Avalanche need to stop trying to reinvent the wheel

So, I just finished watching the Avs play the Blackhawks from the lower bowl, something I try to do at least once a year. There is no comparison to what you notice seeing a game from close to ice level instead of the press-box rafters or on TV.

And, honestly, if I had a dollar for every “awwwwwww” or “nooooooooooo” I heard from very frustrated Avs fans, I’d be going out to a postgame steak dinner at Morton’s with all the trimmings. I haven’t seen Avs fans that mad/frustrated by a game in a while. (Not to mention, seeing fly-by-night bandwagon Blackhawks fans who didn’t even care slap high fives made it triply frustrating, at least for the people I was sitting around).

My biggest takeaway from this game is the same one I’ve had for similar Avs losses of late: They beat themselves.

Too fancy at too many times off the rush, too much well-intentioned passing that instead is hurting the team, too many bad penalties at wrong times, too many weird goals against that somehow wind up being game-killers.

The Avs absolutely were the better team than the Blackhawks when it came to puck possession, shot metrics, good scoring chances, all that stuff. But they just couldn’t finish anything, save for a J.T. Compher goal in the second period after a brilliant pass from Alexander Kerfoot.

Nathan MacKinnon was really flying out there tonight, just a terror with the puck coming up the ice. But something hasn’t been quite clicking with him of late when he gets to the dots. Either he’s just missing with shots or making passes that are getting broken up. But, look, if he keeps playing like he did tonight, the points will come. He had eight shots on net, for crying out loud. Yet, it was a really frustrating night for him.

MacKinnon just sat there at his locker after the game, staring at the carpet. It’s like even he couldn’t believe he didn’t have a hat trick just by accident out there.

As incredibly cliched as this sounds, I think the Avs – and MacKinnon especially – just have to go back to basics some and take shots from any and every angle and stop trying to be so fancy. The same goes for guys like Tyson Barrie, who seemed to have a million good looks with the puck, but either hesitated too long before getting a shot off or overpassed. In a game in which the Avs got five power plays, they need more than just one shot on net from their power-play quarterback.

If the Avs can be compared to a Star Wars movie right now, they need to use The Force and stop trying too hard. To compare it to a chess match (something I’ve taken up again after too many dormant years, after being something of a child prodigy at the game), I always lose when I think too hard. Just let the moves come to you, trust your instincts. That’s what the Avs need to do more of again.

Philipp Grubauer? He made some great saves, some real crowd-pleasers. But that game-winning goal? Ugh. Somehow, he let himself get outplayed just enough by a guy playing his third career NHL game.

The third and fourth lines continue to be a grab bag of inconsistency on offense. Tyson Jost has so much skill and speed, but now he’s buried on the fourth line and to me this is a real worry. I worry about him losing his confidence, if he hasn’t already. Now, there’s even more pressure on him to produce, as Colin Wilson will be out “week to week” with a left shoulder injury – one he suffered when he tripped over Andreas Martinsen and slammed into the boards.

Gabriel Bourque? Honestly, enough already. Get a guy who won’t go perhaps a whole half a season, playing most every night, without scoring a goal. I don’t like to be harsh, but the Avs just need some guys to put the puck in the net besides the top six once in a while – and, really, more like the top three. Sven Andrighetto? Matt Nieto? Not enough offensively, all year.

It’s just one game, the Avs have a very good shot at making the playoffs, things are good in the big picture. But you can’t lose games like this, to an old, tired team like the Chicago Blackhawks, if you want to get to that next level. You can’t lose games on a short-handed breakaway like that one in overtime in St. Louis a couple weeks ago. You can’t lose to the New York Islanders in your barn. The fact is, they are 2-4-1 in the last seven games, during a month when they were supposed to make some good hay against mediocre opponents at home. That opportunity has now slipped away some.

OTHER NOTES/OBSERVATIONS

• The early word on Sam Girard is that he’ll be OK. Jared Bednar said as much afterward. He left the game about halfway through the third, on a play that should have been blown dead for icing. He clearly – clearly – beat Jonathan Toews to a puck, but the lineseman missed the call, then Girard slammed into the board, back-first, when Toews got his stick between his skates. So, two calls were missed there, and they lost Girard for the rest of a close game. But, I guess things could have been much worse.
• The Avs will call up a forward to play in tomorrow’s game at Arizona. Not sure who it will be yet.

Some quotes:
Colorado D Tyson Barrie
On Tonight’s Game: “It’s a tough one. You know, we played hard, we played a good game. Their goalie made some good stops and our power play didn’t capitalize. We were moving it around good but at some point, you have to score. It’s a bit disappointing, but we got a good chance to make up for it in Arizona tomorrow.”

Colorado LW Gabriel Landeskog
On The Power Play: “You always want to score when you’re on the power play. But for us, it felt like
in the third, that’s what we waited for and we knew we just needed to have one good power play and
one good chance and the game was going to be tied and it wasn’t even going to be a storyline after
the game, but we didn’t and here we are.”
On Colorado G Philipp Grubauer’s Performance: “He was awesome. He made the stops and kept us
in the game. Like I said, it’s up to us to put the puck in the other end.”
Chicago G Collin Delia
On His Season Debut: “Felt good. A little sloppy at times, but overall pretty good. I thought I could
have controlled a few more rebounds, play the puck a little better, but sometimes you just have to
battle it out and that’s what it was tonight.”
On The Penalty Kill: “Well I think our PK was especially good tonight. I don’t think we got seamed at
all. We kind of eliminated their chances, kept them to the perimeter. D did a good job of boxing out,
letting me see shots, so that was really good.”
Chicago C Artem Anisimov
On Chicago G Collin Delia’s Performance: “He was unbelievable tonight. He made key saves in a key
time in a game. Keep us in the game and we try, like, help him out and block the shots, clear the rebounds and everything. Overall, a team effort.”