Well, I will say this about Joel Quenneville: he’s consistent. His team has consistently shown that trying to protect a 1-goal lead with, say, a third of the game left to be played is futile. And yet, he soldiers on. Anyone who didn’t know the Avs would go into their shell with a 2-1 lead hasn’t been paying attention to the team this year. And anyone who didn’t know the team would not be able to hold that lead…well, let’s just say there aren’t very many of you out there, other than our coach.
The Avalanche did a lot of things right in the first 40 minutes of the game, especially on the offensive side of the coin. The Avs outshot the Ducks 21-10 through the first two periods, and the team’s hard work led to goals by Jeff Finger (a one-timer set up nicely by TJ Hensick) and Andrew Brunette (a rebound from a John-Michael Liles point shot). While the Avs weren’t playing all that well defensively (more on that in a bit), the Ducks were having a tough finding the net, and Colorado’s mini-scoring outburst (two goals!) had them up 2-1 at the second intermission.
You know how this plays out, even if you didn’t stay up for it. The Avs turtled in the 3rd period, trying desperately to cling to the 2-1 lead. Only 3 NHL teams have more losses in one-goal games, so it’s not exactly news that the team couldn’t stay in front. While some teams make a living in these sorts of situations, this team isn’t one of them. Most teams seem to protect a lead by clogging the neutral zone with bodies. The Avalanche instead kept four guys back in their zone, essentially just waiting for the Ducks to come in and take their shots. For a team that struggles with clearing attempts (and let’s face it, neither Peter Budaj or Jose Theodore are exactly Martin Brodeur between the pipes), this strategy just seems…idiotic. Shockingly, the Ducks scored when the Avs failed to clear (when 8′11″ Chris Pronger knocked the puck out of midair and fired it on net). The lead was gone, and the best the Avs could muster was a point for losing in the shootout.
While the Avs held the Ducks to 22 shots, they had some issues defensively. Scott Hannan seemed hellbent on making me look like a fool for yesterday’s article and turned in one of his worst defensive performances in weeks. Kurt Sauer and Jeff Finger (wearing a face shield because of an eye injury) both had strong games, but, in general, the low shot total was more due to the Ducks either missing the net or fanning on glorious scoring chances. All six penalties taken by the team were by the D - 3 by Hannan. This game could have easily been much worse.
Game Notes
I didn’t take publishable notes for the game last night, and I think that trend is going to continue. Unless there’s a huge outcry, I’m going to take a break from the game notes / live blog thing except for special occasions.
Lines
I will, however, probably do a little post like this at the start of the game showing the lines. As I mentioned last night, every single line and defensive pairing was changed for the game. Karlis Skrastins and Jaroslav Hlinka - who played probably his worst NHL game on Monday - were scratched in favor of Kyle Cumiskey and Scott Parker.
Quick Hits
- Not normally a shot blocker, Kurt Sauer had 5 blocks to lead both teams. The 5 matched a season high set just 5 games ago against Vancouver.
- With a 53.8% faceoff percentage, the Avs won the battle of the draw for the 3rd time in the last 20 games.
- Budaj is now 6-3-4 in his last 13 starts.
Next Up
The Avs travel to Pheonix to take on the Coyotes on Friday.
Finger is really emerging as a wonderfull player, I couldn’t be happier with his developement to this point. Q did some really wierd things with defensive matchups to start the game. He put Hannan on the right side with Sauer and then switched Sauer over the right with Cumiskey on the left. It was a blender on the defensive side.
Budaj was sharp on some shots but he got some seriously lucky bounces last night. That game could have been 4-2 going in to the 3rd.
That game was way less physical than the last meeting, is it simply because Parker was available?
Wolski goes to the 4th line with Jones and Parker? This is another thing I don’t understand. McLeod has been just plain bad of late. Hejduk has been invisible for so long it’s hard to remember when he actually had a memorable shift. It’s great we scored two goals but we still got shut out in the first and both goals are because of the defensemen put quality shots on net and in one case Brunette was were he was supposed to be.
I think over all the defense looked much better with Mr. Skrastins but by Q trying to protect Cumiskey against ice time in the 3rd and how he started the game he didn’t do them any favors. We know the Avs were shutting it down with 12 minutes left. When Cumiskey and Parker start putting their feet up you know what the game plan is. Q may believe he’s not shutting it down but there’s no other message that can be sent when you suddenly shorten your bench.
I mean without Mr. Skrastins, not with.
By the way, Finger got hurt on a shift and then in our second back to back PK Liles shifted out for Finger. It was…. interesting.
Shocking we won the faceoff %, toward the end there I swear it was all Arnason taking them. Could there be a more frustrating team than the Avs to watch these days? I’m just about done for the season. My wife and I went from physically going to 10 - 15 games the last 2 seasons, to just one game this season, and NOT because of money. They better shake things up, this team is bad for business.
Where is this team’s identity? I blame failing to re-sign Hinote.
FYI I have statistical proof the avs blow leads, especially lately. Let’s just say we’re right, Q is wrong.
This is getting frustrating…another game we should have won and instead had to settle for 1pt. I am actually surprised we got the 1pt. The way the Ducks were getting chances in that game…their scoring chances were almost the same number as their shots. Budaj needs to fix that hole in between his legs. the Ducks narrowly missed two goals on shots that find their way through the 5-hole. One hit a flap and just went wide, the other trickled in and Wolski got a stick on it before it went over the line. And were did Perry score in the Shoot-out? 5-hole!
Hejduk…someone needs to kick him in the ass and tell him he is the veteran on this team right now and he should be leading. Instead he’s disappeared, maybe he should find a seat in the press box for a game or two, couldn’t hurt.
I just realized your graphics comparing this team to last year’s are gone, what happened to them?
I only prepped graphics up to -25. I need to remember to get some new ones tomorrow.
currently, we’re
+4 for pts
-30 for gf
-25 for ga
Ouch. Not exactly what I had in mind for this year. Although you have got to love that -25 GA.
Ouch. Not exactly what I had in mind for this year. Although you have got to love that -25 GA.
Too bad at had to come at the price of -30 Goals For though.