "obvious failing system" was only meant for the PK.

I think the PK heavily depends on the players. Losing comeau hurt. Also, Varly was god-like on the PK.

Our PK is either trash, or we are dominating and scoring short handed goals. It seems like teams who pass to the low slot do a ton of damage against us.

 

[klozge]

I think the PK heavily depends on the players. Losing comeau hurt. Also, Varly was god-like on the PK.

Our PK is either trash, or we are dominating and scoring short handed goals. It seems like teams who pass to the low slot do a ton of damage against us.

This very much depends on which PP system our opponents use. Was the same last year. And that's why I can't stand Bednar today although I had high hopes for him one season ago. He's not really a bad coach but he doesn't seem to be able to realize which systems opponents are using and to make adjustments. I thought he would learn that over time but it hasn't happened yet.

Edit: I posted something about how it's time for him to take the next step as a coach early in December or late in November when things still looked great for us. I got ridiculed for this by the usual suspects. A few games later our slump started and I really think the main problem is the lack of adjustments. Our goaltending was still good back then, even when the slump started. It looks like changes are happening now, though, so I'm looking forward to the next few games and I'm certainly willing to give Bednar more time if he really finally starts to do his job.

 

[AvsFan29]

This very much depends on which PP system our opponents use. Was the same last year. And that's why I can't stand Bednar today although I had high hopes for him one season ago. He's not really a bad coach but he doesn't seem to be able to realize which systems opponents are using and to make adjustments. I thought he would learn that over time but it hasn't happened yet.

Edit: I posted something about how it's time for him to take the next step as a coach early in December or late in November when things still looked great for us. I got ridiculed for this by the usual suspects. A few games later our slump started and I really think the main problem is the lack of adjustments. Our goaltending was still good back then, even when the slump started. It looks like changes are happening now, though, so I'm looking forward to the next few games and I'm certainly willing to give Bednar more time if he really finally starts to do his job.

I don't think Bednar is the main problem. I've questioned a lot of his decisions, but I still support him. I'm interested to see how he handles the team when they start making playoff runs. I'm going to assume if this team becomes a contender next year, and they have a disappointing playoff run, then he will get the axe immediately. Sakic has a very clear plan for this team, and I can't see him keeping on a coach that isn't getting the job done.

 

[hooverdam]

Bednar is not the problem, but the fact you think the losses have everything to do with goaltending, and little to do with all the turnovers, bad starts, bad passes, bad coverage, missed assignments, bad penalties, bad PK, and bad PP, is pretty telling.

In your words, Varlamov holding off LA "isn't saying much" so that means goaltending didn't win them this game.

Somehow, coincidentally they played a near 60 minute game, both special teams were much better, they didn't have a bunch of bad turnovers, they played solid defensively, they stopped leaving their assignments wide open, and they won.

So which one is it? The goaltending that's been all to blame for the losses won them the game? Or the team in front of him played much better than they have been?

The team in front of him barely let Varlamov see the puck until the game was out of hand. That's exactly how they've been playing lately, keeping shots against low. Varlamov (and Grubauer, before you get all mad) just kept choking on what few shots he did see. This time he managed to keep it together long enough for the offense to click. Hopefully that continues, but at this point anyone who looks at how wildly inconsistent he's been this year and can't see a problem in that is just delusional.

 

[Foppa2118]

The team in front of him barely let Varlamov see the puck until the game was out of hand. That's exactly how they've been playing lately, keeping shots against low. Varlamov (and Grubauer, before you get all mad) just kept choking on what few shots he did see. This time he managed to keep it together long enough for the offense to click. Hopefully that continues, but at this point anyone who looks at how wildly inconsistent he's been this year and can't see a problem in that is just delusional.

I've seen basically the same solid Varlmov the last four games. Not standing on his head, but not giving up any bad goals, making the saves he's supposed to, and also a few really big saves along the way.

What's changed is the team is slowly starting to playing better. They were playing well defensively for 40-50 minutes before. Against LA they got a lot closer to 60 minutes if you take out Cole's dumb slashing penalty that led to the 5 on 3 goal.

Everything else has improved. If it was all on the goaltending before, then this win should be all on goaltending as well. I don't think it was, I think the team played better, but that's evidence that the losses didn't have everything to do with the goaltending like some think as well.