(AP Photo/Mark Terrill)
Like a chicken heading to the slaughterhouse
The Avalanche managed to take a 2-1 lead into the third period against the "defending champs" (seriously Altidudes, we know they won the Cup last year) and managed to squander it into a shootout loss.
How did they do that? By forgetting that they scored their 2 goals via some solid forechecking and net presence and deciding that they better cling to the lead for dear life and hope for the best. I'm not sure how many times JQ is going to get the crew to use that strategy before he realizes it has a minimal success rate.
Does Q really think that a 2-1 lead against the Ducks is a safe lead to try and protect? Does he really think this is the team to do it with? Does he really still care about making the playoffs?
How many periods per game?
The team actually looked decent for the first 40 minutes and played a very solid second period. Of course, as soon as they started playing good in the second the announcing crew was all over the coaching staff for how good a job they've done all year long in preparing the team for the second period. The only problem with that is that there are two other important periods of hockey to play around that middle frame and it seems those are the two that the coaching staff just can't figure out.
The third period will always be the most important period and it's the one where the Avalanche game plan (if one exists) typically goes to hell. "Dump and chase" turns into "Dump and fallback" and the players become so frightened of making a mistake that they can't even clear the puck out of the zone. I don't know how many times an Avalanche player had the puck, could have cleared it, and instead decided to try and protect it from a Duck player and ended up losing it.
I hope every single player who did that this game got an earful from someone. Anyone. Hell, I'll go in and yell at them for a while if it'll help.
And of course, the game-tying goal was off of a failed clear. I'll give them a bit of leeway there since it was Chris Pronger and his 10' leaping frame that kept the puck in the zone.
Lines
Brunette-Arnason-Svatos
Smyth-Guite-Laperriere
McLeod-Hensick-Hejduk
Jones-Wolski-Parker
Liles-Hannan
Sauer-Finger
Cumiskey-Finger
Everything including defensive pairings was changed tonight but the players didn't look too confused out on the ice. Wolski was dropped to the fourth line with Scott Parker (wha?) while Andrew Brunette took his slot with Arnason and Svatos. Guite, Smyth and Laperriere formed a grind line while Hensick, McLeod and Hejduk formed that "don't know what to do" line.
Jaroslav Hlinka and Karlis Skrastins were healthy scratches.
Notes
Without my notebook I'm a bit lost on these ones but I do remember writing the words "Pronger" and "douche" quite a few times. The first was when he popped our resident tough guy Tyler Arnason after a whistle. Arnason hadn't even done anything. Pronger knocked him down in the front of the net, Arnason wasn't on top of the goaltender and Pronger gave him a cross check while he was down. Arnason then got up and shoved Pronger to which Pronger responded by punching him in the face. Classy.
Seriously, why does Canada have to have the two biggest defensive d-bags?
Related Links
In the Cheap Seats Recap
DenverPost Recap
Rocky Mountain Recap
ColoradoAvalanche.com Recap
Liles Lacking Power Point Presentation
Dater's Mailbag
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2 Comments:
The Arnason - Pronger play amused me. Pronger (the douche) punches Arnason in the back of his head. Arnason, for the first time ever, shows emotion and spins around ready to confront his attacker.
...and then he sees that it's Pronger and immediately adopts his usual "nevermind" stance.
your photo reminded me of the best part of the game: the fu is back!
Arnason was on Road Hockey Rumble this week (which may be a Canadian only show) and he appeared to care more about winning a street hockey game than he does about an NHL game.
Actually, he seems like the kind of guy who doesn't really put much effort into anything he does.
And yes, the fu is back and all will be well in the Avalanche world. It didn't take effect yesterday because it hasn't fully grown in. But tomorrow...
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