Avs-Blues Game 9 Studs & Duds

Studs

Ivan Prosvetov

If you watched the podcast, I was the “hater” of Prosvetov’s game tonight with some critiques of things I thought he could improve for the next time he plays (most likely next weekend…against St. Louis), but even my overly analytical viewpoint can be binned for recognition of a well-played game in a difficult situation.

One of the challenges of being a backup goaltender, especially an unproven one on a championship-contending club, is the opportunities are going to be sparse. Prosvetov, who didn’t play for the Arizona Coyotes at all during the preseason, has had to try to keep himself fresh and engaged as he adjusts to a new team without actually getting any starts.

Prosvetov finally got meaningful game action (not the mop-up appearance he made in Pittsburgh last week) and stopped 27 of 28 shots for the first win of his NHL career. His last real appearance in a game came as a member of the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners on April 23 earlier this year when he gave up four goals on seven shots and was pulled 7:22 into the first period. For him to hop into a game on this club and have the kind of game he did tonight is very impressive. All you can do is tip your cap.

Artturi Lehkonen

It wasn’t a great game in Buffalo for Lehkonen who had one of his very rare performances where he was an active detriment to Colorado’s cause and it is not even a little bit surprising that he bounced back with such a strong game tonight.

Hard work doesn’t have many bad nights and Lehkonen is living proof that when you maximize your effort, your results will follow more often than not. He finished with only the goal he scored but his board work down low helped create the turnover that led to Colorado’s fourth goal that put the game on ice.

Lehkonen’s goal was pretty good stuff, too, as he goes hard to the net, gets an excellent feed from Cale Makar, and waits out Jordan Binnington to make a nice move and tuck the puck into the net. It’s a very patient play from Lehkonen, who we have seen struggle to convert Grade-A chances this season when he fires right away.

The patience was the final piece of the puzzle for an easy goal.

He continues to be the perfect glue guy alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Speaking of whom…

Ross Colton and Miles Wood

I’m not separating them because they’ve been attached at the hip so far this season and tonight was no different. Also, calling them ‘Colton Wood’ would make them sound like a sheriff of a small town in the Wild West back in the day and I think that’s cool.

Anyway, I loved their joint effort tonight. The Blues are collectively bad at hockey and their only real hope any given night is to try to bully teams, get great goaltending, and win the special teams battle. The combination of physicality and skill from these two tied Colorado’s lineup together wonderfully and helped respond to the Blues trying to crank up the physicality.

Oh, they also combined for the first goal of the game that gave the Avs a huge lift and was their first goal since the own goal by the Islanders last week. Wood backhanded a puck up the wall and hit Colton in stride, who abused Tyler Tucker and then beat Binnington cleanly on a hard drive to the net. It wasn’t sexy, but it was the kind of north-south game that last year’s depth forwards struggled to play.

For once, they also added good shot metrics to the mix and could have added a second goal had Jack Johnson made a better play with the puck when he had Wood open on the backdoor. When you add it all up, it was a difference-making third line for the Avalanche (shoutout to Logan O’Connor for fitting in perfectly alongside them). This was what Chris MacFarland was envisioning when he brought these guys in.

Colorado’s killer instinct

The third period began with the Blues having the momentum following their late goal in the second period and then going onto a power play that carried over to the final frame. The Avs killed that penalty when Justin Faulk ripped a puck off the post that ended up cleared down the ice.

As the Blues regroup to try to get back on their game, Cale Makar happens. When Cale Makar happens, the other team doesn’t usually like the end result. Here’s the play leading up to Lehkonen’s goal.

Okay, Makar, we all see you. Him jumping that outlet pass in the neutral zone and immediately jamming it back into the zone and creating not one, not two, but three scoring chances in ten seconds is ridiculous. For me, this sequence is what helps separate Makar from the other brilliant young defensemen in the league (Fox, Hughes, Dahlin, Heiskanen). His attack mentality, skating ability, and high-end playmaking are all at a ridiculously high level and arguably the “worst” pass of those three was the one that resulted in a goal.

This is Colorado’s stars at their finest. Attacking up the ice, punishing a team for its carelessness and then pouring it on until they break through. Colorado has been a fantastic third period team this season and it took them less than a minute to go from killing a penalty to putting the game at 3-1 and essentially ending the game.

Duds

Sam Girard’s empty-net attempt

Girard was great again tonight and then with an easy opportunity for his first goal of the season, he rocketed the puck off the crossbar. It was already a 4-1 game so it didn’t really matter, but you know Girard wanted to get on the board with his first this year and get him going on the point production front. That was a bummer for everyone involved.

Nathan MacKinnon’s effort on the lone Blues goal

I stress again that this is all relative as I thought MacKinnon was pretty good overall, his shot metrics were fantastic (especially in terms of quality), and he had two assists in which he played a prominent role, especially the play he made on Bowen Byram’s goal.

All of that said, MacKinnon is the highest-paid player in the NHL this season and one of the leaders with a letter on his chest. The effort he shows getting back defensively on the Robert Thomas goal is nothing short of disappointing.

The Blues broke out of their zone after a really nice play by Nick Leddy to skate the puck out and they attacked with four skaters. MacKinnon sees this unfolding and instead of being the fourth guy back in transition to even up the numbers, he coasts the entire length of the ice.

When Thomas receives the cross-ice pass and cuts hard to the middle, that space is open because MacKinnon made essentially no effort to get into the lane and disrupt it. The Blues took advantage of that laziness and got their only score of the night.

It ultimately did not end up mattering much in the end result, but we have seen too many instances already this year of players not putting in a full effort getting back on defense and the puck ending up in their own net. Here, you can watch the full clip and you tell me if you think this is an acceptable effort from him.

This sequence from Ryan Johansen

When this clip starts, Johansen has already been on the ice for 33 seconds. It’s right in that in odd space where it would probably be too short of a shift to hop off so he decides to stay on as the Avs appear to have an odd-man rush. There are no problems so far.

As soon as the Avs lose possession of the puck, though, Johansen raises his hand to say he needs a change. Only eight seconds have gone by but now Johansen is telling the bench he wants to hop off. He gets back slowly and takes a couple of swipes at the puck, which is more bad optics than poor play in my opinion, but when the puck gets into the zone I struggle with what happens next.

The puck gets dropped to Pavel Buchnevich, who stops and reloads. I highlighted it in the video but will drop a couple of screenshots in case you don’t want to go back and watch. When Buchnevich pulls up, this is the gap.

Buchnevich makes a sharp cut to space while Johansen takes a very long, rounded turn and that initial gap turns into this:

At this point, Johansen has been on the ice for 50 seconds so him being tired is understandable. He doesn’t ever recover here, though, as he is now nowhere near Buchnevich with the puck and he fails to pick up Thomas, who skates right by him and gets a scoring chance when Devon Toews has to scramble to try to disrupt the play while Johansen has a front-row seat to it all unfolding.

Colorado’s team defense kept it from being any worse and Johansen would eventually be the one to get the puck out of the zone but he ended up having a final shift length of 1:11. I’m going to venture a guess that Jared Bednar also didn’t love this sequence because Johansen only played two more shifts after this.

 Unsung Hero

Josh Manson

Like Lehkonen, I didn’t like Manson’s game in Buffalo. Tonight, I loved Manson. He was very good defensively, both in his own zone and being a disruptive force in the neutral zone. He played with his trademark physicality and played the kind of tight defensive game that the Avs want to see more of from him.

Offensively is where Manson’s expectations are significantly lower but I thought he made a number of smart plays. His shot metrics were great and I thought he was deserving of high praise for his response to a poor game in Buffalo. The penalty he took doesn’t bother me because he’s put into a terrible position by Jack Johnson’s carelessness with the puck and Manson had to try to cover for him.

This was a strong night for Manson.