In a bizarre week for the Colorado Avalanche, the roller coaster ride continued with crazy momentum swings, weird breakdowns, brilliant moments, off-again-on-again injuries, peculiar officiating, and an odd four-day break. For only a two-game week, there’s plenty to cover in Avalanche hockey so let’s get the wild mouse ride started.
THE GOOD
1. Stick taps to rookie Alex Kerfoot who scored a power-play goal, an even-strength goal and added an assist to earn three points against St. Louis. Currently, his three goals scored for the season places him fourth among rookies for goals, and his five points put him in a tie for fifth place for rookie point totals. Maybe it’s time to give GM Joe Sakic some credit for signing Kerfoot.
2. Alternate Captain Nathan MacKinnon finally potted a goal in the Avalanche’s 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators, scoring a power-play marker in the second period. Hopefully, this will prime the pump and soon there will be an outpouring of goal scoring for MacKinnon. The team needs him on the scoresheet.
3. Four Avalanche players are tied for the lead in team goals, with three goals apiece – Matt Duchene, Sven Andrighetto, Nail Yakupov and Alexander Kerfoot. It’s great to spread out the scoring but how about more goals all the way around, please?
4. Three Avalanche players lead the team in points, tied with seven points each – Matt Duchene, Tyson Barrie, and Mikko Rantanen. Share the love, let’s get the whole team more points!
5. Alternate Captain Erik Johnson not only leads the team in ice time, he ranks sixth among ALL NHL players, logging over 26 minutes of ice time each night. Of the top nine NHL players leading time on ice, only Erik Johnson has a positive plus/minus rating (+3). He’s definitely earning the ‘A’ on his jersey.
6. Despite a rough week, Colorado is tied for seventh for fewest goals allowed at 21. They also still own a positive goal differential, meaning the team still has scored more goals than they have allowed. Not bad, considering they lost both games this past week.
7. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov continues to show off his bionic hips to good effect. He has allowed an average of 2.21 goals per game and owns a .931 save percent, good enough to rank ninth in both categories among all NHL goaltenders.
8. The Avalanche show early trends of favoring home ice. In their three home games, Colorado has outshot their opponents 117-69, racking up 48 more shots than their foes. The team takes 16 more shots per game than they allow while at home. On the road, the team has been outshot 177-134, 43 more times than their opponents. Considering they have played five road games, they are allowing 8.6 more shots than they are taking while on the road. A simple solution for the team to win looks like they should play more home games. Or at least shoot like it. That’s a refreshing change.
9. Forward Matt Duchene’s earned his 248th career assist against the St. Louis Blues, putting him in a 10th place tie with Valeri Kamensky among Avalanche all-time assist leaders. Another accomplishment for Duchene to add to his growing list. Congratulations!
10. Beleagured forward Nail Yakupov appeared in his 300th NHL game against the Blues. Since he was benched later in the match, it’s not the celebration one would hope. His normally cheery disposition, however, gives reason to believe he can bounce back and become the complete player coach Bednar expects and his teammates need.
11. Injuries have become an issue but the hidden gem rests in the fact the Avalanche actually have some quality depth to call up. A.J. Greer and Gabriel Bourque should be solid additions to the team. Depth helps, and having valuable depth is a new feeling for Colorado.
THE BAD
1. The Avalanche lost to the Nashville Predators on the road. While losing is bad, this loss was distressing because the Avalanche outshot the Predators in the first period, were competitive in the second period but made a couple of costly mistakes in odd-man situations, and then didn’t rebound in the third period. A young team is going to need to be mentally resilient, with a short memory for mistakes, so they can bounce back when the breaks don’t go their way. Maybe they need some silly putty to help with their resiliency.
2. Colorado should have escaped their home matchup against the Blues with at least a point. The team outshot St. Louis 41-28, didn’t take dumb penalties, and while they struggled in the second period, they came roaring back in the third, regaining all the momentum. The errors in officiating not only cost a questionable goal, it took some of the wind out of the team’s sails. Hopefully, they will learn how to press through adversity to keep feeding their drive. The loss was bad but the comeback effort deserved a better result.
3. The Avalanche managed to lose the faceoff competition in both of last week’s contests. Again, since last year they dominated and had a stinky season, maybe this means they can hang around the 50.0% mark and win some more games. A case of it may be good that it’s bad.
THE UGLY
1. There sounded like there were nearly as many St. Louis fans as Avalanche fans at last week’s home game. That should never happen. Colorado fans need to step up their game and make home ice a true advantage. Hearing Blues fans chanting at the Can. There should be too many Stanley Cup rings in Colorado’s ears to hear that kind of nonsense.
2. Injuries are creating some real issues for the Avalanche. After the Blues game, the team lost rookie forwards J.T. Compher (with a broken thumb) and Tyson Jost (lower body), both of whom coach Bednar describes as out about 2-3 weeks. When the team held practice on Monday, both defenseman Patrik Nemeth and forward Colin Wilson had to leave early.
While Nemeth and Wilson are considered day-to-day, losing Compher and Jost takes the injury bug to the next level. Compher has earned enough trust, the coaching staff sent him out to take faceoffs when the team had two members in the penalty box. Those are tough minutes on the penalty kill and it speaks to his value. He won’t be easy to replace. Jost finally earned a spot on a scoring line, where he was beginning to develop chemistry and spark the offense. Costly injuries at important moments – ugly.
3. When will the NHL improve the officiating? Last week evolved into a comedy of errors. On the questionable Avalanche goal, not only did the officials call back a legal goal on a challenge that shouldn’t have been allowed, they also missed an offside and the Toronto review office apparently missed all of it. What exactly is the point of an official review if they don’t know their own rulebook? And what’s the point of the NHL saying the Avalanche should have gotten a goal but not awarding them a point? Owning the mistake is one thing. Allowing the mistake to influence the record is ugly. Capital U.
Lest one forget, the officiating in Nashville didn’t fare a whole lot better. The officials issued 12 penalties but missed on the big plays, across the league. Maybe referees need some good gift baskets, ones designed for relaxing and getting away from the minutiae of the rulebook so when they return to the ice, they can focus on the big picture of enforcing a fair game and limiting dangerous play.
As for Toronto, the only gift baskets they should get are big flaming piles of poo. They have no excuse for not knowing their own rules. And the daily explanations of their rulings wouldn’t be necessary if the calls weren’t so questionable in the first place. Simplify. Do it right the first time.
WHAT TO WATCH
1. Player movement continues to be its own soap opera. Defenseman Andrei Mironov was sent down to San Antonio and played in their three back to back games, even scoring a goal, before being recalled yesterday after Nemeth’s injury. Keep an eye out as the week progresses. The roster may continue to evolve.
2. The Avalanche will host the Dallas Stars tonight at 7 pm MST at the Pepsi Center. Hopefully, Colorado will be motivated to get back on a winning streak. And who better than Dallas to beat.
3. The Avalanche will hit the road for a Friday night matchup against the Vegas Golden Nights at 4 pm MST.
4. Colorado will return home the next day to take on the Chicago Blackhawks at 7 pm MST. Please, do not allow the Blackhawks fans to outnumber the Avalanche fans at the Can. Please. There’s only so much pain one should endure.
Buckle up buttercups! More chills, thrills, and excitement linger on the horizon as the roller coaster season continues.
