The Colorado Avalanche obtained smoked 5-1 by the Dallas Stars in Sport 4. These are the Avs Studs and Duds from the sport.
Studs
The digicam particular person
Look, the Avs have been actively horrible on this recreation. Who was I supposed to place right here? As a result of they have been so terrible, I’m grateful that the digicam particular person struggled as a lot as they did as a result of it meant we couldn’t see lengthy stretches of this fiasco of a recreation and that felt like mercy greater than frustration. Had it been a greater recreation, I in all probability would have been much more upset by it however I’ll take a constructive the place I can get it.
Jonathan Drouin
Okay however for actual, there was one Avalanche participant who I believed performed nicely for many of the evening. Drouin made his return to the lineup and dropped proper into the spot vacated by Val Nichushkin’s departure and appeared engaged instantly.
He performed nicely with a touch of physicality and his skating was a constructive on an Avalanche staff that appeared like they have been skating in mud all evening. He nabbed a hard-working help and moved up strains when Jared Bednar was looking for a spark someplace within the lineup.
I’m blissful Drouin is again and wholesome. He’s enjoyable.
Duds
Colorado’s stars
The three finest gamers on the Avalanche (Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar) are the important thing to profitable a variety of hockey video games. The three mixed for the defining second of this recreation within the first interval when the Avalanche obtained their first energy play and these three performed roles in abandoning all effort and hanging Alexandar Georgiev out to dry.
Wyatt Johnston pressured Makar right into a turnover and Johnston proceeded to outwork all of Makar, MacKinnon, and Rantanen to attain a shorthanded purpose and put Dallas up 1-0. It truthfully felt like the sport was over in that second. It might have been much less embarrassing had it ended proper there.
These guys have been so unhealthy that Colorado’s energy play obtained two alternatives and was outshot 4-1 and outscored 1-0 by the Stars penalty kill. They have been brutal all evening. They oscillated between pissed off and disinterested and as soon as the sport was determined that they had transient, meaningless bursts of life.
They have been removed from the one poor gamers tonight so don’t take this as me saying these guys are the only real motive for Colorado’s embarrassing displaying, however they’re the core of the management group and set the tone for this hockey membership. The tone they set tonight gave the impression to be, “Effectively, we’ll be on trip in Cancun quickly sufficient.”
The place was the center? The place was the pushback? The place was the fireplace that made this staff such a troublesome out a couple of years in the past? Individuals need to come down on the Avs for “solely” making the second spherical through the years, however they’ve a number of Sport 7 losses in that point. We haven’t seen them this uncompetitive in a sequence earlier than, not even the 2020 Dallas sequence the place they have been ravaged by accidents and got here again from a 3-1 sequence deficit to push it to a Sport 7 additional time earlier than lastly succumbing…to Joel Kiviranta’s hat trick.
It is a membership that has proven that it could not win the Stanley Cup, nevertheless it’s going to combat. Even final yr’s extraordinarily undermanned staff that was cursed by the whole lot beneath the solar nonetheless pushed and pushed to the ultimate buzzer of a nail-biting Sport 7 loss to Seattle.
That we noticed none of that tonight was the surprising component of the night. How can they only give it up?
The information of the day
There are not any excuses right here. Everybody has curveballs thrown at us in life and all of us have to search out methods to hold on. Sports activities current distinctive challenges as a result of issues like playoffs are definable days on the calendar the place gamers must be their finest selves.
To have the information of Nichushkin’s six-month suspension drop an hour earlier than puck drop after which comply with it instantly with Devon Toews being unavailable for the sport because of sickness? That’s a one-two that even Mike Tyson could be pleased with.
Once more, I’m not excusing Colorado’s terrible efficiency within the recreation however that’s an emotional boulder thrown at them instantly earlier than they needed to take the ice for warm-ups. It’s exhausting to attract apt parallels to on a regular basis life conditions however I see the place that may be a ton to absorb.
The terse postgame feedback from Jack Johnson and Andrew Cogliano relating to Nichushkin, particularly, strongly counsel to me that the locker room was very sad with how the day unfolded. That’s merely me speculating, however that’s my learn on the state of affairs.
I’m not right here to cross judgment on Nichushkin or his selections however to touch upon the way it all performed out so near puck drop. That’s a troublesome spot to be in for these guys and now their season is on the precipice.
Avs Unsung Hero
Alexandar Georgiev
The third purpose is unacceptable. Look, if a goalie provides these up sometimes, that occurs! Georgiev provides up objectives from distance recurrently, nonetheless, and you may’t wave all of them away and say, “However the display screen in entrance of him!” He has to cease these and tonight he moved right into a tie for the league lead within the postseason for low-danger objectives given up with 9. 9!
That mentioned, the remainder of his recreation was rattling good. He was the one motive the sport wasn’t 4-0 after the primary interval. He battled exhausting and saved the Avalanche in it. I’ve him on this space as a result of I simply really feel unhealthy for him at this level. Even when he performs nicely, he will get lit up statistically. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are unforgiving like that.