Avs disappoint again versus hapless Coyotes

We talked on the DNVR Avalanche pregame show about how there was an expectation that the Colorado Avalanche would come out looking for some revenge after having their franchise record-setting home win streak come to an end at the hands of these very same Arizona Coyotes.

It’s easy to look at this matchup and think, “oh yeah, this will be just another dominate win for the Avs”. That’s not what happened.

It was the final trip ever to Gila River Arena for the Avalanche, as the Coyotes make the move out of Glendale and into Tempe next season and it was also the final time these two teams would meet for the season, and I really did think the Avs would just bury them from the opening puck.

The game started honestly pretty well for the Avs from an effort standpoint, but you could immediately see that there was going to be an execution problem. Colorado was getting into good scoring position, moving the puck well, and transitioning from defense to offense very efficiently. Problem was when it came time to actually put one in the net… there seemed to be a disconnect.

To me, none of their shots felt super dangerous. They weren’t making Arizona netminder Karel Vejmelka work for any of his stops, and it really looked like, seeing as much rubber as he was, Vejmelka was able to settle into a rhythm.

Other than a couple of decent looks and high danger opportunities for the Avalanche, the first period was pretty uneventful and ended with neither team being able to find the net. 

The Avs have done such a good job at regrouping during intermission and making the adjustments they need to to change the way games are going, and at the start of the second, it looked like they had done it again.

The start of Colorado’s second period was exactly what you had been hoping for at the start pf the game. High-danger shot selection, winning races to puck and board battles, and eventually a really nice passing play that led to a goal from Devon Toews.

Whew, there we go. Now they can settle in and put this thing away, right? Wrong.

Some of those sloppy habits that we saw in the first started to keep back in. The Avalanche are just so much better than the Coyotes, that even with some bad decision-making, the Avs weren’t really giving up much.

I mentioned to some of my fellow DNVR-ers that it also mot looked like the Avs were playing at like 75%, and to be fair, they were getting away with it for the most part.

With time winding down in the second and defending a slim one-goal lead, Nazem Kadri tripped up Nick Schmaltz and opened the door for a bad team that had hung around to get right back into it.

That’s exactly what Arizona did. Shortly after the penalty expired, Loui Eriksson found himself alone in front and buried one. 

Ok hold on hold on. I’ve seen this one before, and I usually hate the ending.

We see it all the time in the NHL, a bad team comes into a game, gets pretty thoroughly outplayed, somehow finds a way to keep it close, and finds themselves in a very winnable game going into the final 20 minutes.

 I mentioned on the DNVR Avalanche Pregame show, you have to keep in mind, these guys are all very prideful, very competitive guys who want to win. They don’t care who the favorite is, how big the point differential is in the standings, they all want to win.

The third period started and it went in the most predictable way you could imagine. More good chances from the Avs, Vejmelka made some good stops, and Arizona’s chances of stealing one continued to improve until eventually, you guessed it, they capitalize on a bit of a broken play in the neutral zone and Schmaltz turned it into a goal that would put his team ahead for good.

Look, I’m just gonna cut right to the chase, I’m not bothered by this game in the SLIGHTEST. Like at all.

The Avalanche were the better team all night, and from time to time, you don’t get the result you deserve. How many times this season have we seen the Avs be on the other side of that this season?

It’s an 82-game season, and you’re crazy if you don’t think that there aren’t going to be disappointing nights like this. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment, especially if you’re a competitive person, and be frustrated with the result, but in the big picture this game just doesn’t hurt a whole lot.

I’ve already written this one off, especially when you consider that Avalanche controlled the play and pretty much dominated in pretty much all analytical categories. Hats off to Arizona goaltender Karel Vejmelka who played fantastically. You have a good team in Calgary (who lost to Montreal tonight) coming into Ball Arena on Saturday. Regroup, and get back in the win column.