Well, that was a quick trip back to earth. The Avs’ 5-game winning streak ended last night with Calgary shutting out the good guys 3-0.
This was similar to the Buffalo game in that the score was tight through the first two periods - as in 0-0 after two. That’s where the similarities end, though. While that was a back and forth nail-biter between two teams playing good, hard, smart hockey, this one seemed to be two teams just going through the motions. Both teams looked extremely tentative, like they would have been perfectly happy to skate to a 0-0 tie. After two periods, shots were equal (20-20). There wasn’t a ton of hitting, scoring chances or penalties. It was almost scrimmage-like.
In the 3rd, one of the teams woke up…and it wasn’t the 18 guys wearing the uniprons. The Flames started working for it, and it paid off. At the 8:24 mark, David Moss outworked the Avs down low and Curtis Glencross used his powers of invisibility to get between Marek Svatos and a wide open net. That would be all the Flames would need (the Avs mustered just 2 shots in the final frame), but they’d add a couple of insurance tallies just for kicks. At 12:58 Rene Bourque also outworked the Avs below the goal line and beat Budaj with a shot from behind the net. That play started when Darcy Tucker lazily turned the puck over at center ice, and it was the proverbial backbreaker. Just a couple of minutes later, Bourque outraced Ruslan Salei to beat an icing call before dishing back to a wide open Michael Cammalleri. Now, I used the word “outraced” in the previous sentence, and that’s a bit of a stretch as Salei probably would have beaten to the puck by a glacier. If there’s anyone who know how dangerous those kinds of races, it’s Salei and I think the touch-up icing rule is a dangerous dinosaur the NHL should make extinct…but damn, Ruslan, you can do more than just watch the play, can’t you?
I don’t think there’s a ton that you can do with this game. The Avs didn’t play great…but didn’t play badly enough to start making some wholesale Quenneville-esque changes. I am losing patience with the 3rd line, though. David Jones is bringing his lunch pail each night, but Tyler Arnason and Marek Svatos have both been woefully inconsistent. I personally think it’s time to swap Jones and Darcy Tucker. Jones goes back to the 2nd line where he started the season, and Tucker, Arnason and Svatos can find a comfy seat on the bench between their occasional (and carefully-chosen) shifts.
Lines
The only change was a swap of Ben Guite and Cody McCormick. Guite was a scratch and McCormick took his spot as 4th line center (I’ve seen some people say that Laperriere is centering that line when it’s him and the Codys, but it’s actually McCormick in the middle).
I’m on vacation this week, so I’ve tweaked the ITCS reports quite a bit. I’ve added the 3 stars, referees and linesmen, links to the NHL.com reports and, perhaps most importantly, I’ve made the shift charts a lot easier to read.
Quick Hits
- Brett Clark went to the dressing room after taking a puck off the leg or foot in the 3rd period, but did not miss his next shift (and led the team in TOI)
- Clark had more blocked shots (5) than the entire Flames team (4). Clark is currently 3rd in the league with 28.
- The Avs have won just 41.3% of their faceoffs against Calgary (vs 52.4% against the rest of the league). A lot of that is thanks to Craig Conroy, who is 19 for 29 against the Avs (65.5%)
Next Up
The Avs host the Columbus Blue Jackets. At 3-6-0, the BJs have the worst record in the Western Conference.
The 3rd line killed us last night. Always jammed in their own zone, no offensive pressure, and they were the ones on the ice for the only goal that mattered (the others were essentially empty-netters, as the team seemed to just give up).
Something MUST be done to make that line viable again. We’re wasting Marek Svatos, and we’re wasting a good start to the year from Jones too. I’m not sure is it’s swapping Jones and Tucker, or getting a better playmaker at center (Hensick), or even going to a harder worker like Guite there. I honestly think a Jones / Guite / Svatos line might work better than a Hensick centered line, just because it’s got more want-to and size.
I agree with the doc. Sit Arny and try Guite in the middle of that line. To me, it’s an upgrade defensively, has a little more heft to it, and a ton more finish.
The tide of public opinion is starting to turn on Arnason from what I can tell around the Internet so far. Love it or hate it, I think Granato has pledged to bring consistancy to his lineups. But after nearly 10 games in I think he can be assured that he’s given Arny every chance.
In Arny’s defense, he’s not the reason the Avs lost that game. He’s certainly not helping but he’s not the scapegoat for that loss. This was a game where the Avs effectively shut down one of the hotest lines in hockey with Iginlia and Bertuzzi (Foote and Clark did the same thing against Buffalo and the Vanek line). However, Calgary did a very effective job against the RPM line. When that happens the other lines have to create the momentum instead of just feeding off the momentum that the Stastny line generates. The Sakic line was just really lethargic last night. Wolski had some nice puck possessions and Von Wolski curls but there was nothing to pass to. My hope was with Tucker we would have a guy who could read the pulse of a game and ignite some passion when the game needed it. It was Tuckers chance to do that last night and he failed miserably. Even McLeod went out there and got a little buzz going with a near boarding call. Has anyone been remotely distracted by Tucker this year? I haven’t seen it.
I think there are certain kinds of players that can engergize your whole team with a given play. It can be done at any position. Your goaltender can make a spectacular save, a forward like Svatos can dance in a make a big goal, a defenseman like Salei can lay down a huge hit or a guy like Lappy can get in a timely fight. No one on the Avs made a big play to change the energy in that game. I think Jones tried to make a big effort last night by dancing around a check and charging the net and also by beating out an icing call but his centerman wasn’t there to support the effort. If he did that on Sakic’s line I think it might have been more effective because Sakic would have supported the puck carrier.
Salei and Leopold don’t look real comfortable out there, I’m not fan of that pairing. I’ll give Cloutier some credit though, he’s one of the best I’ve seen at making sure his defensemen shift out against the lines he wants. I don’t think Iginla saw much ice time that didn’t include Foote. In fact, the Avs have been effective in shutting down most of the top lines in the last four games, starting with Kopitar in LA.
I like the changes to the recap. In IE7 I do get an alignment issue with the 3 stars. For some reason the 2nd and 3rd stars have the star graphic overlaping the number and the 1st star carries over to 4 columns, while the player name skips column 2. It’s hard to explain.
The center position of that third line is the killer. Arnaso was the worst player on the ice for the Avs last night, He wasn’t invisible, he was getting beat at every opportunity. I think he is very deserving of a seat in the press box considering his play through the first 8 games.
I’m with the analysis of the 3rd line, it’s awful. Arnason is lousy, but the other two guys haven’t been THAT much better. Svatos doesn’t create on his own. Jones made some individually nice plays. The chemistry between the three is absolute zero.
Honestly, I’m not thrilled with the Sakic line, either. I would like to see Svatos moved up to that line in place of Wolski or Tucker, take your pick (I’d pick Tucker).
I thought Salei was excellent since he came last year. He doesn’t look like the same dude this year. Isn’t Leopold supposed to have offensive abilities? Becuase he really doesn’t show them nearly often enough.
I feel bad for the Flamer fans that bought tickets to that game, they should get 2/3 of their money back.