Game 2 Preview: Avalanche vs Wild - Colorado Avalanche Updates, News and Game Reviews at Avs Talk

Friday, April 11, 2008

Game 2 Preview: Avalanche vs Wild

It's time to grab the beer and chips and plop yourself down on the couch for some exciting playoff action! And you might want to have a defibrillator nearby if the last game was any indication of how this series will play out.

Room for improvement
The Avalanche have to be pretty happy with themselves but they do realize there is still room for improvement. Peter Forsberg actually thought his line was awful on Wednesday which is a bit of a stretch.

I'd look for that trio to come out hard, draw a few penalties this game and hopefully light the lamp at least once. Hopefully Forsberg can keep himself in check from retaliating when roughed up by the Wild. No matter how he tries to slice it, any time Forsberg is off the ice is a win for the Wild.

The defense also knows that they need to do their job and clear pucks out of the zone. If Adam Foote hadn't tried to softie the puck out of the zone on Wednesday, Todd Fedoruk never would have found himself all along in front of the net. Well, that should never happen regardless but we'll let that one slide. This time.

Injuries abound for Wild
The Wild will be down another body as Mark Parrish will sit out the game with what is likely a concussion. That means that Chris Simon is "a likely possibility." A "likely possibility"? Isn't that a bit redundant?

I think they have better options than Simon at forward. The Wild already have Boogard dressing as well as extra toughness from Todd Fedoruk. Do they really need 3 tough guys dressed?

Martin Skoula also has a sore leg but is possible for tonight. But in the playoffs "sore leg" could mean that his leg literally fell off so you never know.

Lappy limping?
Mike Russo reported that Ian Laperriere looked like he could barely move today after blocking a Brian Rolston slapshot. That's not great news for the Avs as the Wild are coming out very physical. The Avalanche will need every tough guy they have and they don't have many.

However in the playoffs, everybody steps up. I caught Hejduk and Sakic laying out some checks on Wednesday and that's a great thing to see.

Game time
The Avalanche snagged home ice advantage from the Wild and you know that Minnesota isn't going to take that lying down. If you thought Minny came out hard in game 1, just wait until tonight.

The game starts at 9:00pm ET however TSN won't be joining it until late in the first. Thanks guys.

Related Links
Good news on Mike Haynes
Playoffs offering second changes
Smyth puts team first
Hitting the ice-Forsberg tough
Stastny soaks in playoff buzz

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Im very pissed that Im going to miss some or possibly all of tonights game! thanks versus! Center ice I hope realizes this and has coverage!

Shane Giroux said...

Tell me about it! I sent an email to TSN asking what was up as I really don't know if it's the league or the stations. I suspect the league personally but at the same time, CBC has had no problems with their double-headers.