BSN Avalanche Podcast: Breathing room... for now

I tend to be on AJ’s side of the conversation that giving up a 2-0 lead on your direct opponent for the last wild card spot is, of course, unacceptable. My theory for why the Avs are prone to this is something that can be applied more broadly to hockey (and even other professional sports), which is that NHL games, for almost all teams except maybe Tampa Bay and Ottawa, are played on a razor’s edge. Hockey is a bouncy game with generally limited scoring and generally lots of back and forth and lots of mistakes – just think of all the times teams give up the puck on purpose for a line change or to dump the puck in the offensive zone. Because of that, even if all teams play at their near optimum (say 95%), games are ultimately decided on a razor thin margin with a lucky bounce or even a surprise play featuring large in the scoresheet. In short, I think the idea of closing down a game is much easier said than done. It seems to closing down a game requires a very delicate balance of offensive zone initiative vs defensive coverage.