GDT: WCQF: Game 2 - Avs @ Stars, 7:30 MT - "I've Heard It Both Ways" Edition

[The Abusement Park]

Three lines are playing well. I get the desire to kickstart the second but we’re 2 games in and 3/4 of the forwards are clicking.

It’s special teams, defense that have been the major issue, not the second line. And for as much crap as Nelson is getting, Drouin has been worse imo.

I would say the bottom 6 looks great. The top 6 has been a bit of a problem though. I don't think switching up some of the wings in the top 6 would be a bad idea.

 

[Pokecheque]

Seems like you're doing your best to dance around EJ's performance. Yesterday you singled out Manson, then Girard. Now Wood.

There's no Avs player that is nearly as bad as EJ. It's not his fault but he is in his own tier now. Like a league or two below the NHL.

How am I "singling out" players when I mentioned how bad Manson AND Sammy were in the same post?

I've taken it kinda easy on EJ because he is literally the 7/8th defenseman on this team. If it's anyone's fault here it's not the banged-up 37-year-old who's almost assuredly hanging them up this summer. It's Bednar for not trusting Malinski.

But yeah, I don't like how he played that. There you go. Still way more mad at Wood on that sequence. Screwed up bad at both ends of the ice, and to his credit, owned up to it afterward.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Bednar is Deboer's bitch.

Once he adjusts in a series Bedsy has had no answer so far.

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

This reminds me of Vegas. Where the Avs jumped out to a game 1 win. Game 2 the Avs held on but you could see the cracks and Gru was getting shelled and wouldn't hold up.

This time Blackwood didn't manage to hold on the game but he doesn't look like he's going to implode. And Bednar does have a plan. He's been saving it for home ice. But the Nelson Nuke Necas line is going to light shit up.

So calm the f*** down. You're witnessing greatness.

One of these teams has been missing their top defender. But Makar is going to show up in game 3.

 

[BigCKU]

Man last night felt like the classic “had a chance to put a strangle hold on the series” moment and let it slip through their hands and now they’re gonna be down 3-1 before they even start to react.

 

[Tralfamadore]

Looks like Miro is back. Huge opportunity missed not taking a stranglehold on the series. Stars defense is going to look completely different now.

Edit: Hmm maybe I jumped the gun. It was a post from 3 days ago with him practicing

 

[the_fan]

Did anyone really think we were gonna sweep Dallas? They are still a very good team even without two key players. Obviously it would have been nice to win both games in Dallas, but we did what was really necessary is winning at least one there. Now we gotta use our home ice advantage and try to win both, but it’s not gonna be easy. This series might go to distance

 

[Avsfan1921]

I would say the bottom 6 looks great. The top 6 has been a bit of a problem though. I don't think switching up some of the wings in the top 6 would be a bad idea.

I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea either but I think it’s being overplayed here on how big of an issue it’s been through 2 games.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

I've taken it kinda easy on EJ because he is literally the 7/8th defenseman on this team. If it's anyone's fault here it's not the banged-up 37-year-old who's almost assuredly hanging them up this summer. It's Bednar for not trusting Malinski.

We may think he is, but is he really?

Bednar has 8 defensemen available and EJ is part of the top 6... in his mind.

 

[Ceremony]

*I thought this during the game, I'm not just saying it now because I'm pissed we lost

Nelson is a waste of f***ing space. Barely f***ing moves and never reacts to anything. I don't care if he's been on the same shitty team playing shitty boring hockey his whole career, if you're struggling to adapt to playing with better players then do the basics. Move your f***ing feet and look where you're f***ing going. And get Drouin off his f***ing line as well, you're basically giving up a third of your top six with that.

 

[chet1926]

There were two lineup changes made for this game.

The Stars dressed Blackwell.

The Avs dressed Wood.

Blackwell scored the overtime winner.

Wood turned the puck over for the winning goal and was -3 on the night.

Just another DeBoer masterclass over Bednar.

Yep, Bednar galaxy brained it. I can almost guarantee that 92 wouldn't have been -3 and been directly responsible for OT losing goal.

Got to play your best options, Wood and Vesey aren't it. Even if 92 is 25% he's better than those two. Just having a C in lineup would be an astronomical boost, something Wood and Vesey can't add.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Not impressed so far. If they can't bring it against a defense like that what happens if they played against Vegas for example.

 

[the_fan]

*I thought this during the game, I'm not just saying it now because I'm pissed we lost

Nelson is a waste of f***ing space. Barely f***ing moves and never reacts to anything. I don't care if he's been on the same shitty team playing shitty boring hockey his whole career, if you're struggling to adapt to playing with better players then do the basics. Move your f***ing feet and look where you're f***ing going. And get Drouin off his f***ing line as well, you're basically giving up a third of your top six with that.

In Nelson’s defense, Val hasn’t looked good so far in the 2 games either. He’s supposed to be the play driver on that line. I would switch Val with Necas for game 3. Maybe Nate will get Val going and Necas will get Nelson going

 

[TruePowerSlave]

The Kadri curse continues. No #2C will ever succeed.

 

[Ceremony]

In Nelson’s defense, Val hasn’t looked good so far in the 2 games either. He’s supposed to be the play driver on that line. I would switch Val with Necas for game 3. Maybe Nate will get Val going and Necas will get Nelson going

I'm assuming we're keeping Nichushkin clean until we're past Dallas and De Boer can't call the cops on him.

 

[nammerus]

Thank god most everyone here are posters and not players for the Avs. With the mindset of the posters here this series would be over in 5 games lmao.

Luckily the team has a good history of rebounding after a terrible game against these same Stars. Kind of how they played last year right? Going home and protecting home ice? Just need a reminder how that went last year.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Him included he froze.

In any case, Makar will get out of his funk and it’s lights out

He did indeed freeze. It was so odd it distracted me from the rest of the play initially. I have noticed that about him sometimes when the puck is close. He nearby awareness sometimes seems off. The one earlier goal he had if he had just not gotten up trying to slide more towards the middle of the net.

 

[nammerus]

Did anyone really think we were gonna sweep Dallas? They are still a very good team even without two key players. Obviously it would have been nice to win both games in Dallas, but we did what was really necessary is winning at least one there. Now we gotta use our home ice advantage and try to win both, but it’s not gonna be easy. This series might go to distance

The problem is, this Dallas team isn’t very good without Miro. They were of the worst teams analytically since the 4 nations cup (hanging out with the dregs of the league like Chi/SJS), and were basically outshot every game over that time period.

The expectation should be a relative cake walk. A real contender puts the foot down on the throat of a team running 4 #5/#6 dman in their d corps. But alas, the Avs went out and got ventilated.

 

[chet1926]

*I thought this during the game, I'm not just saying it now because I'm pissed we lost

Nelson is a waste of f***ing space. Barely f***ing moves and never reacts to anything. I don't care if he's been on the same shitty team playing shitty boring hockey his whole career, if you're struggling to adapt to playing with better players then do the basics. Move your f***ing feet and look where you're f***ing going. And get Drouin off his f***ing line as well, you're basically giving up a third of your top six with that.

Completely agree with this. Nelson was a terrible decision, anyone with half a brain knew that he was not a fit in this system. Can't play in the slow NYI system your entire career and then think he'll just fit seamlessly into the high pace Colorado system. And honestly it's been even worse than I thought it was going to be.

I can't fault CMac for trying, but it was a stretch. Simply going for what they considered the best of very limited options.

At end of the day CMac has been bumbling around the 2C issue for 3 years by either going for bandaid solutions or poor system fits. And after we lose to Dallas, as we will with no 2nd line and Makar playing like horseshit, CMac better spend all f***ing off-season finding a real solution.

 

[the_fan]

The problem is, this Dallas team isn’t very good without Miro. They were of the worst teams analytically since the 4 nations cup (hanging out with the dregs of the league like Chi/SJS), and were basically outshot every game over that time period.

The expectation should be a relative cake walk. A real contender puts the foot down on the throat of a team running 4 #5/#6 dman in their d corps. But alas, the Avs went out and got ventilated.

Losing bunch of games late in the season often doesn’t translates into the playoffs. Experienced veteran teams know how to flip the switch. I knew Stars were gonna be better than how they finished the season.

 

[Pokecheque]

Going to try and focus on the positive--Logan O'Connor has been a goddamn BEAST for the Avs, both games he has been absolutely phenomenal. Hustled to set up one goal and scored an insane one falling down and with Mason Marchstache draped all over him that SHOULD HAVE been the game-winner.

Not having him in the postseason last year was a far, far more glaring absence than I realized.

 

[chet1926]

The problem is, this Dallas team isn’t very good without Miro. They were of the worst teams analytically since the 4 nations cup (hanging out with the dregs of the league like Chi/SJS), and were basically outshot every game over that time period.

The expectation should be a relative cake walk. A real contender puts the foot down on the throat of a team running 4 #5/#6 dman in their d corps. But alas, the Avs went out and got ventilated.

Did you really think that the Avs were just going to stroll into Dallas and easily win both road games to start the series? Dallas played like there season was on the line last night and eeked out an OT win.

The Avs did their job, win a road game, and as of right now we are the only team in the league that has won a road game in the playoffs. Now we get to play at home. And all they have to do is take care of their business, which is win home games. You win your home games now and you win the series. If you can't win at home you don't deserve to win a series.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Going to try and focus on the positive--Logan O'Connor has been a goddamn BEAST for the Avs, both games he has been absolutely phenomenal. Hustled to set up one goal and scored an insane one falling down and with Mason Marchstache draped all over him that SHOULD HAVE been the game-winner.

Not having him in the postseason last year was a far, far more glaring absence than I realized.

LOC and Drury have been our best forwards at 5v5.

That is a problem.

 

[dahrougem2]

LOC and Drury have been our best forwards at 5v5.

That is a problem.

Oh yeah, as much as people rip on the 2nd line I haven't liked the top line either. MacKinnon and Necas look like they did the first few road games after Necas got here. Going to the same spots, unsure of one another, can't read one another, and nobody except Lehkonen forechecking/digging for loose pucks in front.

It is right there for Bednar to see. If he doesn't switch the lines to what we know worked during the season, someone needs to call him out in the media. They won't, but they should.

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Oh yeah, as much as people rip on the 2nd line I haven't liked the top line either. MacKinnon and Necas look like they did the first few road games after Necas got here. Going to the same spots, unsure of one another, can't read one another, and nobody except Lehkonen forechecking/digging for loose pucks in front.

It is right there for Bednar to see. If he doesn't switch the lines to what we know worked during the season, someone needs to call him out in the media. They won't, but they should.

It should be so simple.

Nate as the puck entry guy on the top line, using his chemistry with Drouin for quick passes and criss-crossing in the zone. Val as the net front/board guy they are feeding for goals.

Necas as the puck entry demon for the second line, opening up space for Nelson to get into shooting lanes and high percentage areas. Lehky doing the dirty work and board play.

This should be so simple.

Our 4-0 win over LAK and 5-1 win over Ottawa were dominant performances where these lines were unreal. Necas and Nelson were scoring. Drouin got lots of points not just PP but even strength with MacK. Everything was clicking.

This is what is so concerning for me.

Bednar tinkered with a bunch of different lines leading up to the playoffs and somehow, after reviewing everything, felt the top 6 we’ve seen through the first two games were the best combinations. That’s scary.