HIGHLIGHTS
GAME RUNDOWN
After winning three consecutive games, something they failed to do all of the 2016-17 season, the Colorado Avalanche finally ran into a roadblock on their path to redemption as they fell on the road to the Dallas Stars, 3-1. Dallas controlled the pace of play throughout the first two periods while building a 2-0 lead before eventually hanging on in a tight third period to take the first game of the season series.
The first period saw a scoreless tie as Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov continued to show he was back at 100% this season, stopping all 14 shots he faced while counterpart Ben Bishop stopped all four shots the Avalanche mustered to put on net. Each team had a power play opportunity but neither team managed to make anything noteworthy of them as the story of the opening frame was the goaltenders.
The second period began with a bang as the Stars took advantage of sloppy Colorado defense from the jump and created a two-on-one opportunity and captain Jamie Benn sniped a puck far post past Varlamov to put the Stars up 1-0 just 24 seconds in. The lead held up throughout an increasingly chippy period as the Avalanche gave Dallas four power play opportunities and had two of their own but it would take a controversial final seconds to break the one-goal game open. As Avalanche forward J.T. Compher attempted to clear the zone, he appeared to have been held by Benn , who was able to control the puck and eventually found Tyler Seguin for a back-breaking goal with just one second remaining in the period, pushing Dallas ahead 2-0.
That Seguin goal held up as the game-winner even though the Avalanche came back with a respectable third period effort. Colorado outshot Dallas 11-8 in the third and a Matt Duchene goal at 1:26 made things interesting. Colorado eventually pulled Varlamov and the Stars would make them pay with an empty-net goal from Esa Lindell to make it 3-1 and polish off a frustrating evening for the visiting team.
THREE STARS
1. Tyler Seguin
2. Ben Bishop
3. Devin Shore
BY THE NUMBERS
WHAT’S NEXT
Colorado heads to Nashville for a road matchup against the Predators on Tuesday night. Puck drop is 6PM Mountain.
0 Comments (2 conversations)
Av-a-dabba-doo
The way the team failed to do its part and support Varly in any way was downright embarrassing, even shameful. I would find it hard to look him in the eye.
Nels
Yikes, that’s harsh. They weren’t all coming off a 3 day rest like Varly was, rather they had just come out of the meat grinder that is the Ducks the previous night, and they didn’t play THAT bad. I’m certainly not expecting them to win every game this year.
Av-a-dabba-doo
“they didn’t play THAT bad” — politely, I guess that’s where we disagree. I wouldn’t just say it glibly, but I felt it was a very poor effort. And I hope you understand, I’m a hardcore Avs fan who loves this team. Just calling a spade a spade, as I see it.
Nels
I hear ya. I’m just saying they didn’t do that bad if you look at the scoreboard (excluding the empty netter), or the circumstances. Or, most especially, when we consider that they are going to lose one once in a while, right? I mean the Capitals lost some last year. Are we thinking that they aren’t going to lose any this year? For being a loss, I think it was quite acceptable considering the circumstances. Again, Varly wasn’t getting crunched into the boards by the Ducks the previous night like the rest of the team was.
Av-a-dabba-doo
Again, it was never about losing a game for me, it was about the quality of our play, which I feel was much worse than you feel it was. You’re going to win a few you probably deserved to lose, and lose a few you deserved to win. Neither was the case in this one by a long shot. This was about us getting our breezers beat off. There will always be excuses to point to. IMHO nothing excuses the listless effort we trotted out there Saturday night. Not as bad as the Broncos were last night, but a bit similar.
Nels
Any team in the league would have lost that game to Dallas under those circumstances. And I would rather see them lose when they deserve it, than when they don’t.
Av-a-dabba-doo
“Any team in the league would have lost that game to Dallas under those circumstances”. I respectfully disagree. In fact challenges just like that are what separate the league’s top teams from the ‘also rans’. If the Avs are truly going to rise up through the ranks, like we would love to see, they’re going to have to learn how NOT to have such bad lapses and sags, despite tough circumstances. Consistency is one of the hardest traits to develop, I fully admit. But it is also the hallmark of the truly great teams. Not that it will ever be PERFECTLY accomplished, but very SIGNIFICANTLY. Let’s see how our boys look tomorrow night. Hopefully we will see a strong effort from them. Cheers!
Nels
Well sir, I to shall continue to respectfully disagree with you. Remember when Chicago got 3 goals in 4 playoff games against the bottom seated Preds? And remember when the defending Cup champs the Penguins just got blown out 10-1 by those same Blackhawks? Did either of them have the “excuse” of having played Anaheim the night prior? I think not. Yet those teams are undeniably the best teams in their respective conferences over the last 5-10 years. At least the Avs didn’t lose 10-1 like the Pens did.
Av-a-dabba-doo
Ok, so let’s end this exchange on a note of agreement: Probably no team in the history of sports, however great, has been able to perfectly maintain performing at their highest level. On that we surely agree.
Nels
Total agreement! Also can we agree on GO AVS and at least they are giving us something to talk about. This is awesome.
AceODale
The boys had just come off a hard-fought tilt with the ducks less than a day earlier. Mack, Rants, and Ghetto all injured to an extent. Pretty much a scheduled loss.
Varly played well and the rest of the team did fairly well in keeping it close.
Avs sit second in the Central. Overall, I don’t view it as an embarrassment at all. This is a young team that very well may be overachieving at the moment.
Unit5
It’s true that last nights game was pretty much to be expected, and not something for us to be too disappointed with. We’ll know the boys are there when they start winning despite having excuses not to.