The Colorado Avalanche returned to action tonight after a two-week break for the Four Nations Face-Off as they took on the Nashville Predators. It was a sleepy game overall and not at all like the explosive games going on around the league as teams came out rusty and disjointed defensively.
The Predators won, 2-1, in a quieter game that featured the Avalanche dominating more as the game went on but Colorado couldn’t solve Preds goalie Juuse Saros.
The Avs got on the board first behind a Sam Malinski rocket early in the second period. The lead lasted just 30 seconds as former Avalanche first-round pick Justin Barron tied the game on a shot from the point that found its way past Avs goalie Scott Wedgewood.
Heading into the third period tied at 1, the game had a lot of ways it could go. The Avs surrendered only two shots on goal in the final frame, but the first of those went in on a good-fortune bounce off the back boards and Jonathan Marchessault scored into an empty net. Easy enough.
Colorado came close to tying things up, but couldn’t get the job done. How did the Avs ultimately fall in this one?
Let’s talk about it.
Rust, baby
No matter what, a dominant storyline in this game was going to be rust. It was either going to be the players were so rusty after the long layoff, or it would be a surprise there wasn’t more rust after the long layoff. See how easy storytelling can be?
Jokes aside, the Avs actually came out hot but couldn’t finish early on. They finished the game pushing hard but couldn’t finish. The goal-scoring has been a consistent problem for the Avalanche this season when you look under the hood. With Mikko Rantanen in Carolina (for now?), the leading goal-scoring is Artturi Lehkonen. I’m sorry, but that is a problem!
Nathan MacKinnon’s willingness to pass up open looks and force passes to teammates has been a topic of discussion all season but tonight was more of what we have seen the last several years; MacKinnon was shooting with an aggressive mindset and still utilizing his vision and passing ability to create great looks elsewhere.
Colorado’s top line combined for 12 shots on goal, eight from MacKinnon. The Avs defense added nine shots on goal. That’s 21 of 32 shots on goal, meaning the other nine forwards in the lineup combined for 11 shots on goal and Juuso Parssinen, Miles Wood, and Jack Drury combined for nine of those 11 (they each had three).
This is just me shaking my head because Colorado’s lineup badly needs Val Nichushkin back but it also needs more natural goal-scorers. Asking Lehkonen to be that guy isn’t going to fly and the rest of the lineup is either pass-first or defense-first players. They need a goal-scorer (what’s up, Jared McCann?) and tonight reinforced that.
Avs defense started strong
I know it’s against a Nashville team that is going through hell right now, but the Avalanche defense in this game was really solid.
In 55:28 of 5v5, the Predators only generated 16 shots on goal, 17 scoring chances, and six high-danger chances. Those are all excellent numbers. The Predators recorded just two shots on goal in the third period. The first came at 9:11 and was Marchessault’s game-winning goal and the second came with 58 seconds remaining with Nashville killing time on a questionable four-minute power play.
Overall, it’s a great defensive effort from the Avalanche. They have been a good defensive team this season but have been prone to the big mistake. Looking at tonight’s goals against, that didn’t happen. A goal from the point and a lucky bounce that goes right to a guy’s stick aren’t things you’re defending too hard against.
I’m not going to pretend this was a perfect performance or anything, but the overall body of work says that this was one of their best defensive efforts of the season as a team. For them to lose it is really frustrating.
Sam Malinski, hello
I wrote about this in the Avalanche Mailbag I published yesterday, but Sam Malinski’s season has been two different extremes.
We saw him come to life against the Calgary Flames before the break and we saw a strong game from him tonight again. The fancystats didn’t break great for him in the end, but we saw him activating offensively and making things happen with the puck.
That aggression on offense has been sorely lacking from Malinski this year and seeing him get that part of his game going right before the break and again tonight is quite encouraging.
If Malinski can get back to the guy we saw early on in the season, the Avs are really only in need of one defenseman at the trade deadline. If he shows the same struggles over the next five games, the Avs probably need two. Regardless, Malinski taking that permanent step forward as a reliable contributor matters beyond just this season, too, but a game like tonight helps drive the bus a little more from the back end.
This is especially true with Josh Manson once again injured. He’s a sneaky important player for Colorado and one whose offense needs to take a step forward down the stretch to help the Avs score goals when Nathan MacKinnon isn’t on the ice.
