Takeaways

— Alexandar Georgiev played one of his best games of the year tonight. With his .966 save percentage for the night, he kept the Avalanche in the game. He made remarkable saves, compensating for the defense’s mistakes in their own zone. The last time his save percentage was higher than this was against Tampa Bay on November 27th. He had a solid .974 save percentage that night in the victory over the Lightning.

Big save from Georgie #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/Xdrz6UdfGR

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) December 30, 2023

— The defense has been lax in recent games. The defense appears sluggish, struggling to reach the puck in time. They have also been out of position frequently and have led to multiple scoring chances for the opponent. Their passing looks out of sync to a point that a lot of passes overshoot the intended receiver.

Devon Toews uses Miles Wood's screen in front to put the Avalanche up 2-1 late in the third!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/xMK9tZ8SEa

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) December 30, 2023

— Jonathan Drouin is finding his stride with the Avalanche, currently on a two-game point streak. Looking over the month of December, Drouin played in 14 games where he had two goals and eight assists. Not too shabby for a forward that makes under a million per year. He is really showing that he is comfortable with the system and playing healthy. Not to mention, getting out of the pressure cooker of Montreal has certainly helped him.

Ryan Johansen shovels home the rebound for his 11th goal of the year, giving Colorado the 1-0 lead!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/57R3IkPFVj

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) December 30, 2023

— Nathan MacKinnon’s amazing 19 game point streak has ended. MacKinnon hasn’t been held off of the scoresheet since November 18 in Dallas. In the 19 games, MacKinnon tallied 56 points, 19 of which were goals. He now owns the third longest scoring streak in franchise history behind former teammate Paul Stastny.

Analysis

The Avalanche are missing one key ingredient in their win tonight: confidence. Neither the defense nor some forwards were confident in making plays outside the zone. The loss to Arizona really shook Colorado up mentally and they needed the win tonight. They have work remaining, despite their victory. Colorado needs to close the gaps defensively and work on carrying the puck into the offensive zone. Colorado’s next game is on Sunday against a struggling San Jose at Ball Arena.

The post Avalanche get much needed turnaround in St. Louis appeared first on The Rink.

Defense

There was a lack of back-checking throughout the entire game, leading to several breakaways by the Blues. Cale Makar frequently failed to recover for the back-check after being caught out of position. The Blues’ first goal is a good example of how the defense was out of position. If Sam Girard had not been so deep in the crease, the puck would not have gone off him. There seemed to be a lack of effort overall. The statistics disagree, but the energy level was lacking.

Torey Krug's point shot pinballs in off a body to give the Blues the lead just 68 seconds in!#STLBlues pic.twitter.com/r5En9wddqQ

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) November 12, 2023

Brandon Saad turns on the jets and patiently finds Brayden Schenn in front to put the Blues up by 2!#STLBlues pic.twitter.com/hv9JeBmQLx

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) November 12, 2023

Offense

The offensive puck passing was extremely poor. One example is when MacDermid came into the Avalanche zone to help Josh Manson out, and the pass was a weak, effortless pass. It threw off MacDermid, and he tossed it back to Manson, who immediately threw it back and MacDermid turned it over and it led to a Blues chance on the net. The Avalanche zone exits were sloppy and lacked their usual speed, allowing the Blues’ defense to catch up and steal the puck. Even the goalies were having issues passing the puck to open players for a breakout, nearly turning it over several times.

BUCHNEVICH AGAIN! Two hat tricks for the Blues in the same game as Pavel Buchnevich scores his third!

#STLBlues pic.twitter.com/9Cn3RcSeaN

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) November 12, 2023

Analysis

There is no need to be worried about the Avalanche…yet. They are now only 13 games into a long 82-game season. Are there any items that need to be addressed? Absolutely. It starts with goaltending and you have to work your way forward. Give Alexandar Georgiev more breaks. He cannot be working six or seven games in a row, then only taking one game off. Ivan Prosvetov needs to raise his game. Synchronization is crucial for the defense, while the forwards on lines three and four must improve. Do not panic and call for anyone’s head, just make some minor adjustments to the system and it will be fine.

The post Blues crush the Avalanche, what went wrong? appeared first on The Rink.

Now, for the real reason, we were actually turning the television on tonight…the game itself. The Avalanche’s game against the St. Louis Blues was crucial. They did not resemble themselves in the last two road games, losing without scoring. Tonight was a different story. The Avalanche won 4–1, but what did they do right?

• Ivan Provestov looked like he belonged in the Colorado net. Starting in 2019 with the Tucson Roadrunners, he has consistently troubled the Colorado Eagles. He stayed composed, positioned himself appropriately, and showed physicality at the right moments. He had a lot of confidence in the net to gain his first win in an Avalanche sweater.
• Riley Tufte came up from the Eagles yesterday and drew into the lineup and had an immediate impact. Tufte has played six games for the Eagles and earned himself eight points, enough to be the team’s leading scorer. Despite not scoring, he made his presence felt with four shots and powerful play in the corners and in front of the net.
• They sat two big name veterans in Tomas Tatar and Jonathan Drouin in favor of Tufte and Kurtis MacDermid. Drouin has struggled as of late, gaining only one assist in eight games. He has not found that magic that most were hoping for would come with the matchup with Nathan MacKinnon. They brought in MacDermid for his fear factor. With the Blues being a division rival, coach Jared Bednar did not hesitate to send a message to St. Louis.

Despite slipping in the last two games, Colorado regained their footing on Wednesday. Passes were on the tape, skaters in position. Having the home crowd there for them certainly helped as well. The Avalanche will challenge the defending Stanley Cup Champions in Vegas on Saturday.

The post TV issues overshadow Avalanche win appeared first on The Rink.

Some Avs fans were confident that the team could bounce back from the string of recent losses, while others did not think a win was possible at all.

What changed in this game? The whole team effort went back to being one where the players finished their checking, they were communicating, passing was more on point and there were three or more players together working to take the puck off the opposition.

That overall combined team chemistry appeared to be back. Given the situation in the past few games where it has been hard to name more than one or two players that contributed all game, Thursday was a different story.

Sure, some people who watched the game would comment that a number of the players did not do much. Nathan MacKinnon would be one of those named players. He still seemed off his play for most of the night, and yet, he contributed in key situations, not scoring the goals himself, but supporting the play that led to the goal.

Thursday’s contributors

Logan O’Connor

Head Coach Jared Bednar has a lot of confidence in Logan O’Connor, and for the right reasons. O’Connor has been a standout player for most of the games the Avalanche have played so far this season. O’Connor started the season on the fourth line and last game was moved to the third line. During the week, Bednar moved O’Connor up to the second line, and he commented that it was because he likes his play, something Bednar has been commenting on for a number of weeks.

O’Connor played his usual gritty game, stopping pucks, annoying both forwards and defenseman from the Blues alike and being a strong contributor with a number of close shots on goal that unfortunately did not go in the net. Opposition players are starting to try and rough O’Connor up because of his speed and tenacity on the puck. They are recognizing he is a force to be reckoned with.

Ryan Murray

Ryan Murray came to Colorado in the offseason from the New Jersey Devils. Not only is he a smart defenseman, but he also plays special teams, something the Avs needed to shore up after losing both Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Matt Calvert in the offseason.

Murray was present in the past six games, just not in the same way as in this game. It seemed that Murray found his feet with the Avalanche’s system in this game. He was visible and created strong opportunities leading to two assists on the goals from J.T. Compher and Nazem Kadri.

Marc Moser from Altitude TV commented that he thought it was Murray’s best game yet in an Avalanche jersey.

The D core (Murray, Bowen Byram, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, Kurtis MacDermid and Cale Makar)

Of this list of six players, Kurtis MacDermid was the only player that did not make a consistent contribution all night. Erik Johnson struggled a little at times, but the others played very strong games for all three periods. Murray had his best game of the season so far. Jack Johnson made key plays and was shooting pucks at the net, when he could, on a number of occasions. Bowen Byram showed again during this game that he is not to be messed with, standing up to a much bigger player, as he has done in the previous few games. He is showing opposing teams that he is a defensive player who is going to hold strong on his position and do what he has to do to protect his team.

Jacob MacDonald

MacDonald has been benched for the last two games, so Thursday was a chance to see him on the ice. The big difference was that instead of him playing in his usual position on defense, he was on the wing, playing on the fourth line. Whether it was simply the fact that he got to play with the Avalanche again, after playing games last season, or the fact that he was moved into a different position, MacDonald played with strength, determination and fire that has not been seen from him before. He was a big contributor in a number of different situations. It was great to see and will now be interesting to see what Bednar chooses to do in the next game, which is back home in Denver on Saturday.

Overall thoughts on the game

Something changed with the team on Thursday. They came out with a fire that had not been present in the last five games. The overall TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) effort was evident for most of the game.

The young players contributed. Overall, the team gelled more against the Blues than they have so far this season. It was evident that the Avalanche had talked about putting pucks on net, as they ended up with many more shots on goal than the Blues at the end of the game with a lopsided 42–18 margin. Quite a difference.

For most of the game, the Avs dominated the face-off win percentage. That only shifted in the very latter part of the game. It is always evident when the Avalanche are playing well that it starts with them winning a larger amount of the face-offs.

The Avs had five power play opportunities and scored on one. While there was an improvement in their special teams effort, it could still do with some work.

Darcy Kuemper was again strong in net. A couple of the Blues goals were from crazy bounces, and another from a defensive breakdown by the Avalanche, something he cannot be blamed for. Overall, he contributed to the win.

People might call me out for not mentioning Compher as a standout player. Again, he made a few strong players and notched up two goals, which makes for raving fans. For this writer, there were still too many instances where he made bad plays or did not do what he was supposed to, and those outweigh the one or two brilliant things for me.

After this game, the Avalanche are now 3–4–0, not the start you would expect from the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners.

The Avalanche face the Minnesota Wild at home on Saturday. Let’s see if the team can remember Thursday’s contributions and bring it again on Saturday night.

The post Avalanche beat Blues for much-needed win appeared first on The Rink.

Regardless, the game came down to the wire with the Blues trying their hardest to push the series to a fifth game. Unfortunately for them, it was too hard to stop the Colorado Avalanche who proved to be the better team.

First Period

Mark Rycroft of Altitude TV was asked before the game how we will know if the Avalanche are on track to win the game? His response was, “Tape to tape passes versus Tommy turnovers in the first ten minutes of the game.”

The pace was slow to start the period with both teams feeling each other out. The Avalanche did have some close chances, but none went in. Blues forward Ryan O’Reilly had an opportunity to try and bank the puck off of Avalanche goaltender Philipp Grubauer’s shoulder, but Grubauer made a great save to keep the Blues off the scoreboard.

Similar to in game one, Coach Bednar called for short shifts, trying to get the momentum going. Alex Newhook took a big hit from a Blues defenseman and slid into the boards looking like he injured his back. He slowly made it to the bench then left for the dressing room to not return.

Late in the period, Ryan O’Reilly put the puck on net and Grubauer missed it as he was screened. But Ryan Graves saved the day again, just as he had in game one. The first penalty of the game came when Mikko Rantanen was called for tripping St. Louis forward Vladimir Tarasenko with two minutes left in the period. The Blues weren’t able to capitalize and the period ended with no score with shots on goal nine for Colorado and four for St. Louis.

That period didn’t feel like playoff hockey. Not a ton of intensity from either side, to be honest.

— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) May 23, 2021

Second Period

The Avalanche started the second period with time to kill on the penalty and they did that successfully. With 15:35 remaining in the period, Tarasenko sprung loose on a breakaway and scored the first goal of the game.  It was the first lead of the series for St. Louis.

Nearly halfway through the period and the shots on goal were the Avalanche 16 and Blues 9.

With 8:23 remaining, Cale Makar found Brandon Saad in the slot on the powerplay who let a wrist shot go and it hit the back of the net tying the game at one. Philipp Grubauer had passed the puck out to Cale Makar who then sent the puck to Saad, so Grubauer registered his first assist for the Playoffs.

That goal gave the Avalanche the momentum they needed when three minutes later Gabe Landeskog tipped in a Samuel Girard shot to give the Avalanche the lead.

Now that's OUR Captain #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/crnH4WLOqT

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 24, 2021

Third Period

Brandon Saad was interviewed in the second intermission and when asked what the Avalanche needed to do in the third period he responded with “Keep it simple. The only chances they get are the ones we give them.”

Walking through that goal with Saader!

: @AltitudeTV#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/NmZf3eTXEa

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 23, 2021

The third period was going to be make or break time for the Blues. Avalanche players were peppering the net with good shots and at one point Jordan Binnington was laying on the puck as it was the only way to stop the Avalanche from scoring.

The commentators noted that at this point in the series that Connor Timmins and Patrik Nemeth were the only two Avalanche players without points on the entire team. That shows the depth of this team.

Mikko Rantanen silenced the crowd at Enterprise Center when he put the Avs in front 3-1 on a beautiful pass from Nathan MacKinnon.

Give us every angle of Mikko's goal EVER#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/wfHX6U9SFR

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 23, 2021

With just under two minutes remaining in the period, the Blues pulled Binnington. Not long after that Nathan MacKinnon was hit with a high stick and a double minor was called that sealed the game for the Avalanche.

This, of course, put Colorado on the power play but with the empty net, it remained five on five hockey as the Blues put an extra attacker on the ice. This didn’t stop the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon from scoring the first of two empty-net goals, with the second by Valeri Nichuchskin with only two seconds remaining.

It may be an empty net but Baby!!!! I GOT MY VALLLLLLLLL GOAL

— She.Loves.Avs.n.F1 (@Avs_n_F1) May 23, 2021

The final score was 5-2 giving the Avalanche the first round sweep.

Gabriel Landeskog in his post-game interview said “Our defensive game is what’s gonna get us through. It was tonight.”

The post Avalanche sweep Blues, advance to second round appeared first on The Rink.

Colorado’s Nazem Kadri has been suspended for eight games for an Illegal Check to the Head on St. Louis’ Justin Faulk. https://t.co/5rg2ZPVm5P

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) May 22, 2021

Period one

The first period seemed as though both teams were being a little too careful and not wanting to make any mistakes. The Blues were clearly the more physical team, and the Avalanche tried their best to play a solid road game by keeping things simple. St. Louis had a couple of sequences where they pinned Colorado deep in their own zone, but Philipp Grubauer was able to keep the Avalanche in the contest.

Period two

The second was when all the action started. Just two minutes into the frame, birthday boy Ryan Graves was released from the penalty box and found the puck for a breakaway. Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington misjudged playing the puck and left the net to challenge Graves, who was then able to score the first goal of the game.

Ryan Graves taking full advantage here. #StanleyCup

: https://t.co/NAvBGZ9Yg8 @NHLonNBCSports
: https://t.co/OQ9vAnIFa6 @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/XZhUV069l9

— NHL (@NHL) May 22, 2021

Later in the second, Alex Newhook carried the puck into the zone on an odd-man rush and centered a pass trying to find Valeri Nichushkin’s stick. The puck missed and ricocheted to JT Compher, who fired a shot off Binnington’s left pad, which rebounded right back to Newhook for his first NHL goal. But Colorado was not done yet. Minutes later, Gabriel Landeskog found Tyson Jost on another opportunity, who capitalized to make it 3–0 Avs.

Out of desperation, the Blues challenged Jost’s goal for goaltender interference, which they lost, thus putting the Avalanche on the power play. But, just before the period ended, Cale Makar lost the puck behind the net to Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly, who set up Tyler Bozak for a shorthanded tally. The Blues would cut the lead to 3–1 heading into the third period.

GETTING YOUR FIRST NHL GOAL IN THE PLAYOFFS, NOTTA BIG DEAL @AlexNewhook_ pic.twitter.com/MslOJfQYv4

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) May 22, 2021

Period three

St. Louis continued hitting as much as they could and ultimately finished the game with 46 hits as a team. But, it was the Avalanche that kept skating and making the Blues defend high-danger chances. More than halfway through the third, Andre Burakovsky skated into the St. Louis zone and found a streaking Brandon Saad, who scored his 20th career playoff goal to put Colorado ahead 4–1. Then, with a few minutes remaining in the game with Binnington pulled, Compher sealed the game with an empty-net goal.

https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1395953528120782851?s=20

What’s next?

The Avalanche have a commanding 3–0 series lead and have the opportunity on Sunday to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In NHL history, there have only been four teams to ever come back from a 3–0 deficit in a series, so the numbers are on Colorado’s side. Unfortunately, the Avs will not have Kadri available for some time, but those shoes will have to be filled by Jost, who has been playing very well lately.

The post Avalanche beat Blues 5–1 in Game 3, look to advance Sunday appeared first on The Rink.