Pre-Game Talk: Week of No Mercy for Mercenary Moose (Mon vs. CHI, Tues @ MIN, Fri @ CGY, Sun vs. DAL)

[flyfysher]

That as 100% because of Varly owning the Hawks during those dark years. Hurts even more knowing we would have faced the Blackhawks in round 2 if we could have beaten Minny in that Game 7...

Matt Cooke

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Maybe the insane play from when he got here got my expectations too high but I was hoping he would be in the .920+

There’s two goalies in the NHL with a save percentage above .920; Helly and Stolarz, the latter having missed almost 2 months and we just put up 5 goals on him on Saturday.

I think the expectations need to be tempered.

Blackwood is comfortably a top 10 goalie in the league(top 5-6 based on stats) and we acquired him for a bottom 6 grinder and a 2nd round pick.

We should be very happy.

 

[Pokecheque]

So really, Blackwood was really bad in the first, okay in the second, and great in the third. There's plenty of positives to take from that. One, Blackwood stepped up when it mattered the most and Toronto, at least for the start of that third period, found their legs. Two, the Avs didn't let a bad start from their goalie change their gameplan at all. They kept coming at Stolarz until they regained the lead, AND they were clutch on a key power play.

All of those things in various forms were not present earlier this season.

Blackwood is not elite, but then again I think there's 1, maybe 2 elite netminders in the entire league, and the 1 I'm referring to got absolutely ventilated by the Avs last postseason. He's just gotta be *good* and so long as the team in front of him plays the way they're able to play, there's really no one they can't beat. How that plays out remains to be seen.

 

[The Shermanator]

It's also a back to back so yeah, use the whole roster so we at least have some fresh bodies. Even though those guys will only play 5 minutes anyways.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[missionAvs]

Coming off of 5 straight wins and a much stronger roster after the trade deadline, we close out our homestand against Chicago on Monday. We then quickly leave Denver and go to Minnesota to finish off a back-to-back on Tuesday night in a key divisional matchup with huge standings implications. A quick trip north of the border to face old friend Nazem Kadri and the Flames on Friday, and then...

...the return of Mikko Rantanen to Ball Arena on Sunday with his Dallas Stars.

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For the first time all year, we start a week completely healthy other than Gabriel Landeskog on LTIR. A big change for us and coach Jared Bednar is loving the tough decisions he has with the lineup every night.

Schedule:

Monday, March 10 vs. Chicago Blackhawks - 7:00 PM MST​

Tuesday, March 11 at Minnesota Wild - 6:00 PM MST​

Friday, March 14 at Calgary Flames - 7:00 PM MST​

Sunday, March 16 vs. Dallas Stars - 1:30 PM MST​

​

Standings - Central Division:

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Nathan MacKinnon is the first player this season to reach 100 points and has stretched his lead over Leon Draisaitl to 5 points. Cale Makar leads all defensemen by 9 points over the next closest D in Zach Werenski.

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Active roster is at 24 players; 14 F + 8 D + 2G.

Forwards (14):

Artturi Lehkonen​

Brock Nelson​

Charlie Coyle​

Jack Drury​

Jimmy Vesey​

Joel Kiviranta​

Jonathan Drouin​

Logan O'Connor​

Martin Necas​

Miles Wood​

Nathan MacKInnon​

Parker Kelly​

Ross Colton​

Valeri Nichushkin​

​

Defensemen (8):

Cale Makar​

Devon Toews​

Erik Johnson​

Josh Manson​

Keaton Middleton​

Ryan Lindgren​

Sam Malinski​

Samuel Girard​

Goaltenders (2):

Mackenzie Blackwood​

Scott Wedgewood​

Long-Term Injured Reserve (2):

Gabriel Landeskog (Knee)​

Tucker Poolman (Head)​

​

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Ummm going into the weak completely healthy except for Landy? Wtf man. Why does everyone forget about Poolman?

 

[The Abusement Park]

He’s dipped a little from last year.

Still a solid player, but last year I think most of us felt he was a rock solid 3rd liner and Kivi is the guy they’re not taking out of the lineup now.

It takes a while to come back from that surgery. I bet we see a better OC next season.

Last year was still a bit of an outlier for LOC though. At least offensively. He's always been a 25pt guy(pacing for 20 this year) and last year he 25 in 57 and was shooting wayyy above his career average. I think that's where the expectations rising come from. I think he's been pretty good this year but is a symptom of what's plaguing most of the bottom 6(pre deadline at least), they're all good defensively but none of them really provide any spark offensively.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

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Oh shit... didn't realize i hadn't actually quoted on this back when i copied it.

Is it just me? MacKinnon's strides don't look so much powerful as they do violent. It's like he's murding the ice into submission rather than skating upon it. It works for him and i'm not sure I can really pinpoint exactly what it is that looks so different with him, but instead of making things look graceful, he makes things look like their is no choice but to submit to his will simply because he's Nathaniel Mackinnon, first of him name and Protector of the Colorado River.

While I think it’s ultimately the right move, I am questioning the timing of it.

The PP is red hot right now and Drouin has been collecting points on the PP setting up Makar a ton, MacK and Necas a fair bit as well.

Hopefully this small tweak doesn’t result in the PP going cold.

I kinda thought this would be more about buttering Brock's biscuit and warming him up for an extension vs actually seeing a need for improvement on the PP.

 

[Hull2Roenick2Kane]

I think its a great credit to Colorado that Chicago is loading up its heaviest punch to take them on tonight. Hope this game is amazing for everyone watching tonight.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Matt Cooke

Should've given him a PTO '22/'23, have the trainer forget one of the O's on his nameplate and then just sat back and enjoy the hilarity to ensue when Nuke starts maniacally chasing his ass down and devours him on the spot.

 

[NorthernAvsFan]

In not as against the Lindgren-Manson pair as some.

Manson needs to calm down a little bit since his return, he’s overskating. Lindgren was solid last game.

I think when the Avs set their defence up like this, they’re going to play the 2nd/3rd pair pretty similar ice-time, which is fine.

Let Makar/Toews eat big minutes and use the other pairs situationally and go with who’s hot.

I also think it could be the return of the Bednar blender on defence. He uses to rotate defenceman constantly in-game, then stopped doing it.

 

[Balthazar]

I don't see the corpse of EJ outplaying Malinski... playing the Sams together is fine against a butter soft team like the Leafs but no one wants that in the playoffs.

Which is why Lindgren-Manson is a pointless experiment. Lindgren will have to play with Malinski and Girard will stay with Manson.

 

[sethro109]

 

[CobraAcesS]

So…

Lehkonen - MacKinnon - Necas
Drouin - Nelson - Nichushkin
Colton - Coyle - Kiviranta
Wood - Drury - Vesey

Toews - Makar
Lindgren - Manson
Girard - Johnson

Wedgewood
Blackwood

PP1: MacKinnon - Necas - Nichushkin - Nelson - Makar

PP2: Colton - Lehkonen - Drouin - Girard - Toews

Scratched: O’Connor, Kelly, Malinski, Middleton

I refuse to believe Bednar is scratching LOC..

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[Valushkin]

I don't see the corpse of EJ outplaying Malinski... playing the Sams together is fine against a butter soft team like the Leafs but no one wants that in the playoffs.

Which is why Lindgren-Manson is a pointless experiment. Lindgren will have to play with Malinski and Girard will stay with Manson.

If Malinski can play the way he did against the Leafs more often than not, he’ll be just fine as the #6. He was really good in that last game

 

[RECKLESS]

You guys think Mack's hair has that wisp on the forehead by accident?
No.
He is Superman!

 

[NorthernAvsFan]

Sometimes I take MacKinnon for granted, but he’s playing at such a high level the last couple years. You just expect it every night.

He had literally no care about that Chicago goal being offside, because he knew they’d be scoring again at some point.

I look at a guy like Matthews, who’s obviously a great player, but there’s a difference in the control over a game that comes from MacKinnon.

Even when the points aren’t coming, he’s setting the pace, creating, and forcing the opposition to be on their heels.

When it’s all said and done he and Makar will put themselves up there with Sakic, Forsberg, and Roy as Avs greats.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Sometimes I take MacKinnon for granted, but he’s playing at such a high level the last couple years. You just expect it every night.

He had literally no care about that Chicago goal being offside, because he knew they’d be scoring again at some point.

I look at a guy like Matthews, who’s obviously a great player, but there’s a difference in the control over a game that comes from MacKinnon.

Even when the points aren’t coming, he’s setting the pace, creating, and forcing the opposition to be on their heels.

When it’s all said and done he and Makar will put themselves up there with Sakic, Forsberg, and Roy as Avs greats.

It's kinda wild that Mackinnon has a very realistic chance of surpassing Sakic as 1) an all time Av but 2)just generally in hockey history.

If Mack plays 7 more seasons he'd need to average 91pts a season to catch Sakic in points which is kind of wild.

 

[NorthernAvsFan]

It's kinda wild that Mackinnon has a very realistic chance of surpassing Sakic as 1) an all time Av but 2)just generally in hockey history.

If Mack plays 7 more seasons he'd need to average 91pts a season to catch Sakic in points which is kind of wild.

Yeah, the MVP was huge for him and we’ll see what happens for him and the Avs this year.

The early years mediocrity hurt his PPG, but his 6-8 year prime is extremely impressive. Just in terms of status of player he’s been considered in the league.

 

[Valushkin]

Nate needs 640 points to tie Sakic with 1,641. It’s doable but will be hard. He either needs 6 more 100 point seasons, or needs to play more years to reach that

 

[RoyIsALegend]

When it’s all said and done he and Makar will put themselves up there with Sakic, Forsberg, and Roy as Avs greats.

If they can win another Cup and spend their entire careers as Avs, they will finish as 1 and 2.

MacKinnon might pass Sakic’s point totals during this contract he’s on, nevermind what he does in the back quarter of his career.

I know it’s not Avs related, but a Gold medal for Canada next year could help cement their legacy as the two greatest Avs ever.

Need the second Cup, though.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Nate needs 640 points to tie Sakic with 1,641. It’s doable but will be hard. He either needs 6 more 100 point seasons, or needs to play more years to reach that

I really don't think it'd be that hard for Mack. If Mack finishes the season with 128pts(his current pace) he'd end the season with 1026pts.

If Mack averages 110pts for the next 3 seasons he'd be at ~1356pts at at 32 and he'd only be down 285 points and he'd catch Sakic in 4 years averaging 71pts a season. Obviously that isn't taking health into account, but points wise I don't think Sakics totals are really that out of reach for Mackinnon at all.

 

[Richard88]

While I think it’s ultimately the right move, I am questioning the timing of it.

The PP is red hot right now and Drouin has been collecting points on the PP setting up Makar a ton, MacK and Necas a fair bit as well.

Hopefully this small tweak doesn’t result in the PP going cold.

It's probably just part of Bednar giving the new guys looks in different situations to get a feel for how he can use them in the playoffs.

 

[Pokecheque]

Despite the lack of practice time, now would be a good time to finally put together a good 2nd unit power play. The depth is there now, so use it.