GDT: Avalanche @ Jets Thursday 11/07/24 @6:00PM MNT (Emergency GDT) Ground Control to Major Moose

[Raucherhusten]

George was great, Helle was even better.

Considering our lineup they played a good game. It happens.

But we need to win some games soon or it gets difficult. In a week or
so we should have 3 guys back, that will help.

 

[RECKLESS]

I'm not worried actually, I'm pretty happy about the start of our season and especially the way we've been playing lately.

We have FIVE guys out of out Top-9 out with injury. I don't think there's a lot of teams out there that would remain even competitive under that scenario and we took the play to the "best team in the league*", and probably deserved to win.

(*according to the TSN announcers - jets are the greatest EVER and Josh Morrissey's head is literally going to explode because his IQ is just too advanced for ordinary humans to comprehend)

The reason I am happy about our start is because we've got some answers that we might not have gotten if everyone had been healthy. Most notably :

Kovalenko - is a sure-fire NHLer and maybe more of a middle-6 guy but someone who can sub-in on the Top-6 if needed.

Ivan - I thought he needed another year in the A. Nope, he's at the very least an NHL player and he plays a pretty solid 2-way game and doesn't make too many mistakes.

Malinski - for the most part, has improved his defensive game where he's not a massive liability anymore. He's been pretty solid except for a game or two.

Annunen - I think he's been really good and I love the way the team plays in front of him... It reminds me of the way they used to play in front of Kuemper. It's hard to say how he'd play in the playoffs when the pressure is on but he probably doesn't have to stand on his head, just be good.

Mittelstadt - imagine, he's over a PPG and plays mostly without a big name on his wing. He's been great and you can tell he made a point to try and get faster over the summer. It's noticeable from the end of last season to the start this year.

So for all those reasons, I'm actually pretty happy about how we started the season regardless of our position in the standings. Once we get guys back - our supposed lack of depth won't be so much anymore.

Well said.

The way they are playing these past two games actually gives a boatload of optimism. Committed group with a whole lot of effort. When every piece of the roster slots where they belong this team could suddenly turn into a proper f***ing wagon!

 

[Bender]

George was great, Helle was even better.

Considering our lineup they played a good game. It happens.

But we need to win some games soon or it gets difficult. In a week or
so we should have 3 guys back, that will help.

He played well and made several very good saves.

He also made some erratic saves where he got lucky he didn't get burned by leaving a greasy rebound.

Good night for him but it still didn't inspire me with confidence going forward.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

We played a good game and the Vezina winner had a Vezina night. His right leg save off a rebound to Tynan will be in the plays of the month.

That team doesn’t scare me. We take them in a 7 game series every time.

Onward and upward.

 

[missionAvs]

We played a good game and the Vezina winner had a Vezina night. His right leg save off a rebound to Tynan will be in the plays of the month.

That team doesn’t scare me. We take them in a 7 game series every time.

Onward and upward.

Waste of 8 days level or?

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

I was just watching back the highlights and noticed on the first goal, Manson hooks Mittelstadt to try and hold him back as he's trying to back check. I think he doesn't see it is his teammate and just reacts to someone flying by him, but I thought that was funny. It had no effect on the play, Mitts wouldn't have been able to stop the goal, but fun nonetheless.

It is hard to capture in a screenshot. But here you can see them at the bottom of the screen.

This angle is better:

 

[missionAvs]

I was just watching back the highlights and noticed on the first goal, Manson hooks Mittelstadt to try and hold him back as he's trying to back check. I think he doesn't see it is his teammate and just reacts to someone flying by him, but I thought that was funny. It had no effect on the play, Mitts wouldn't have been able to stop the goal, but fun nonetheless.

It is hard to capture in a screenshot. But here you can see them at the bottom of the screen.
View attachment 927832

This angle is better:
View attachment 927833

This just made me laugh hard at my office haha.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

I was just watching back the highlights and noticed on the first goal, Manson hooks Mittelstadt to try and hold him back as he's trying to back check. I think he doesn't see it is his teammate and just reacts to someone flying by him, but I thought that was funny. It had no effect on the play, Mitts wouldn't have been able to stop the goal, but fun nonetheless.

It is hard to capture in a screenshot. But here you can see them at the bottom of the screen.
View attachment 927832

This angle is better:
View attachment 927833

The whole time Manz is yelling, "Let them score!"

 

[Ceremony]

zzzzzzz

You'd die of boredom watching that every night.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

zzzzzzz

You'd die of boredom watching that every night.

...says all the non-goalies.

For me, a 1-0 game is exciting and usually suggests fantastic goaltending from both sides. I also appreciate tight defense like both sides showed yesterday, especially us once we adjusted to their high breakouts in the first period. Both D dropping deeper to cut off the high forward break, a third forward cutting off the secondary neutral zone passing option right when they receive the puck, etc. Love that shit.

I get a massive boner from low scoring, tight checking/defensive, high quality goaltending games.

 

[henchman21]

...says all the non-goalies.

For me, a 1-0 game is exciting and usually suggests fantastic goaltending from both sides. I also appreciate tight defense like both sides showed yesterday, especially us once we adjusted to their high breakouts in the first period. Both D dropping deeper to cut off the high forward break, a third forward cutting off the secondary neutral zone passing option right when they receive the puck, etc. Love that shit.

I get a massive boner from low scoring, tight checking/defensive, high quality goaltending games.

Goalies...

 

[Ceremony]

...says all the non-goalies.

For me, a 1-0 game is exciting and usually suggests fantastic goaltending from both sides. I also appreciate tight defense like both sides showed yesterday, especially us once we adjusted to their high breakouts in the first period. Both D dropping deeper to cut off the high forward break, a third forward cutting off the secondary neutral zone passing option right when they receive the puck, etc. Love that shit.

I get a massive boner from low scoring, tight checking/defensive, high quality goaltending games.

It was entertaining in a frustrating way, knowing I was watching the sort of goaltending I've not seen in an Avalanche jersey in years. I'd love watching 1-0 every night seeing bodies on the line and knowing how much it annoyed the opposition. I don't appreciate any of the tactical stuff though, I just want to watch MacKinnon and Makar snapping ankles.

At least Fourgiev looked like he was playing the right sport. Baby steps.

 

[Pokecheque]

It's funny, on the ice I was the most boring, vanilla player imaginable, but as a fan I much prefer a fast, dynamic, offensive game. And yes I prefer more goals than just one.

I think what I found most frustrating about last night is that the Avs know damn well they're going to run into a team like this in the postseason. They obviously faced off against this very same Jets team and kicked the crap outta them, but I'd argue that Winnipeg for whatever reason just never established their defensive game like they did last night, and Hellebuyck was positively awful in that series. The next round, they ran into Dallas and failed to make any adjustments whatsoever, leading to games like the one we saw. Even as banged up as they are I'd like to see the Avalanche acknowledge that the opposition is clogging the hell up the middle of the ice and adjust accordingly. They might still lose but at least they'd be making them work a lot harder.

 

[cinchronicity]

It's funny, on the ice I was the most boring, vanilla player imaginable, but as a fan I much prefer a fast, dynamic, offensive game. And yes I prefer more goals than just one.

I think what I found most frustrating about last night is that the Avs know damn well they're going to run into a team like this in the postseason. They obviously faced off against this very same Jets team and kicked the crap outta them, but I'd argue that Winnipeg for whatever reason just never established their defensive game like they did last night, and Hellebuyck was positively awful in that series. The next round, they ran into Dallas and failed to make any adjustments whatsoever, leading to games like the one we saw. Even as banged up as they are I'd like to see the Avalanche acknowledge that the opposition is clogging the hell up the middle of the ice and adjust accordingly. They might still lose but at least they'd be making them work a lot harder.

What is this word - 'adjust' - which you use here? I just looked in the Avalanche Glossary and there is no such word!

 

[dahrougem2]

The Avs adjusted just fine last night. It's not like Winnipeg kept EVERYTHING to the outside and Hellebuyck had an easy night.

He robbed Makar on a rebound, his defenseman made a great play to stop a 2-on-1 with MacKinnon and Lehkonen, he saw MacKinnon pass up two PRIME shooting chances with nobody in front of him because he wanted to feed 62/96, he only had to face 1 minute of PP time all night, he didn't have to deal with Nichushkin/Drouin/Colton/Wood, three of which would be in his face all night.

Last night was fine. Honestly one of the best defensive games the Avs have played in a long time.

I will say, though, I believe SEPH pointed it out and I agree: Georgiev didn't look that good to me. He looked erratic, he looked off his net, that Ehlers shot in the slot was a perfect example of a guy challenging and just praying the puck hits him. He made the save, then the puck went into the corner and he slid to the post only to completely miss the post and end up like halfway outside the net. He did that several times last night, Winnipeg just didn't capitalize because the Avs were quite stingy defensively.

I have a feeling if he starts against Carolina and looks like that again, the Hurricanes will put up 4+ goals quickly.

 

[Dr Amazing]

Georgiev finally plays a good game the Avs offense takes a night off go Avs go.

 

[ABasin]

Goalies...

They're all nuts.

 

[Balthazar]

Postgame - Bednar (Nov. 7) | Colorado Avalanche

Jared Bednar talks about Alexandar Georgiev's performance against the Winnipeg Jets

www.nhl.com

 

[the_fan]

Avs actually played a good game. I thought Jets were gonna blow us out

 

[Pokecheque]

The Avs adjusted just fine last night. It's not like Winnipeg kept EVERYTHING to the outside and Hellebuyck had an easy night.

He robbed Makar on a rebound, his defenseman made a great play to stop a 2-on-1 with MacKinnon and Lehkonen, he saw MacKinnon pass up two PRIME shooting chances with nobody in front of him because he wanted to feed 62/96, he only had to face 1 minute of PP time all night, he didn't have to deal with Nichushkin/Drouin/Colton/Wood, three of which would be in his face all night.

Last night was fine. Honestly one of the best defensive games the Avs have played in a long time.

I will say, though, I believe SEPH pointed it out and I agree: Georgiev didn't look that good to me. He looked erratic, he looked off his net, that Ehlers shot in the slot was a perfect example of a guy challenging and just praying the puck hits him. He made the save, then the puck went into the corner and he slid to the post only to completely miss the post and end up like halfway outside the net. He did that several times last night, Winnipeg just didn't capitalize because the Avs were quite stingy defensively.

I have a feeling if he starts against Carolina and looks like that again, the Hurricanes will put up 4+ goals quickly.

And that's kinda what a lot of Avs fans overlook when they point at Georgiev's performance in games 2-5 last postseason. He bounced back, yeah, but he still wasn't great. The Avs just shut the Jets down completely. They couldn't do ANYTHING offensively. George had it super-easy in round one. He wasn't terrible in the 2nd round either, but he also wasn't good.

Yeah, as I said before, MacKinnon kinda annoyed me last night, kept forcing stuff that wasn't there. He just needs to wind up and shoot the damn puck more, and that's saying something since he's usually a shot-taking machine. I also think the Avs were playing tight because they were whiffing on prime shots (hello, Toews) and winging so many of them wide.

Avs need to figure out what to do when a team boxes them out like that. Only thing to really do is work it down low, create as many scrums in front of the net as possible, make the goalie move around, and score some ugly goals.

 

[Avs9296]

This was a game where if we were a few games above .500 I honestly wouldn't even be mad we lost. We played pretty damn well and dominated Winnipeg for the last 30 minutes of the game. But it hurts to lose already being a couple games below .500.

Also can we take a minute to appreciate how good Lehkonen is. The guy hasn't played hockey in like 6 months going to back to last playoffs and had a major shoulder surgery and he looks dangerous out there. Hellebuyck robbed him of the tying goal late in the third with his left leg I think it was.

 

[CobraAcesS]

But CMac was in a big hurry to re-up him for 6 years before even knowing how was his play post-surgery so he's fine. The GM would never make a mistake like that would he?

I think he started fine. Looks like the classic LOC after too many minutes to me.

He gets used to playing 3rd line minutes a lot, ahh let's give him 2nd line minutes lol.

Maybe it’s just me but I’m not giving the Avs as much credit as everyone else. Yeah I know, the lineup is depleted and that’s the best team in the league at present.

But they made it too easy on Hellebuyck. Too much high/low perimeter shots, not enough traffic in the net front area, not NEARLY enough generated below the hashmarks. Also, fanned shot after fanned shot after fanned shot. Gotta breathe and quit playing so tight.

Second line was abysmal. Only trio that was below the Mendoza Line. Mittelstadt struggled to create space and his wingers couldn’t do shit with the puck. And LOC is looking AWFUL out there. They need to demote him and try Kovalenko with Mitts again. Or try SOMETHING. So I wasn’t happy with his coaching effort tonight.

That said, Georgiev was mostly good, can’t complain. The 2-on-1 created by a dumb Manson pinch and Sammy totally misplaying it wasn’t really on him. Can’t recall anything I didn’t like from him to be honest.

I'm not sure what you're expecting out of a lineup that used T.J. Tynan as its extra attacker tonight. The Avs held Winnipeg to 6 high danger chances and 22 scoring chances overall while generating 12 and 39, respectively.

Sometimes a goalie dominates and Hellebuyck did that tonight.

Can't wait for Drouin and Nuke to come back

Yeah the team can play well defensively, and even push the pace, but it's obvious why we lack finish.

I lot of scoring is out, and pretty much no one on the roster can clean up in front of the net.

 

[CobraAcesS]

It's fair to question Rantanen's effort/never-ending-balance-issues a lot of nights but I don't think you can question his smarts. Come on, now. He's not Anze Kopitar out there but he's also not Miles Wood.

I think without a Landeskog, Nuke, or Lehhky on his line he can't float all over the ice looking for soft spots. He struggles to create on the road against difficult competition too.

Maybe some day Bednar will wake the fk up and put him on the second line for more than one shift. Until then he is what he is.