GDT: GAME XIX: Snow vs. Oil

[chet1926]

I'm going to go out and say it, it's probably controversial, but honestly I didn't think McDavid played 6 points in a game great. Had we not been playing or 3rd and 4th string guys in nets, maybe a 3 point game.

1st goal should have been saved and probably would have been saved by a better goalie, 2nd was unstoppable, 3rd should never go in, under any circumstance.

The Kassian goal should never have happened, that was soft where a 6'5" goalie failed to cover the net.

So really it should have been a nice goal, a couple nice assists to RNH. But since he is playing backups he looks like a god. Can't wait until we actually get or goalies back.

 

[chet1926]

As far as blowouts go, I don’t feel too badly about this one. It’s the NHL. Some nights, one team just can’t miss (especially against a 3rd string goalie). Our guys didn’t quit after the 1st like they could have. I don’t think this loss should bleed into the next game as it might have in prior years.

See I disagree I thought we tucked tail, we gave up after the first, the effort from that point on was not good. Having 3rd/4th string goalies didn't help, but it was piss poor effort in my books.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Ya, when almost half your roster is AHL level guys and a 3rd/4th string goalie is your starter.... You're going to get games like last one.


Like I said during the first intermission last night, you put a healthy Avs team against that Oilers lineup and that's a completely different game. One we probably win.

 

[tucker3434]

See I disagree I thought we tucked tail, we gave up after the first, the effort from that point on was not good. Having 3rd/4th string goalies didn't help, but it was piss poor effort in my books.

Special teams were awful, but I though we had a pretty solid game 5v5, all things considered.

 

[Avs9296]

They need to figure out the PP and PK though. It's costing us big time.

 

[shadow1]

This photography should include Tyson Jost

 

[Metallo]

I feel like we need another top-6 D. Hopefully Timmins is ready for the playoffs. And also all the other guys not named Makar need to be a bit better. Without that I don’t think we are going anywhere.

 

[Metallo]

Our special teams are just not good enough. Both below average. The coaches need to make the adjustments, we should be better.

 

[Metallo]

Z is out 3 games and for 3 games in a row the other team takes run at our players. We need more toughness. Greer should be in the lineup instead of Tynan.

 

[mapletreemarty]

Only ****ing team in the league that doesn't fight back and battle when down 3 or more. (maybe not, I know I'm exaggerating) But Mack out there laughing with Mcdavid and being casual out there rubbed the the wrong ****ing way. The boys are competitive in close games but just don't ****ing care when the game looks lost. The PANTHERS came back from a 0-4 effort @ boston for god sakes.

Burakovsky was battling and fighting regardless what the score was. The rest of the team...I'm not sure.

 

[mapletreemarty]

Too much f***ing time and respect to the Oilers top guys. Like holy f***, you need to take away time and space from players to neutralize them not give them more. No shit Werner gave up 5 goals, he should have stopped a couple but some guys had all day to pick their f***ing corners. The turnovers in our own zone as well were beyond butt ugly.

 

[Spirits]

I'll be honest, after we went down 4-1 and the first period ended I just did something else. You could tell what kind of a game that was going to be. McDavid is a generational talent but I am a little bit sick of seeing the main board blowing up with Edmonton fans glamorizing his scoring vs an AHL goalie and a half beaten up Avalanche team. There isn't a team I want to see us destroy more than Edmonton at the moment. I realize 6 points is 6 points but god damn, it isn't like we had a Vezina winner in net or 2/3s of our top line and then Edmonton sycophants act like they won the cup last night. Maybe I'm just bitter. I hope next game we play them Z knocks McDavid out for the rest of the season or at least takes a run at him like they did to MacKinnon.

Edit: It also seems to me (having seen every game minus 2/3s of this one, that we are the only team that struggles to get pucks out of our own zone and have a hell of a time on O zone entry on the Power Play. How many PPs have we spent 70 seconds or more trying to get into the O zone? I know some of you guys have these fancy stats and can shed some light on this disturbing business.

Edit 2: It isn't time to hit the panic button. Hockey is hockey and as long as we peak at the right time and make the post season anything can happen. It is no coincidence that we didn't struggle until the injury bug got to us. We are too talented to struggle all season when we are healthy.

 

[nightonthesun]

Are EDM fans really getting braggy about beating up on Adam Werner and outplaying our preseason roster? Lol. See you next time.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Are EDM fans really getting braggy about beating up on Adam Werner and outplaying our preseason roster? Lol. See you next time.

Yes


I mean I guess we should take it as a compliment that they still beat a "really good team" despite the fact we are missing like 1/3 of our opening night roster including 2/3 of the best 1st line in hockey

 

[the_fan]

I watched the highlights of the game, did anyone do anything when MacK got leveled? Seems like Avs have gotten soft when it comes to protecting teammates. Francouz gets leveled, nothing. MacK gets low bridged by Hornqvist almost gets injured, nothing. In this game all I saw is MacK just getting destroyed but didnt see anyone doing anything, maybe I missed something?

 

[chet1926]

Z is out 3 games and for 3 games in a row the other team takes run at our players. We need more toughness. Greer should be in the lineup instead of Tynan.

As much as I don't like Greer I agree, he would have wrecked someone last night.

We have a bunch of cowards, you watch your star player get smoked and the only one who does anything is Calvert who gives up like 6 inches and 80lbs on Kassian. That is a f***ing problem.

What else is a problem is the fact that no one laid a hand on McDavid, he should have gotten smoked at least once. You hit our star player we hit yours, end of discussion.

This team will never win anything if they just sit back and do nothing when players are taking runs at our star players. You really think if Sakic got hit like that early in a game that that have would have gone on without incident the rest of the game? Hell no Parker would have beat somebody's face in. And then Hinote or someone else would have pummeled their star player. Because it's not ok to let goons take runs at star players.

 

[shadow1]

The Avs has a chance when it was 5-2. It felt like a game again, and they immediately got a dangerous looking odd man rush.

That rush failed, and moments later came the awful bench minor...then came the sixth goal.

 

[Avsboy]

The game wasn't so uneven. It was just special teams, a few posts by the Avs, and Graves playing like a mobile dumpster on fire.

 

[dahrougem2]

Just so you guys know, Zack Kassian is not scared of Zadorov. Like not even slightly. I’d bet it’s the other way around.

Nobody is saying Zack Kassian is supposed to be scared of Zadorov.

What we are saying, is that if Zack Kassian makes that hit on MacKinnon a minute into the game with Zadorov in our lineup (and not nursing a broken jaw to boot), there's a very, very strong possibility that one of McDavid/Draisaitl are going to get run right back by him.

The Avs did nothing last night to retaliate. Even Calvert's little hug fest with Kassian. We simply didn't have the type of player that could respond to being roughed around last night. Zadorov changes all of that.

 

[Avs9296]

The Avs has a chance when it was 5-2. It felt like a game again, and they immediately got a dangerous looking odd man rush.

That rush failed, and moments later came the awful bench minor...then came the sixth goal.

Our PK is absolutely atrocious and it costs us. Same with the PP.

 

[the_fan]

It doesn't have to be Zadorov always to protect teammates just because hes 6"5. There are guys like Calvert, Kadri etc.. who can jump in and do something when someone takes a run at MacK or they take runs at your teammates.

Whenever I see someone take a run at Crosby or McDavid, it doesn't get unnoticed, teammates protect them, but for some reason Avs have gotten soft when it comes to that. They're on Leafs territory when people criticized them being soft when their star players get run at.

 

[Muffin]

They need to figure out the PP and PK though. It's costing us big time.

PP hasn't looked good since Rantanen went down. We're missing that cross seam one timer.

 

[Pokecheque]

Thoughts:

1. That Kassian hit was not the result of lack of toughness on the Avs' part--it's because MacKinnon relies on that move WAY too much and Kassian took full advantage. Dude was MVP caliber the one year he finally ditched it and just tried powering/speeding his way to the net. He really needs to do that again. That move is really tired, the coaches should be trying to get him to stop using it, or at the VERY least, go deeper in the zone before slamming on the brakes.

2. The PK is bad and has been bad for years now. The only reason it got good in the 2nd half of last season is because the goaltending improved significantly. The system in front is still utter shit. They've gone from semi-passive to VERY passive and it's just not acceptable. They need to figure that out, because it's ridiculous that they've added a whole slew of very good defensive-minded forwards and it actually looks WORSE than it did last season.

3. First time I think I can remember that Jared Bednar said something kinda dumb. Claiming the only reason they take so many penalties is because they draw so many is inane, and mostly inaccurate. They take penalties, and far, far too many of the dumb variety. AND FOR FFS QUIT COMMITTING TOO MANY MEN INFRACTIONS.

4. Werner unfortunately looked every bit like a guy playing his 2nd-ever NHL game. Oh well.

5. I'm just gonna say it--haven't liked the play of EJ for a while now. Once again, even on a deeper, more talented blueline, he's getting way overworked. Cole was pretty awful last night too.

Rough outing...it's gonna happen when you can't kill penalties and the best player on the planet is in a groove. Moving on...

 

[Mighty Makar]

I was at the game last night. Were any of you guys? I saw a lot of Avs’ jerseys. Mostly MacKinnon and Makar.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

I was at the game last night. Were any of you guys? I saw a lot of Avs’ jerseys. Mostly MacKinnon and Makar.

Yeah, they were both there.