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Avs lay another turd on the ice (for two periods at least) on the Wet Coast and still come out with a pretty decisive win in Los Angeles.

I'm not mad at all, they're likely exhausted after playing a lot of games in a short amount of time, and this was the 2nd of a B2B in California, where they normally don't do well.

I think it's the sign of a great team when they look bad for most of the game, get completely outplayed by the opposition, and still manage to eke out a win.

Also, good test for Darcy Kuemper, who puts in the work and only allows one goal, a power play tally he had no chance of getting.

Erik Johnson with probably his best defensive game of the year, he really stepped it up in the third, throwing hits and manning the PK.

Kiefer Sherwood, whom I slag every time he gets called up to the Avs, gets the GWG when Brendan Lemieux inexplicably throws the puck toward the hashmarks in his own zone.

Oh piss off!

I agree....

I am hoping Petey's recent setbacks this season mirror MacKinnon's career trajectory even if his ceiling is lower. He needs a sports psychologist.

Only Boston seems incapable of forgiving a bad year from one of their top players.

I think Petey will be fine. I think his struggles have more to do with his frustration with management than anything else. Unfortunately he fell into a hole and it's kinda hard to dig yourself out once that happens.

Avs play not-great hockey once again against the league-worst Montreal Canadiens at home, still win. Once again, goaltending was good, penalty kill was decent.

Still some silver linings to take from this. Top line once again looked like garbage but it didn't matter because other guys stepped up. That didn't happen in past seasons.

I'm still blown away by the fact that Nazem Kadri is tied for third in the NHL with Connor McDavid in assists, and is in fifth, only four points behind McDavid, in points.

Naz also switched agents recently. Dude's gonna get PAID this offseason, and good for him.

Best of all, the Avs, at least for now, are not completely sucking in overtime.

MacKinnon took a nasty hit to the head by Taylor Hall last night. Hope he's not out long.

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I have to split hairs on this one....MacKinnon broke the shit out of his nose when a hit from Hall knocked Mackinnon's own stick into his beak.

The Avs then proceeded to chase Hall around the rink for 2 periods resulting in their 3-1 deficit (unfortunately Boston currently does not have anyone of that caliber in their lineup). After cleaning it up and realizing that none of Boston's twirlers were going to dance plus what I am sure was a Bednar talking to they got to business in the 3rd and ultimately were carried by their other superstar without a chewed up nose.

Landeskog keeps it pretty real here:



https://boston.cbslocal.com/2022/01/27/ ... avalanche/

Of note which made me giggle my ass off was the Professor's previous mention of Girard going all BA Baracus on dudes his size or smaller Steen happens to be 5'9" and I was really hoping they were going to give it a go.

I know several people who attended the game and they all mentioned it was an "away" game at the Avs home rink. If you couldn't see it then the Let's Go Bruins chants and cheering after goals on the broadcast probably clued folks in. Tells you all you need to know about the amount of Boston people that moved out here after the 2007 World Series!

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Not the first time Erik Johnson has lost his shit and taken a dumb penalty after a teammate went down with a questionable hit. He’s a team guy to a very big fault. Pretty obvious Bednar was more than a little upset and benched his ass for the entire third period and just rode Girard, Toews, and Makar for the rest of the game. In the end, it worked out and the Avs came back and won, thanks largely to Girard and Makar.

I don’t think the hit was necessarily major-worthy but I still didn’t like it. He came straight across and caught MacKinnon late and high. I get the stick hit first but his shoulder still drives through. But, Hall did the smart thing by not taking the bait and sure enough, the Avs got themselves in trouble. Lucky for them they managed to battle back.

Avs also struggled again against a very bad Hawks team the following game and EJ is looking plain gassed at this point. He’s been struggling for a little while and perhaps going from missing the entire last season to being almost literally the only Avs player not to get injured thus far, it could be taking a toll. But…they somehow eke out a win once again.

Goaltending has improved but I’m still not convinced. Regardless, I do not see Sakic going for Fleury or any other big-ticket netminder. Giroux? Well…we will see. I’d rather he go for Kulak and maybe Dylan Strome to shore up depth.

Avs got a point but lost in the shootout to halt their win streak against the Coyotes right before the All-Star break, but finally got the nice extended respite they desperately needed.

The team just looked plain exhausted, physically and mentally, even as they were winning. Sloppy passes, turnovers galore, lack of detail, especially in the defensive zone. Luckily the goaltending stepped up when it had to.

But now...no excuses, even with MacKinnon out tonight. Bednar continues to use Alex Newhook as 2nd line winger even though #29 is out until at least Sunday.

That said, it feels weird saying negative stuff about a hockey team that literally lost fewer games in the entire month of January than the Denver Broncos. And the Broncos only played twice in that span.

Avs get a big win one night after the points streak ends at home against the Stars. Beating Vegas in Vegas 2-0 on the 2nd night of a back-to-back is nothing short of huge.

If anyone was curious, Jack Eichel looked rusty as all hell but decent. I'm just glad he made it through without getting hurt again, that would've been devastating if he had.

Unfortunately, Nolan Patrick did not make it through unscathed. Nathan MacKinnon caught him in the face with a shoulder and he was out after less than a minute on the ice. It was a weird play, most definitely a penalty and totally unnecessary hit, but I just keep looking at the replay and can't figure out how MacKinnon caught him the way he did. The additional throwdown was seriously out of line. Did he deserve a suspension? I dunno...for consistency's sake I would have, but we've seen far worse plays go without even a penalty.

In any event, Avs get a really good goaltending performance from Darcy Kuemper, who's been fantastic down the stretch after a rough start with Colorado.

It's been 15 years since the Avs lost in regulation in Boston, but it happened in a big way today. Avs drop the second of their two east coast matinees with a 5-1 stinker that wasn't anywhere near as close as that score would indicate. Avs came out listless and it just got worse from there. Kuemper did his best to keep the Avs in it but your goalie can only do so much.

Oh well. They were due for a real bedshitting, they had previously gotten away with lackluster play during this astounding run, and their first regulation loss in a long time against Dallas was more the result of a hot goalie than it was any real mistakes on their part. This time though, they definitely deserved it. Hopefully they learn from the experience and come back a little better for it. Sometimes win streaks can allow for bad habits to develop.

The last time I have had such hostilities directed at me while viewing a hockey game was in person at the playoff games between Calgary and Colorado (haven't paid for a game since). My wife made up for that yesterday! That one was just a flusher as the AVs didn't show.

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MacKinnon won't receive supplementary discipline (again), this time he slashed a linesman after getting pushed out of the faceoff circle.

While I agree he did not intend to slash the linesman, that was way outta line regardless and he should've gotten at least a game. He doesn't even get a meaningless fine out of this.

Jared Bednar had some pointed commentary in the postgame about how poorly the bottom six has played. I think it's a not-so-subtle jab at Sakic saying he needs to do something at the deadline. Cannot settle for 13th forwards, 7th defensemen, and 3rd goalies this time around.

Bo Byram spotted on the ice in practice, according to Adrian Dater. This is good news but he's likely a long ways from getting in a game. And even then, no telling how long he might last before PCS strikes again.

Sad to be so pessimistic about his health at this point but I'm genuinely concerned about the kid's health.

yeah....i'd like to hear more and see if he's weighed his options.

Looks like I'll make my first trip to the Ball...Pepsi whatever center this year on March 1st to see the Isles. Need an update from Chris on what to watch for!

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Ohhhh man, if the Avs go on the PK with big Anders Lee out there, I think that's an automatic goal for him. Among the many things I find disappointing about Jack Johnson's game, he's fucking horrid at clearing the crease. I thought he'd be really good at that, but he's awful. I can forgive Sam Girard for failing to do that since he's, like, my size, but JJ is supposed to be big and physical. The only Avs defenseman worse at defending the net-front area was a guy even bigger and more physical, Nikita Zadorov.

Avs desperately need to get one extra forward to play the 2nd or 3rd line (hello J.T. Miller or Claude Giroux) and a defenseman to slot in on the 2nd pairing alongside Girard (Mark Pysyk or Brett Kulak are my two top picks as to who they should go after, and Pysyk is a right-handed shot, so he'd be perfect for G, who can play either side but shoots left). Can't sit back and hope that Byram and/or Jacob MacDonald are coming back, nor can they continue with the rotating cast of EJ/JJ/Murray/MacDermid, all of whom have been really bad this year.

That brings me to my final point. He has one more year after this one at $6 million AAV, but I'm pretty sure this is Erik Johnson's last season in Colorado...and it might be his last one in the NHL. Best-case scenario, he gets a Stanley Cup ring and rides off into the sunset (but not in a golf cart since we know what happened way back when). Otherwise, they'll either have to buy him out, entice a team to eat his contract, or LTIRetire him. Dude is more or less cooked, he's even struggling in a third pairing role.

Good win over the Red Wings yesterday evening. Avs looked like garbage on the power play but still managed 4 good even-strength goals before putting it away with an empty-netter to win 5-2.

He had a goal and by all accounts played pretty well but Zadina got scorched but good on two of those goals, one time by Cale Makar crashing in from the blue line to set up the first goal, another when Burakovsky saucered a puck way over to Nichushkin, who deked his way past Greiss to make it 3-1.

Darren Helm got a very warm welcome and video tribute from his old team and fans. Bednar had him start out on the top line with Landeskog and Rantanen (MacKinnon sat out with an injury). He rewarded the coach's faith in him with an absolutely dominant opening shift that resulted in a Landeskog goal. Makar said he was trying to get the puck to Helm, who was in front of the net, but it ended up on Landy's stick and he put it away.

Seider...man, that kid is good. Flattened Burakovsky with a good, clean hit, assisted on both of Detroit's goals. The first one was marvelous because he took a low percentage shot, but you could tell (and Bednar even said so in the postgame) that he intended to create a rebound. Sure enough, puck goes right to a streaking Zadina who easily puts it away. People compare him favorably to Victor Hedman, I'd say he absolutely is, with just a little more edge to his game. He's a legit franchise defender for sure.

Worst player by far for Colorado was J.T. Compher, who has to know at this point that his time with the Avalanche is done. Should've ended a long, long time before this. He ended the night with an effing 21% shot share, which is an ongoing narrative. He's never been a play-driver by any means but the Avs are simply getting shelled every time he takes the ice. It's long past time for Sakic to move on from him and Jost.

Avs cleared both Jacob MacDonald and Stefan Matteau to play, both are back in Loveland. MacDonald would be a HUGE addition to the defensive depth chart.

Speaking of defense, the one remaining injured player the Avs have (at least officially), Bowen Byram, has skated in four consecutive practices. I'd still be surprised if he were cleared to play before the end of the regular season, hope he continues to progress. This is about as healthy as the Avs have been all season long.

MacKinnon appears good to go tonight.

Avs are officially free from LTIR and will have roughly $3.8 million in cap space (prorated or whatever it is) at the deadline. That could fit a Claude Giroux if Philly retains and they take Jost in return.

Avs nearly drop one to our resident emo band front man’s favorite team but rally to win it 5-3.

Sometimes good teams win because they’re good, and sometimes they win because they’re lucky AF. Kuemper was quite bad in this one, Sorokin was not. Avs went down 3-2, tied it, nearly went down 4-3 but the goal got called back for not crossing the line by the SLIMMEST of margins, then March down and the much-maligned Andre Burakovsky gets the game winner. Empty netter after that and Avs are the first team to get to 40 wins this year.

In the final minute of play the Isles had a wide open net, Pageau fired it and Bellows actually deflected it OVER the net. Guess that’s what happens when your team shooting percentage is insanely low, just no puck luck whatsoever. I’m told it was Anders Lee who accidentally knocked the puck that didn’t cross the line, but I’ll have to see replays.

Devon Toews gets a goal against his old team and is selected first star.

Jack Johnson gets the silver stick treatment for 1,000 games before the contest. He hasn’t been great but dude was supposed to be the team’s 7th defenseman this year and has played a 4/5 role because of injuries. I’d certainly take him on his worst day over goddamn Nemeth ever again.

The Isles don't shoot enough to create puck luck. They made the numbers easy for me here- they've played 50 games and have allowed 100 more shots than they've taken. Allowing 2 more shots/game is not a good way to win. In past years they've won with their D. The D sucks since they let Toews go to Colorado for too little and sent Leddy away, also for too little. I get that they needed cap space, but spending it on Palmieri and keeping Bailey were not ways to make the team better. Chara is cheap but you get what you pay for. He was no replacement for Leddy, in any way. Only way he's better than Leddy is fighting and I've always found it dumb to have one of your 6 d-men be your goon when you could have one of 12 up front be the goon.

Anyway. Congrats to the Avrils for beating a team they should have.

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