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

[Pokecheque]

I think it's more to keep Val with Nelson as a heavy forechecking line, and split Necas and Drouin as playmakers on different lines.

Drouin isn't the same type of playmaker though. Nelson needs someone to carry the puck ideally. Jo is a quick give and go guy.

He just needs to swap Necas and Drouin though. That's why I'm hopeful he can try that next game.

But that's just it--Nelson isn't a hard forechecker. And that line expends so much energy just getting out of their zone they have to change before even trying to set something up at the other end of the ice. Nuke has been doing a lot of the puck carrying duties on that line and it's clearly wearing him out, and it's also just not his specialty.

 

[dahrougem2]

I am VERY concerned that Nate is more hurt than he's letting on. We all know there was something lingering late in the season and it clearly affected his game. He just hasn't looked right at even strength, and looked way, way off in the third period. Had some utterly careless (at least it appeared that way) turnovers in his own zone that were just uncharacteristic of him. I thought maybe he was just gassed because he had to work so hard in the defensive zone corners to retrieve pucks (because the defensemen were not doing it) but...something else might be up.

Either way, Bednar cannot just keep leaning on an iffy top line and a phenomenal fourth line to carry the game. Make the f***ing changes or GTFO.

I don't believe there is anything wrong with MacKinnon. He destroyed Benn with a hit in game 1, absolutely trucked Sam Steel yesterday with a reverse hit, has been skating well and ripped that PPG home last night.

I think he's fine.

 

[Foppa2118]

Avs have to bury their glorious chances early on to put Dallas in a hole. Drury in the 1st, Nelson in the 2nd. Both guys should have scored being point blank opportunities. Credit to Oettinger but the Avs need those to go in at home.

This is the biggest problem with the team.

Not the coach, not the line combos, not Nelson, not Val, not EJ, not Wood. If they can bury their chances more often, especially Nate, Cale, and Val, they can deal with the other issues in the lineup. Many Cup winning rosters have weak points. The Avs don't need to be perfect.

But they're built on talent for the most part. They're good in other areas, but if they're not burying the chances they create, they're usually not winning.

It's been an issue in losses for years now.

If they bury one or two of their missed chances earlier in the game, that third and OT probably don't happen, and they're up 2-0 going home against a frustrated team.

 

[Bender]

It’s almost like it’s the wrong mix of the 6 players.

Why would we want to run the top 6 where we went 4-0-1 and scored 22 goals with?

Drouin - MacKinnon - Nichushkin
Lehkonen - Nelson - Necas

I think we will see this combination tomorrow night. I think we'll see Malinski as well.

In much the same way that Bednar went through his 'big silly pre-game roster con-job'... he probably planned to put those guys together for Game #3 (as long as we got the split in dallass) all along. (I'd be willing to bet that nobody from that dallass team even noticed or cared if Landy was in or not)

Reminds me of Zapp Brannigan from Futurama :

Zapp: No, the itch for adventure! Prepare to change course.​

Kif: Sir, this is a leisure cruise. Our path was set by the travel agency.​

[He presses a button and a map comes down on the wall showing the route is a straight line from Earth to another planet.]​

Zapp: That's for schoolgirls! Now here's a route with some chest hair.​

[He squiggles a new course onto the map.]​

Kif: But that course leads directly through a swarm of comets.​

Zapp: Yes, comets! The icebergs of the sky. By jack-knifing from one to the next at breakneck speed we might just get some kind of gravity boost ... or something. [Kif sighs.] It's time to shove a jalapeño up this ships tailpipe. [He grabs the wheel.] Divert power from the shields, full speed ahead!​

He probably thinks that by suddenly changing to that line combination for Game #3 it will be too much for dallass to handle after having led them into some sort of false sense of security. Bednar is coaching circles around...himself !!!

As far as Landeskog goes, I mentioned it was going to be Game #3 before the start of the series. There was no way Bednar was putting him in - and potentially risking him not being able to finish the game (for whatever reason - goonage or otherwise) and having to go down a guy in a playoff game on the road to start a series.

Game #3 is the big one though and Landeskog WILL be part of it tomorrow night, I have zero doubt.

I don't believe Gabe is coming back this series. If he was, he should have tonight.

Aren't you tired of being wrong ?

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.

Masterclass is a bit much, don't you think ?

Debore put in a ham-and-egger to replace mavrick bourque who is dallass's Tyson Jost. They got lucky and it worked for them.

To be completely honest, I was expecting a lot better from that team, especially on home ice. The Avs have not played their best, not even close.

Tomorrow night is the real test - we lose that game and we'll probably lose the series but the Avs should be cranked up and ready to squash that team - like I'm talking 2022 Finals vs Tampa Bay - Game #2 style.

 

[dahrougem2]

This is the biggest problem with the team.

Not the line combos, not Nelson, not Val, not EJ, not Wood. If they can bury their chances more often, especially Nate, Cale, and Val, they can deal with the other issues in the lineup. Many Cup winning rosters have weak points. The Avs don't need to be perfect.

But they're built on talent for the most part. They're good in other areas, but if they're not burying the chances they create, they're usually not winning.

It's been an issue in losses for years now.

People can't be expecting 2022 all over again. I know I was frustrated but it was contextual based on them having glorious chances to win it, not because I think the series is over. I still fully believe the Avs can and will win this series.

Reminds me of the LA Kings. They massacred every team they played in 2012, then 2014 came around and they needed 21 games through the first three rounds before dispatching NYR in five.

If the Avs need 6 or 7 to beat Dallas, so be it. This was never going to be easy. If they can bury the SEVERAL point blank chances they have created through two games, they will win.

 

[Foppa2118]

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.

Lets be fair though RIAL. You and I both said we thought Wood should play in this game.

He played well down the stretch and I thought he played fairly well before that last shift too. Their other option without Landy was Vesey and I'm not sure he has a strong case to play over Wood.

 

[Balthazar]

I'd still trust the coach over posters here.

View attachment 1020108

Most people are yelling at Bednar for being dumb for not running Drouin - MacKinnon - Nichushkin.
If you can't find it, it's the line at the very bottom with the worst numbers.

This doesn't match the eye test at all but Bednar loves advanced stats so that's more than likely the reason the top 6 is like that..

 

[nammerus]

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.

It wasn't late in the season. They had been playing like garbage for close to 8 weeks. And it makes sense. That's how important Miro is to that team, especially given how thin their defense is.

 

[Balthazar]

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

I'm only worried about a team coached by DeBoer. Honest.

If we beat Dallas we have a decent chance at the cup.

 

[Foppa2118]

With a good gameplan it doesn't matter all that much who's playing.

Avs were the better team for most of Game 1 and 2/3 of Game 2. They didn't dominate, but they controlled the play IMO.

So if we're giving credit to gameplans, then Bednar deserves it just as much, if not more than DeBoer.

Dallas started to play better when they came out desperate af in the third, and then started to control the play after they got a huge momentum boost from the crowd at home, especially after tying the game.

We see this often now in the playoffs. The momentum swings for the home team can be very tough to deal with. Avs haven't played at home yet.

 

[nammerus]

f*** you're annoying. Why do you even post here if you hate this team this much?

You only post when we lose, never post when we win. Realistically you would be described as trolling our board because you only come here after losses shit talking and trying to get a reaction.

Go be a "fan" of someone else.

Please. I definitely post when we win. I just complain then too.

 

[the_fan]

It wasn't late in the season. They had been playing like garbage for close to 8 weeks. And it makes sense. That's how important Miro is to that team, especially given how thin their defense is.

Well they obviously flipped the switch and are playing a lot better now in the playoffs. It’s not like the Avs have played poorly, it’s just that people have underestimated Dallas thinking without Heiskanen and Robertson they were done and we were gonna win the series easily, but that’s not the case

 

[Balthazar]

Avs were the better team for most of Game 1 and 2/3 of Game 2. They didn't dominate, but they controlled the play IMO.

So if we're giving credit to gameplans, then Bednar deserves it just as much, if not more than DeBoer.

The first part is statistically not true.

As for the second part, are you saying that their respective lineups are equally as good and therefore Bednar deserves as much credit as DeBoer for hanging in there?

 

[Foppa2118]

The first part is statistically not true.

As for the second part, are you saying that their respective lineups are equally as good and therefore Bednar deserves as much credit as DeBoer for hanging in there?

I don't care what is statistically true. The Avs were better for most of Game 1 and most of Game 2.

We can quibble about when Dallas started to take over in Game 2, but Dallas has not played better than the Avs for the balance of the two games so far.

Their lineups have nothing to do with gameplans. If we're giving credit to gameplans, then it should be based on who controlled the play more. That was the Avs.

I don't think gameplan had anything to do with the Avs losing either, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Balthazar]

Please. I definitely post when we win. I just complain then too.

Feel free to embrace your fandom however you like, and ignore those who think there's only one right way to support a team.

 

[the_fan]

I really can’t listen to DNVR podcast anymore. Even Eric Lacroix is saying stupid stuff. I thought he would at least make some sense but no. He said Avs didn’t play hard that’s why they lost. I mean really? We lost in OT, if we didn’t play hard, the game wouldn’t be that close. We would lose like 6-3 or something. I’m done with that podcast

 

[nammerus]

Well they obviously flipped the switch and are playing a lot better now in the playoffs. It’s not like the Avs have played poorly, it’s just that people have underestimated Dallas thinking without Heiskanen and Robertson they were done and we were gonna win the series easily, but that’s not the case

Getting stomped to the tune of an xGF% (5v5) of 30% is the very definition of playing poorly. Not only playing poorly, but terrifyingly bad. Going back, looks like the only games that bad over the last 5 years in the playoffs were games 3 against the Kraken/game 2 against STL and games 2-4 against Vegas. A who's who of garbage Avs playoff performances.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

I think the biggest question to be answered at this point is how long the stars makeshift d-core without miro can continue to their level of play. They've probably been better than anticipated, but can they keep that going the entire series/until Heiskanen comes back knowing that the majority of them are playing more minutes than they should be expected or are used to. I have a feeling/hope they are going to start getting exposed in Game 3, especially with the altitude.

 

[Bender]

People can't be expecting 2022 all over again. I know I was frustrated but it was contextual based on them having glorious chances to win it, not because I think the series is over. I still fully believe the Avs can and will win this series.

Reminds me of the LA Kings. They massacred every team they played in 2012, then 2014 came around and they needed 21 games through the first three rounds before dispatching NYR in five.

If the Avs need 6 or 7 to beat Dallas, so be it. This was never going to be easy. If they can bury the SEVERAL point blank chances they have created through two games, they will win.

Not only that but dallass had lost how many games in a row including Game #1 and the regular season? Seven or Eight ?? There just aren't too many teams that go on that kind of losing streak and don't somehow manage to end that streak at some point. It took OT for them to do it.

The Avs absolutely have another gear and this whole team should be at or near their best tomorrow night. If not, I'm not sure we win this series and I do think that if we lose in the first round again after what CMac has invested in this roster, the coaching staff is gone.

 

[Balthazar]

I really can’t listen to DNVR podcast anymore.

Sometimes I'm like "it can't be that bad" and start listening then after 3 minutes I'm like nah I'm good and turn it off.

Rudo is worse than he's ever been and that's saying something.

 

[the_fan]

Stars have their weaknesses on D, we have ours. It’s not like our D is perfect. Stars took advantage of our weakness on D when they scored the OT goal with EJ on the ice

 

[Foppa2118]

It's silly honestly. He wanted to go through the process? Give me a break lol. I'm going to use this on my wife next time we're going out to dinner. I'm gonna get dressed, pick a restaurant, drive there with her, park, literally turn the car off/on, and drive back home. When she asks what that was about, my answer will be: "I just wanted to get a feel for the process".

He's either ready or he's not. Don't do this half in/half out bullshit. The whole thing really makes me think he's suiting up for 1 game and that's that.

My guess is Landy does want to get a feel for the playoff atmosphere in warmups. He seems to have a process, taking steps at a time to optimize as much as he can.

But the tease is because Bednar hates giving up his lineup if he doesn't have to, and wanted to wait as long as possible to give DeBoer that info, and that included a bunch of tricks like swapping jerseys with A's on them, and submitting two fake lineup cards, which may or may not have been worth the effort.

 

[Richard88]

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.

Dressing a 4th line plug is now considered a masterclass?

 

[the_fan]

Getting stomped to the tune of an xGF% (5v5) of 30% is the very definition of playing poorly. Not only playing poorly, but terrifyingly bad. Going back, looks like the only games that bad over the last 5 years in the playoffs were games 3 against the Kraken/game 2 against STL and games 2-4 against Vegas. A who's who of garbage Avs playoff performances.

Again, you’re underestimating Dallas. They are still a really good team, well coached and structured. You’re not gonna have an easy time agains that team, and they played hard and were very desperate not to go down 0-2 in the series at home. I mean if you were expecting a sweep, then I understand the disappointment. I for one never expected a sweep. I actually expect this series to be a long one

 

[Tralfamadore]

Avs look stifled at even strength. The DeBoer effect is real with this team. If they can't get breakthrough at home they're in big trouble.