Avs drop another to a division foe in shootout loss to Stars

Shootouts have become pretty rare in the Jared Bednar era and until tonight, the Avalanche had not participated in one all season.

That obviously changed as they got themselves into quite a tangle with the Dallas Stars that did not ultimately go their way and they lost 3-2 in a game they once again held a lead in the third period.

That lead came courtesy of goals by J.T. Compher and Ian Cole, one a player whom scoring goals is expected but has struggled to do so this year and the other whose offense is considered an extra combined with his defensive efforts.

Those two goals gave the Avs a 2-1 lead heading into the third period but for the fourth time in their last five games, Colorado could not close.

When looking at how this sausage got made, it is once again the special teams that stand out as the culprit here. Colorado had nearly a full two-minute two-man advantage in the second period with a 2-1 lead and failed to score.

Not only did they fail to score, but they also failed to register a quality scoring chance and only had shots from the perimeter. Then they watched Joe Pavelski outwork them and draw a penalty after getting the puck closer to their net than they ever got it towards the Dallas net during the five-on-three.

That’s an embarrassment of execution and it continues to be an indictment of a system that has far too talented of players standing around not doing anything. They’re lethargic and too casual on the man advantage and their failure to capitalize once again cost them.

All of that said, the Avs honestly played a pretty solid game. They put up 44 shots on goal against a very stingy shot suppression team and played quite well in periods two and three.

Maybe the most encouraging part of the night was Philipp Grubauer returning to action and playing very well, matching Vezina-candidate Ben Bishop save for save until the shootout when Colorado failed to score and Grubauer was beaten twice.

But even getting to the shootout was a win for Colorado because MacKinnon took a penalty halfway through the OT period and it turned into the Tyler Seguin Shooting Gallery. Grubauer stuffed him or watched pucks sail harmlessly out of play.

The PK held its ground and it tends to do that when its best player is the goaltender.

Grubauer needs to continue to be the guy he was tonight, though. He was sharp in tracking the puck and economical with his movement, which is always when he’s at his best. His ability to read plays is among his best attributes and when he’s on his game like tonight, he’s very hard to beat.

The game-tying goal was a puck that was partially blocked by Cole and bounced perfectly into the top corner. Dallas got the big break the Avs never did. Sometimes it happens.

But when a team has watched a third period lead evaporate in four of the last five games, there’s not much solace in the little victories. Two points are all that matters in the end.

Tonight, the Avs only got halfway there.

GAME TAKEAWAYS

• I talked about this a bit on twitter so I’ll repeat my point here because it ended up being a game-changing play. The puck over the glass delay of game penalty is dumb and makes the game worse. Players almost always do it accidentally these days and that wasn’t always the case. They used to flip it over the glass liberally and the league decided to change that behavior by making it a penalty. I think it was a change with good intentions but the act is essentially the same as icing the puck. I’m of the opinion they should be punished similarly. Why is flipping the puck over the glass worse than icing to the point of one being a penalty and the other is not? I don’t seem to understand why one is so much worse and even the defenders of the rule haven’t been able to articulate the difference. The act of putting the puck over the glass has never really been a game-changing play but the power play a team gains can certainly be and after Makar was called for it late in the second, Dallas scored the game-tying goal on the ensuing PP early in the third. Just one man’s opinion but the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, especially with a perfectly good punishment for icing already in place.
• That was the first penalty of Cale Makar’s career. Reminds me of when Ryan O’Reilly took his first penalty of the season like 70 some odd games in and it was him unknowingly playing with a broken stick.
• Philipp Grubauer was nothing short of spectacular tonight. Both goals against there’s nothing more you’d ask from him. It was exactly the kind of performance he and the team needed after he and Francouz had thrown up some lackluster games recently.
• I’ve been curious what Bednar’s lineup would be in the shootout when the Avs inevitably got there. Using MacKinnon and Rantanen first and second still makes plenty of sense but the third spot was really what I was waiting to see. In the past, he’s consistently used Gabe Landeskog but they have Joonas Donskoi now, who is a shootout ace. With MacKinnon and Rantanen failing to score and Dallas scoring twice, we didn’t get to see Colorado’s third shooter tonight. I will be curious down the road if Bednar goes to his comfort (Landeskog) or his imported ace (Donskoi).
• Grubauer has never been an ace in shootouts and I wonder if it’s a case of his strengths as a goalie just not being a good fit for the format. We saw Semyon Varlamov ace the shootout test over and over again for years because he was so athletic and had the quick-twitch reflexes that play up in shootouts. That isn’t Grubauer’s forte at all and I wonder if that’s a reason he hasn’t been great in them. I’d love for a goalie expert to enlighten me some on the topic because I think it’s interesting.
• In a game where I thought Colorado played pretty well as a team, I really didn’t have many individual standouts tonight. I thought Nikita Zadorov struggled quite a bit at times but wasn’t terrible overall. I think Sam Girard had a tough start but finished strong. I really think the Kadri and MacKinnon lines to be mixed up a bit. That second line has shown very little chemistry and their December production has been downright bad. They have a combined 12 points in 35 games this month. Now that Donskoi and Burakovsky aren’t picking up points riding shotgun to MacKinnon, the well has dried up quickly. They need to turn it around or the Avs need to get someone to give them a boost.