Strong play of Kaut overshadowed by poor special teams in 5-2 loss to Wild

Period 1

Right off the first shift, a great passing play from Alex Newhook to Martin Kaut created a valuable rebound opportunity and Newhook arrived at the netfront to tap it in. It was a promising opening sequence for a unique top-line combination of Charles Hudon, Newhook and Kaut.

Hudon is an offseason free agency pick-up Colorado added possibly with a future in Loveland in mind, but his body of work includes a compelling amount of NHL games. He had a productive season with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch last year (GP: 66 G:30, A:27 Pts: 57). Bednar has paid close attention to him in camp and mentioned he was a stand-out in Group 2. Hudon has described himself as a utility player that can slot in anywhere with a willingness to play wherever he is needed.

At 5:34 into the first, defenseman Andreas Englund took an avoidable roughing penalty behind the goal line. He rightfully was sent to the box, and Minnesota’s Sam Steel attempted the shot from a difficult angle and Tyson Jost deflected it in.

Unlike the first call, a borderline goaltender interference call on Lukas Sedlak was called at 14:41 during what looked like innocent, incidental contact with Filip Gustavsson strolling at the netfront. Unfortunately, Minnesota’s top powerplay unit started off on the right foot.

It was a different type of goal, but once again Jost scored – a tic-tac-toe sequence from Matt Boldy to Steel to Jost. Shortly after, Kaut’s string of hockey crimes continued to grow with a questionable boarding call against Simon Johansson. I genuinely didn’t see the infraction (at worst I saw a slash), so let not the boxscore tarnish what was ultimately a good individual game for Kaut.

The officiating in this period erred on the side of caution and another goaltender interference call, this time on Minnesota, negated a possible goal against. It was similar, incidental contact that probably frustrated the Wild. The boxscore didn’t paint Pavel Francouz in the most flattering light: Colorado outshot Minnesota 13-7 but two of their seven went in on the powerplay.

Returning blueliner Sam Girard was on the top pairing alongside Brad Hunt. Together they dominated TOI among the d-corps. Because of the constant use of special teams, very similar to Sunday’s Vegas game, the flow of the period was largely disrupted.

Period 2

To avenge his Czechia-countryman, the top line decided to attack right off the puck drop again. Hudon pulled up in the offensive zone and applied pressure on the forecheck. Wild’s Andrej Sustr was forced to dump the puck behind him and Kaut closed in Sam Steel who was still trying to settle the puck. The broken play sent the puck to Hudon who whiffed his initial shot but recovered with a course corrective shot to Kaut who slammed it in from the slot through traffic. 

Colorado’s penalty kill could not stand up the task. The officiating of the game raised eyebrows, but the ineffective kill hemmed them in their own end. A powerplay goal against after a Girard interference call put Colorado down 3-2 – every goal against at this point came on the kill. The defensive play of this goal left Francouz unaided. A failed clear from Mikhail Maltsev and a miscalculation from Kurtis MacDermid opened a passing lane to a waiting Nic Petan at the crease.

Two even-strength goals from Wild’s Vladislav Firstov and Brandon Duhaime put Colorado down 5-2 at the second period’s end. They made mistakes in their own end, but Francouz’s rebound control created problems. Three of the five goals against came on the rebound.

Process-wise, Colorado was winning the faceoff dot and shots battle but couldn’t figure out special teams – combined with the struggles of Francouz, it cost them the game.

Period 3

There were 17 penalties (10 of which were Colorado’s) in this game. If you just watched the first and second period, you’d have a pretty good idea of how the third period looked too. It was a 5-2 final, shots were 41-26 Colorado. What started as unusual officiating became nauseating game management – a whistle for every moment.

Forward Depth:

The reality is that this is preseason hockey. Tonight’s lineup was a crop of NHL hopefuls looking to demonstrate their fit. The separation of players’ preparedness becomes so much more apparent in preseason, and it’s supposed to.

The top line did a fine job to separate talents. Newhook continued to look comfortable and adaptable at center. Hudon and Kaut found each other very well on the ice. I thought their vision in the dangerous areas of the ice gave them an advantage to pose a scoring threat. They also brought a healthy dose of physicality. It was the most well-rounded because the skill level among them was closer in range compared to other lines.

“His camp’s been good,” Bednar said of Kaut. “Right from day one, I thought those first three days were all very good. He was a little quiet in his game the other night. Tonight he had an impact for us. He was on our best line, [and] he had a lot to do with that. He was working hard, tracking hard, good on the defensive side of things, [and] good on the offensive side of things, especially on the penalty kill and powerplay.”

Kaut’s step in the right direction was a lone bright spot in this game. His response to a difficult first day of camp has given the organization more to consider as reassignments start to get made to the AHL. The cuts will start tomorrow. Bednar said they may happen both before and after the away game against Vegas.

Preseason Game #️⃣3️⃣#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/yRmxCfyFc8

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 28, 2022

Oskar Olausson and Ben Meyers are pretty raw compared to others in this group. They have a lot of upside but also have played some of the fewest professional games. They looked less acclimated tonight. Sedlak, a 29-year-old with NHL experience, was unable to give this line the structure it required. They looked good in the offensive zone, but their d-zone coverage suffered.

“When he came in last year, he had a great motor,” Bednar said of Meyers. “He’s all over the puck. I know his reputation. I’ve talked to his college coach. He’s had a slower start to training camp. He’s getting better. A little quiet tonight, I would have liked to see him do a little bit more in the game. In the end, it’s going to be consistency. Tomorrow I’m going to show him a few things and he’s one of the guys getting turned loose tomorrow in Vegas.”

Meyers has been penciled into the lineup after appearing in five NHL games at the end of last season. He looked comfortable then and has had a less visible impact coming out of the Rookie Face-Off tournament into camp and exhibition games. It’s not cause for meltdown proportions of concern, but it is different from what I imagined.

I hoped he’d hit the ground running, and I’m reminded that he’s human and straight from the NCAA. I still like his upside and maturity a lot – like a lot, a lot. I’d like to see him take a big step forward in tomorrow’s game and put some fears to rest.

Sam Girard Returns

Girard played his first game since May 21st, 2022 after leaving Game 3 of the St. Louis series due to a collision with Ivan Barbeshev into the boards. He broke his sternum and it took two and a half months to recover with additional rehab after.

“When you miss that much time, you’re not used to that as a hockey player,” he said. “You skate almost every day during the summer and I had to sit on my couch and wait until l healed. It was kind of hard mentally and physically. It feels good to be back and be back with the guys as well on the ice and play some games.”

It’s not clear if that timeline was extended any after the cartwheels at the Stanley Cup Parade, but he appeared to be 100% healthy giving 65% effort tonight. He had the second most time on ice next to Brad Hunt with 22:49 minutes played. It was a heavy workload and it is preseason, so I’m not alarmed by his level of investment.