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Sharks did everything they could short of pouring concrete onto the ice to try and slow the Avs down, and were mostly successful for the better part of 2.5 periods. Then Nazem Kadri finally got his big night, scoring two goals and making a nice assist on another to help the Avs win 3-0.

It was more lopsided than that

Devon Toews took a shot off the skate and continued to play, but his status going forward is up in the air. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare had a really ugly collision with Ted Donato's kid where it looked like his knee took the brunt of it. If it isn't a season-ender, I'll be shocked. That's now two of the team's best defensive forwards out now with Calvert out with possible concussion symptoms. All that in addition to what could be a very serious issue with Pavel Francouz and the injuries are already starting to take a toll.

On a side note, Ryan Donato is kinda of a fucking idiot. Skates around like a chicken with his head cut off, which indirectly led to the collision with Bellemare. Also nearly took out his own knee tumbling awkwardly into the boards. Shades of Tomas Jurco, who went barreling into Varlamov in a meaningless game and injured him right before the playoffs.

HUGE set of games coming up. Four frickin' contests in a row against the red-hot Minnesota Wylde.

Fuck. Fuck. Goddammit. Fuck.

So it's not enough the Avs have already lost Pavel Francouz, Matt Calvert, Erik Johnson, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and Devon Toews to injury, no. The Avs ended up losing NATHAN FUCKING MACKINNON after the 2nd period of last night's OTL to the Minnesota North Wild.

I guess the good news is that Toews is projected to miss only 7-10 days. Could have been far, far worse. I'm reading that Bellemare's injury may not have been as devastating as it originally appeared. No word whatsoever on Calvert and Johnson though.

Current backup Hunter Miska did his best, but once again, dude is simply not even close to being an NHL goalie. Avs are in a real bind right now. Center depth was already a gigantic issue, and if MacKinnon misses serious time...well...

So tomorrow the Avs head home to Denver to finish out this four-game series against their current arch rival.

I'll admit, the North Stars reverse retros looked great on the ice. Just wish they'd change their name to the North Stars, I don't think it's a big deal if there's already a team called the Stars.

Avs are in a serious cap crunch right now. They're desperately trying to avoid bonus overages that a few young players will most definitely get, but you can't bank cap if you got guys on LTIR.

Bednar gave an update just to say that he hasn't gotten an update on the plethora of guys who are hurt. So none of them are close.

How long is Nate out?

They said all the injured guys are "week to week." Bednar gets kinda surly when asked about injuries, and the Avs are notoriously opaque when it comes to these sorts of things. Mark Barberio, for instance, was listed as "day to day" and ended up missing practically the entire season about two years ago.

He did serve up that he would have gotten an update from the trainers if any of them were making progress or coming close to returning, and they had not updated him.

Might be a moot point though. I'm reading now that something like six players on the Wylde are going into COVID-19 protocol (in addition to Marcus Foligno, who's already there) so I'm guessing since the Avs, who have played three of a four-game series already will be shutting down soon as well.

EDIT: Whoops, and there it is...just heard Tyson Jost got put into the protocol. Here we go!!!!!

Now they just added Landeskog.

I suppose given the injury situation this is not the worst possible time for this to happen but...fucking hell.

So...the bad news: Girard got added to the list that already included Landeskog and Jost. So they're gonna be out for a while at the very least.

The good news: MacKinnon will reportedly be good to go once the season resumes for Colorado. How was this information acquired from the tight-lipped Avs? Well, it wasn't. Number 29 himself jumped on a Fortnite stream and told other players he was healthy. So...there ya go.

It's funny, but the Avs would probably be doing a lot better than they are had they just been in the regular ol' Central Division. They, for whatever reason, struggle with the Kings and Ducks, especially away. And both of those teams are just terrible, it just so happens that Gibson and Quick go into God Mode whenever they're up against the Avalanche.

They would've been better off against the Predators, who look like a shell of the team that made it to the Final a couple years back, and the Hawks, who are in full rebuild.

So with Kiefer Sherwood on the COVID list that's four players thus far. Avs are set to get back on the ice soon, but who knows at this point.

I'm guessing the outdoor game at Lake Tahoe on Valentine's Day is in severe jeopardy with the Avs not yet cleared to play and the Golden Knights likely entering protocol very soon. The ironic thing is that an outdoor venue is likely much safer than any indoor arena under current conditions.

Now I'm reading no one was added. So it's still just Girard, Jost, and Landeskog in quarantine thus far.

The rest of the Avs have taken to the ice for the first time in a while, so that's good. Sunday's game is still apparently set to happen, even though I don't think it should.

Well, none of the COVID guys could play so that right there ended Girard’s Ironman streak. Also, no Makar tonight either, and MacKinnon returned but he was clearly nowhere close to 100%.

So it wasn’t terrible that they lost 1-0 to Vegas with a ridiculously shorthanded roster and having not practiced or played in nearly two weeks, but it was still rough to watch. Just sloppy hockey by both teams, and Vegas is also suffering from COVID setbacks and injuries.

Ironically the Avs have been getting it mostly done with defense. They're the stingiest team in the NHL in terms of goals against and it helps that Philipp Grubauer is playing the best hockey of his career. This team is taking a huge gamble though because the backup situation continues to be a potential disaster.

Unfortunately they were kinda due a good ol' fashioned bedshitting and did so last night against the Knights. J.T. Compher played a team-low nine minutes. I don't know when they're going to finally admit that he's dragging down the rest of the team with his horrible play but for now they're desperately trying to get him back on track and it's messing everything else up in the lineup.

Some of the lack of offense is just shit luck, some of it is injuries and rust. I'm not terribly worried at this point but I'm getting increasingly annoyed at the lack of urgency. Sakic could take a more measured approach when the stakes were lower, but this is the last season where the Avs won't be scrambling for salary cap room. They need to GO FOR IT this season, and right now they're purposely not icing the best team they possibly can. Why? I don't really know, but it clearly hurt them last night and it'll bite them in the ass like it did in the postseason if they don't figure it out and soon.

Worst loss of the season by far last night against the Sharks. After going up 2-0 in the 2nd, the Sharks stormed back with six unanswered goals.

No excuses, even given that both Makar and Byram are on the shelf. Avs had this one under control and simply collapsed like a card table on fire buckling under the weight of a fat guy in a Buffalo Bills jersey. Teams like this should be easy, easy pickings for the Avalanche. Very disconcerting to see, especially given how absolutely abhorrent the top line looked--they got completely caved in by the Sharks' top trio of Kane-Couture-Labanc.

Between injuries, the COVID pause, and a couple guys playing like absolute horseshit (most of the season it's been J.T. Compher but it was Ryan Graves' turn to completely shit the bed last night), this team is no longer a favorite to go deep into the postseason. Hell, they're probably not shoe-ins for the playoffs at this point.

I get it, no need to panic at this time, but it's frustrating as hell to watch. There hasn't been this much talent on an Avs roster in a generation, and because of a some minor things here and there, it's being completely held back.

Someone on Twitter posted that Milan Lucic has more goals this season than Nathan MacKinnon. Urgh.

4-0 bounceback victory over the Sharks after a lackadaisical first period. Rantanen and Landeskog with four points apiece.

Unfortunately the victory was marred badly by a cheap shot from Sharks rookie (and Saskhab countryman) Joakim Blichfeld on Nathan MacKinnon.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/03/04/ ... mackinnon/

MacKinnon took a shot right to the head from Blichfeld and went down in a heap. Came up shaking his head and left the game, and didn't return. Though Bednar said after the game that he was alert and appeared okay, the team isn't giving any updates today as they head to Anaheim.

Looking at the video, it doesn't necessarily look predatory, but Blichfeld still could've done a lot of different things. He could've easily driven through the body and it would've been a good hit and no head contact would've occurred. While I don't think it was intentional per se, fuck Mario Ferraro saying it was a "hockey play." No, it most definitely wasn't. I'm not going to go full rage-beast like I did when Bertuzzi ended Steve Moore's career, but it still didn't sit well with me.

Giving the refs credit here--they immediately called a match penalty and upheld it on review. Avs scored seconds into the ensuing power play and effectively put the game out of reach. Blichfeld has a hearing today, guess we'll see what happens. Last night was only his fifth NHL career game.

Avs finally do something they haven't done all season long up to this point--they come back from a multiple-goal deficit down 2-0 to win 3-2 in overtime. It appears the Ducks are about the only team the Avalanche can beat in OT. Why, I don't know.

Jared Bednar looks like he's about to blow a gasket though. Blasted the team's effort despite the victory, said he didn't like their game at all last night. When he's saying stuff like that you know he's royally pissed.

Looks like that cheap shot resulted in a concussion for Nathan MacKinnon. He tried it out at the morning skate and wasn't feeling well, according to Bednar, and so they scratched him late. Unfortunately Nazem Kadri decided to turn in an absolutely horseshit game, as did Mikko Rantanen.

I will say that the two minor-league callups, Dan Renouf and Jacob MacDonald, have been far better than expected. MacDonald shouldn't be sent down, period. I suppose he's got some extra motivation since it was his childhood team growing up and he always dreamed of suiting up for Colorado.

Well...it's readily apparent the goddamned Hockey Gods simply do not want the Avs to succeed.

Nathan MacKinnon - concussion
Matt Calvert - concussion
J.T. Compher - concussion
Cale Makar - suspected concussion (they won't tell us)
Bowen Byram - UBI
Dennis Gilbert - concussion

And now, joining the ranks of the Avalanche walking wounded, Conor Timmins, with what I suspect is a concussion. And this is especitally disconcerting since he already missed a calendar year of hockey not long after he was drafted due to a concussion. This is at least the third one he has suffered through in his pro career, and if I were his father I might be going to him at this point and asking if continuing to play is a good idea.

Fuck this shit. Wake me when this fucking season is over and done with.

Avs lose 3-2 to the Coyotes, and every fucking goal scored by the Dogs was a fluke deflection of an Avs player. Supremely frustrating.

They say MacKinnon is close to coming back but he’s the only one. Not much else to say but that. Just horseshit luck pervading these days.

Here's how I felt about last night's overtime win.



It was a victory, but it felt like a dental appointment. Mother fucking hell that was painful to watch. Avs completely dominate the hapless Coyotes at even strength, but a pathetic power play outage (0-5, pretty sure they generated an average of one shot per penalty) and piss-poor shot selection ends up making Antti Raanta look like Mike Richter powered by the Infinity Stones. Way too many easy shots, weak-ass backhands, and slow releases. Also, the Avs failed miserably to generate real traffic in front of the net.

Anyway, I shouldn't complain too much since they won and they did it in OT, which is certainly never a given with this team. It's amazing how much talent this team has, but also how, well, dumb this team is. It's just not a collection of guys who possess high hockey IQs. I think that's a big reason why they suck so bad in 3-on-3, too often they're pushing too hard and end up making a really bad turnover or get caught up ice at the worst possible time. Anyway, they didn't do that, and it was one of their smartest players, Gabriel Landeskog, who won it.

Just please, Hockey Gods, just give us back Bowen Byram and Cale Makar. If I ever have to see another Greg Pateryn shift it'll be way too soon.

Nathan MacKinnon came back from his concussion and was fantastic throughout, even though he had no points.

I am nowhere near the "Fire Bednar" bandwagon, but I've been rather lukewarm about his assistants, especially Ray Bennett. Bennett was brought in to fix a flagging power play, and he's failed miserably IMO. They should've moved on last season after the power play was rendered helpless in the series against Dallas. Unfortunately it feels like a lesson they're going to learn way too late.

Good news: Avs FINALLY get a dominant win over the hapless Ducks after four previous tries where they went 2-0-2 and could not beat them in regulation.

Bad news: Avs damn near blew it because Hunter Miska is a horrible goaltender at the NHL level.

After two super-soft goals, one that wasn't great but more the fault of bad defense, and a penalty shot goal, Miska was pulled after the first in favor of Phillipp Grubauer, down 4-2. Avs roared back with 6 unanswered to finish 8-4.

Sounds like this is indeed the end of the line for Hunter Miska, and I feel bad for the guy. It's clear that he went from shaky-but-acceptable to outright disaster, and fair or not, blew his chance at sticking in the NHL. He's just...not good enough. I read somewhere that he deleted his social media, which makes me concerned that fans went after him personally, which is a horseshit bush league move if that's the case.

The Eagles are scheduled to play tonight and their usual starting goalie, Adam Werner, is not in the lineup. We haven't heard any transactions so I don't know what they're up to, but I'm guessing Werner will be in Denver soon enough.

Dan Renouf on waivers, which means the Avs are close to getting some guys back from injury. Makar, Byram, and Compher all practiced recently in regular jerseys, so looks like the band might finally be getting back together. Renouf was surprisingly good, and that's amazing when one considers he was somewhere around 10th on the depth chart when this season started.

Avs get a bit of relief in the form of Cale Makar and Bowen Byram, Dan Renouf gets put on waivers and clears, which is a relief. He was a good substitute.

No word yet on who the goddamned backup is going to be. They held Adam Werner out of the Eagles' lineup last night in favor of Parker Gahagen (go figure the guy with the really Irish name gets to suit up for them on St. Paddy's Day, apparently not the first time he's done that either) but we have no idea if an actual callup/demotion took place, so I guess they're going with...Miska.

Anyway, no team in the NHL has been driving play like the Avs. Yes I know, advanced stats aren't everything, but it's quite ironic that they've been the team on the wrong side of the Corsi battle for so many years, even when they were successful, and now this year they're dominating that aspect of the game and the puck luck goes south. Hopefully the other night is a sign things are about to change.