GDT: GAME XXXI: Avs in Oil - Here Comes the Sludge

expatriatedtexan

Habitual Line Stepper
Aug 17, 2005
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Jabba the Hitch better thank Richard Matvichuk every time he weasels his way into another job, because he wouldn’t have a Cup without that cheapshot artist.
Such a random post....I had totally forgotten about him completely. What set you off on him?
 

Bender

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Sep 25, 2002
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Not surprised with the results of that game last night. I was predicting a 5-3 loss. The Oilers are riding a new coach and McDavid is pretty awesome but I still think that was a winnable game when all is said and done. (Especially when they went down to 4 D-men for a long stretch there)

I just don't get how Bednar keeps practically the same lineup game after game without really trying anything else. I mean the Top line is going to be an offensive force on most nights but there are going to be some nights where they just can't do it all on their own or they just plain have a bad night.

With Bednar it seems like he's content with having that one dominant top line and making sure everything else is as balanced as possible the rest of the lineup. I don't get why Soderberg hasn't been used in the #2C spot with the best wingers you can get him? He always seems to have Nieto attached to him no matter what. It makes no sense to me. How many times have we seen him setup Nieto or Calvert with a glorious chance in front the net only to have them shoot it at the goalie's crest??

I'd go with this:

Landeskog-Mackinnon-Rantanen
Jost-Soderberg-Compher
Nieto-Kerfoot-Calvert
Greer-Wilson-Bourque
**Kamenev (IR) :(

(swap out Jost & Kerfoot depending on who's going and who you're playing against)

Andrighetto - I'd like to see us move him out for some help in other areas (a faceoff guy with size would be nice). He's not good enough to be a Top-6 guy and gets lost in the shuffle in the bottom 6. I don't think he has much value but maybe there's a team out there going no where fast that's looking to move out a large contract and also needs players back as well as picks?? Someone mentioned Anisimov a little while ago...that kind of move could really help.

For the D, I think it's not completely unexpected that Ian Cole has started to struggle a bit. He played oustanding for the first quarter of the season but he's never been able to consistently hold that level of play. It will probably come back around again but I think it's time to bump-up Zadorov in the lineup. For me it would be like this :

Zadorov-Barrie (1A pairing - interchangeable with 1B - depends who's playing well)
Girard-EJ (1B pairing - interchangeable with 1A - depends who's playing well)
Cole-Nemeth

As far as the goaltending, they've been really good through 31 games...we have a GREAT record especially when you consider how many road games we've played. They've hit a bit of a snag of late but that's going to happen over the course of a season. They'll bounce back.
 

CobraAcesS

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Not surprised with the results of that game last night. I was predicting a 5-3 loss. The Oilers are riding a new coach and McDavid is pretty awesome but I still think that was a winnable game when all is said and done. (Especially when they went down to 4 D-men for a long stretch there)

I just don't get how Bednar keeps practically the same lineup game after game without really trying anything else. I mean the Top line is going to be an offensive force on most nights but there are going to be some nights where they just can't do it all on their own or they just plain have a bad night.

With Bednar it seems like he's content with having that one dominant top line and making sure everything else is as balanced as possible the rest of the lineup. I don't get why Soderberg hasn't been used in the #2C spot with the best wingers you can get him? He always seems to have Nieto attached to him no matter what. It makes no sense to me. How many times have we seen him setup Nieto or Calvert with a glorious chance in front the net only to have them shoot it at the goalie's crest??

I'd go with this:

Landeskog-Mackinnon-Rantanen
Jost-Soderberg-Compher
Nieto-Kerfoot-Calvert
Greer-Wilson-Bourque
**Kamenev (IR) :(

(swap out Jost & Kerfoot depending on who's going and who you're playing against)

Andrighetto - I'd like to see us move him out for some help in other areas (a faceoff guy with size would be nice). He's not good enough to be a Top-6 guy and gets lost in the shuffle in the bottom 6. I don't think he has much value but maybe there's a team out there going no where fast that's looking to move out a large contract and also needs players back as well as picks?? Someone mentioned Anisimov a little while ago...that kind of move could really help.

For the D, I think it's not completely unexpected that Ian Cole has started to struggle a bit. He played oustanding for the first quarter of the season but he's never been able to consistently hold that level of play. It will probably come back around again but I think it's time to bump-up Zadorov in the lineup. For me it would be like this :

Zadorov-Barrie (1A pairing - interchangeable with 1B - depends who's playing well)
Girard-EJ (1B pairing - interchangeable with 1A - depends who's playing well)
Cole-Nemeth

As far as the goaltending, they've been really good through 31 games...we have a GREAT record especially when you consider how many road games we've played. They've hit a bit of a snag of late but that's going to happen over the course of a season. They'll bounce back.

I can't like this because of your Ghetto hate, but agree with most of it lol.
 

Foppa2118

Registered User
Oct 3, 2003
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This whole Varly vs. Grubauer thing is weird. Both guys sucked last night and didn't help the team whatsoever. No need to make excuses for either side.

In his last three starts, Varly has allowed 14 goals and is rocking a cool .808 SV%. We still don't know if Grubauer is the long-term answer but there's only one way to find out. At the very least give him the next start with Varly struggling right now and then go from there.

Just because goals are scored doesn’t make them bad goals though. Go back and watch how the team is playing in front of Varly, and how the pucks went in the previous two games. They’re all tap ins, deflections, and breakaways.

The only one he might like to have was Hornquist’s second on the slapper, but even that was a deflected shot that skipped on the ice.

Colorado Avalanche - Tampa Bay Lightning - December 8th, 2018
Colorado Avalanche - Pittsburgh Penguins - December 4th, 2018

TB
1st - Cross ice one timer
2nd - Breakaway
3rd - Deflection by Point in the slot leads to rebound
4th - Back door tap in
5th - Palat dances in wide open from the circle

The only bad goal given up was the 6th by Grubauer, but like the Oiler game he gets a semi pass for being thrown into the fire without a warmup.

Pit
1st - Backdoor tap in
2nd - Deflected in slot to Malkin back door for tap in
3rd - Slap pass back door tap in
4th - Hornquist standing inches in front of Varly deflects it, then grabs rebound and puts it in
5th - Deflects off Cole’s stick, hits the ice and skips up in the air seven hole
6th - Puck’s being shot to the right, deflects off Kerfoot’s skate and goes all the way to the left

Varlamov is far from what is wrong with this team right now. They’re making all kinds of little mistakes in their coverage and with their puck management. They've abandoned what made them successful and are just trying to win on talent.
 

Pokecheque

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Just because goals are scored doesn’t make them bad goals though. Go back and watch how the team is playing in front of Varly, and how the pucks went in the previous two games. They’re all tap ins, deflections, and breakaways.

The only one he might like to have was Hornquist’s second on the slapper, but even that was a deflected shot that skipped on the ice.

Colorado Avalanche - Tampa Bay Lightning - December 8th, 2018
Colorado Avalanche - Pittsburgh Penguins - December 4th, 2018

TB
1st - Cross ice one timer
2nd - Breakaway
3rd - Deflection by Point in the slot leads to rebound
4th - Back door tap in
5th - Palat dances in wide open from the circle

The only bad goal given up was the 6th by Grubauer, but like the Oiler game he gets a semi pass for being thrown into the fire without a warmup.

Pit
1st - Backdoor tap in
2nd - Deflected in slot to Malkin back door for tap in
3rd - Slap pass back door tap in
4th - Hornquist standing inches in front of Varly deflects it, then grabs rebound and puts it in
5th - Deflects off Cole’s stick, hits the ice and skips up in the air seven hole
6th - Puck’s being shot to the right, deflects off Kerfoot’s skate and goes all the way to the left

Varlamov is far from what is wrong with this team right now. They’re making all kinds of little mistakes in their coverage and with their puck management. They've abandoned what made them successful and are just trying to win on talent.

He's not the number one problem but don't say he's FAR from what's wrong. He's part of it. That power play goal scored by RNH was a decent setup with the cross-ice pass but that was still a bad goal to give up. He gave that goal up the same way he gave up the Hornqvist goal that put the dagger in 'em against Pittsburgh...through a leaky armpit.

I'm not on the PLAY GRUBBY NOW bandwagon but his play the last few games has been patently unacceptable. That's not to say that the team hasn't had unacceptably bad defensive breakdowns as well, but it doesn't necessarily have to be one or the other. It just so happens on some nights, the goalie bails the team out, or the defense helps the goalie out when he's not having a great night...and right now neither of those things are happening.
 

Bender

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Sep 25, 2002
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I can't like this because of your Ghetto hate, but agree with most of it lol.

That seems a little harsh. Do YOU think he's doing well, the way he's being used?

I actually like Andrighetto and I'd like to see him do well but the way he's used now, I just don't see it happening. Put it this way, I would prefer if Ghetto went back to the Top Line with Mack & Rants where he had so much success when he first came to the Avs than using him the way he's being used now; flip-flopping between the 2nd and 4th lines. It's like he can't get into a rhythm because he keeps going from scratch to 4th line to 2nd line to scratch again. If he was given the same ice time and PP privileges that a guy like Colin Wilson has had so far this year, I think he'd be a hell of a lot better than he's shown for sure.
 

Pokecheque

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Agreed...Ghetto is IMO a very good complementary 2nd line guy, he's got speed, scrappy as all hell, and can drive play in the right direction. But he's not a particularly gifted scorer, so there has to be someone else on that line who can finish. So right now, he's kind of a bad fit for the Avs. There's also the fact that he keeps getting hurt. I don't think he holds a ton of value but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets moved before the deadline. I don't see him sticking around past this season. Still a hell of a trade for a guy the Habs ended up losing for nothing.
 
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Foppa2118

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Oct 3, 2003
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He's not the number one problem but don't say he's FAR from what's wrong. He's part of it. That power play goal scored by RNH was a decent setup with the cross-ice pass but that was still a bad goal to give up. He gave that goal up the same way he gave up the Hornqvist goal that put the dagger in 'em against Pittsburgh...through a leaky armpit.

I'm not on the PLAY GRUBBY NOW bandwagon but his play the last few games has been patently unacceptable. That's not to say that the team hasn't had unacceptably bad defensive breakdowns as well, but it doesn't necessarily have to be one or the other. It just so happens on some nights, the goalie bails the team out, or the defense helps the goalie out when he's not having a great night...and right now neither of those things are happening.

In the end though your criticism is basically on one game, where you admit it was a nice setup on a cross ice pass through the PK box. Plus one goal in a blowout where the team played like crap and the puck deflected and skipped on the ice. Does this really warrant the level of criticism being given? Especially after the way he's played all year? And last year down the stretch before Jurco took out his knee?
 

Frobbo

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Feb 21, 2008
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All this complaining about line combos is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. They need better players to get better results. Some improvement can come from within over time but they are who they are. This is a consequence of several bad draft years. Trades, FA's have helped but no development from within beyond the first rounders.
 
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henchman21

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The Avs would look a hell of a lot better if there was a good #2C on this team. Soda with better linemates improves things, but I don't see it moving the needle. A good #2C would give the Avs a real solid 1-2-3 rotation.
 

CobraAcesS

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That seems a little harsh. Do YOU think he's doing well, the way he's being used?

I actually like Andrighetto and I'd like to see him do well but the way he's used now, I just don't see it happening. Put it this way, I would prefer if Ghetto went back to the Top Line with Mack & Rants where he had so much success when he first came to the Avs than using him the way he's being used now; flip-flopping between the 2nd and 4th lines. It's like he can't get into a rhythm because he keeps going from scratch to 4th line to 2nd line to scratch again. If he was given the same ice time and PP privileges that a guy like Colin Wilson has had so far this year, I think he'd be a hell of a lot better than he's shown for sure.

Don't try to convince me Ghetto should be moved. I'm a blind homer where he is concerned lol.

I'd like them to try him with Soda, but I'm not holding my breath.
 

Piestany88

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Sep 29, 2017
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He's not the number one problem but don't say he's FAR from what's wrong. He's part of it. That power play goal scored by RNH was a decent setup with the cross-ice pass but that was still a bad goal to give up. He gave that goal up the same way he gave up the Hornqvist goal that put the dagger in 'em against Pittsburgh...through a leaky armpit.

I'm not on the PLAY GRUBBY NOW bandwagon but his play the last few games has been patently unacceptable. That's not to say that the team hasn't had unacceptably bad defensive breakdowns as well, but it doesn't necessarily have to be one or the other. It just so happens on some nights, the goalie bails the team out, or the defense helps the goalie out when he's not having a great night...and right now neither of those things are happening.
In fairness Nuge has an excellent wrister
 

Foppa2118

Registered User
Oct 3, 2003
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All this complaining about line combos is like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. They need better players to get better results. Some improvement can come from within over time but they are who they are. This is a consequence of several bad draft years. Trades, FA's have helped but no development from within beyond the first rounders.

Either this or a couple of the the young guys need to take another step in their development. They need to add at least one more quality forward either way though. The draft or UFA might help take care of that though.

I don't think the issue is drafting lately, I think it's that as an organization they've focused more on acquiring defenseman through trade and the draft, than they have forwards. Zadorov and Girard being the main pieces of big trades that shipped out top 6 forwards. They took a fair amount of defenseman in the three drafts before last years too. Makar, Timmins, Leivermann, Anderson, Clurman, Meloche, Mironov, and Boikov.

It's very hard for teams to draft their way to good forward and defensive depth. Teams usually do well at one and then have to make up for the other in other ways. The Avs had the opposite problem before being deeper up front and thinner on the backend.
 

Freaky Styley

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Lol, in one way I am kind of happy how things ended - I read the Oilers PGT and they're beyond salty with Mikko's garbage points. I mean you can say that 90% of McDavid's entire career has been garbage points, but whateva.
Not really sure how leading a comeback is a 'garbage point' when they were a bounce away from making it a one goal game at the end. Or how he could have had at least 2 points in the first period if it weren't for Koskinen. Those Oil fans are out to lunch. Garbage points are what Kerfoot does, padding leads ahead by 2 or more. Dragging the team on your back to try to force a tie is something different.
 

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