It wasn't a stellar night for anyone, including Bednar. Didn't like his lineup decisions last night.
Avs absolutely dominated the overall shot share but this is one instance where it doesn't jive with the eye test (at least at first glance). Felt like they lost nearly every puck battle. There was one moment I wanted to scream at the TV (actually I DID scream at the TV) because Manson mashed Newhook into the boards behind the net, Newhook fell down but still managed to make a play. Give him credit...I thought he played pretty well, thought for sure he was going to score on one of the three power plays to finish the game, and he very nearly did.
The third line of Wood-Colton-Parise got their frickin' doors blown in, and the fourth line/third pairing didn't fare much better. Top six were much better in that department, though I'm not about to say they played well overall.
I'm not that concerned (though the continued play of Colton, Wood, and now Nichushkin has me a little wary at this point), the best of teams shit the bed every now and then. Happened with all three Cup teams. Hopefully this is just a wakeup call to get them back on track. I can't help but think though that this team really struggles after extended time off. Never fails. You'd think a team that skates as much as they do would be thrown off way more on back-to-backs, but that's the case, the opposite is true.
Should be noted that Nuke played just over 10 minutes last night. So even Bednar seems to know something is up. I'm hoping it's not health-related and he's just in a funk.