OffThePost.org

It's finally time.

Practices indicate that Erik Johnson, not Jack Johnson, will be treated like the team's seventh defenseman. No word yet on whether Andrew Cogliano will be good to go, but if he isn't, I won't be surprised if Bednar goes with an 11-7 lineup.

This is perhaps the healthiest they've been all year! Both Makar and Manson back!

_________________
No AI has been used in the making of this post

...and neither of them were really ready. Cale came to play, just wasn't his normal gamebreaking self. Manson was a goddamned trainwreck. If not for Georgiev there likely would've been three or four more goals with him on the ice.

Not the only guys shaking off rust. Artturi Lehkonen returned right before the end of the season but he's still clearly not there yet.

Nichushkin looked oddly out of sorts as well. That's concerning. That second line will not work if he's not carrying it. Compher isn't nearly good enough to do that.

Overall the team just looked bad. Hopefully a more concerted effort in game two.

Oh, and of course there was an injury. Last minute they swapped out Johnsons (yes, I know) because Jack wasn't able to go. Erik was fine so that didn't make a huge difference. My big concern is Byram. Blocked a shot and was laboring the rest of the game, even limping around between periods when the Altitude folks were interviewing him.

Interesting that you say that. The ol girl and I were commenting on how slow ChooChoo has become. I get it, one time was with Berniers...and Seattle is a hella fast team. But it also looks like he is tentative changing direction and making cuts which leads me to believe the ankle future isn't very bright. He is not the same player since that surgery.

I really like what Manson brings to this team...and I thought the 2 calls against him were pretty light but.....its to be expected after the Minny/Dallas game as the refs were tossing around phantom penalties in the Devs/Rags game too. Tough spot to get into game shape in the playoffs (same with Lehkonen/Makar).

I don't think the Avs were ready for the work level or speed of the Kraken. The Avs just figured they would apply what worked towards the end of the season and that would be good enough against the Kraken. Well, last night should be a wakeup call.

Is it just me or has Nate become even more of a puck hog the last few months?

Some bad puck luck for the Avs last night as well. The sky certainly isn't falling after 1 game.

_________________
No AI has been used in the making of this post

Side note--there was an X-Factor that no one really talked about. The ice was utter shit at Ball Arena last night. Puck was bouncing all over the place, and on what ended up being the game-winning goal, the Altitude crew pointed out that something happened to hamper Georgiev's pushoff that prevented him from getting across to stop Wennberg's shot, like he hit a rut or something.

This is unfortunately the price that is paid when both the Nuggets and Avalanche are good at the same time--a problem they've never really had until now. Avs won their division and the Nuggets won the whole damned Western Conference, so both teams have home ice advantage for at least the first round, which means Ball Arena will be hosting both hockey and basketball, which is reportedly murder on ice conditions.

I'm guessing the Kraken know all about playing on shitty ice, seeing as how humid Seattle is normally, that usually plays a part in soft ice more so than heat.

As for Nichushkin, he's been banged up to hell all year long, and clearly is about a step or two slow (there's a rod or piece of hardware in his ankle that's bothering him, hopefully they can take it out after this season's done but until then he's had to work through it), and I'm positive his hands are also injured because he's fumbling pucks a lot down the stretch. Kraken made him look really slow last night.

Not the end of the world, no. Concerning yes, but no reason to panic. Funny thing is I believe both teams have much better records on the road than at home.

If they don't make it out of the first round I won't be shocked though. They more or less limped through the season, and management ultimately decided not to go for it. I think that was a huge, huge mistake, but that's their prerogative.

Well ya can't blame Nate for being a big puck hog. He almost singlehandedly had to carry this team post-deadline when the Powers That Be decided they didn't need a 2nd line center. And if anything the rest of the team deferred to him WAY too much. One instance I saw Sammy come flying into the zone and could've gotten a good shot off up the middle through traffic and instead bumped it over to Nate, who had no real angle or shooting lane.

Depth players need to step up. J.T. Compher was a big-ass floater last night, and I'm pretty sure it was him who coughed up the puck in the neutral zone that eventually led to Seattle's 2nd goal. Eller was okay, but generated zero offense.

Yep the old girl was saying the same thing. I often joke that the only reason Rodriguez was on the top line is he did what Nate wanted him to. I am sure you can see where I am going with this. It doesn't matter if its an ego thing or an issue of deference.....this is not a good habit to get into and super easy to exploit. Even if he does start playing decoy (which I doubt he will) other folks will have to pick up the slack. Hard to do when the modus operandi is get this guy the puck and watch him go. Hopefully they can reign that in during the playoffs now that most everyone is back.

_________________
No AI has been used in the making of this post

Whew.

After an even WORSE period of hockey that Bednar called the worst of the series so far for Colorado, the Avs come storming back with three unanswered to win the game.

E-Rod, who’s had an uneven year, was the sparkplug. Laid a gigantic hit on Vince Dunn that got the team going and made a slick pass to Nuke for the GTG.

Still WAY too many defensive breakdowns but Georgiev bailed them out. Hopefully we will see a more consistently good effort in Amazon Pledge Arena.

yeah....exhale. I really don't know what was going on there. They looked disinterested and morose....kind of like my 16 year old.

Then all of a sudden Manson started doing Manson things and E-Rod became a one man wrecking crew........and the team just woke up. Giorgiev saved their bacon as well.

Very odd.

It also helped that the team was able to establish the puck deep and send it back to the points with support. Before that no one wanted to put forth the effort of dumping in the puck and going to get it. It was just carry in with speed to establish space, look for MacKinnon.....which wasn't working.

Playoffs are full of momentum swings.....and even in elite athletes who know better its 75% mental or greater.

Josh Manson was built for the playoffs....and yes he's been a bit rusty but his heart is exactly what this team has lacked.

Nowhere close to the A game for the avalanche yet but the C+-B game got the job done barely.

_________________
No AI has been used in the making of this post

Manson is definitely still hurt. He barely took part in yesterday's morning skate and looks like he's laboring out there to keep up. He was also limited to 12 minutes. I'm guessing if Jack Johnson were available he might be sitting for a bit, but I'll give him credit for gutting it out after slagging him the past two games.

Also, Lars Eller took a bad tumble into the boards late in game two. Bednar, as always, remained mum on his status. If he can't go, Ben Meyers or Alex Galchenyuk will likely get the nod.

Darren Helm looked a tad slow and rusty (and also took a nasty cross check to the head) but played relatively well.

Weird stuff going on with Nichuskin but either way he won't be with the team anytime soon.

_________________
No AI has been used in the making of this post

Yep, and that looks like the final blow too. They managed one game without him but not two. Came out flat (again), dug a hole (again), climbed out of it (again) but this time there was no victory.

And what’s more, Cale Makar narrowly misses getting kicked out of the game and will face off against the Department of Player Safety, which makes me think a suspension is looming.

Didn’t like the hit either. People keep saying the whistle didn’t blow but the puck was nowhere near McCann and Cale, out of obvious frustration, essentially drives his head into the glass. An uncharacteristically dirty move from one of the most universally liked NHLers.

Also, the Avalanche are the very last team to register a power play goal in these playoffs, and they barely did so with two seconds remaining in the man-advantage. This series will be over quick if they cannot figure out what the hell is wrong with their power play, given their extremely piecemeal lineup, they ain’t winnin’ this at even strength. Seattle finally registered three power play goals the last two games, this just looks bad all around.

When all is said and done I’m guessing they’ll finally admit they were way more banged up than they were letting on. It’s obvious Makar and Manson are nowhere near 100%, but Toews looks way, way off and has the whole season.

If they don’t win game five, this one’s over. And I’ll be honest, maybe it should be. These guys just don’t look anywhere near ready for a deep playoff run.

Jesus Christ whhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaat the fuck happened with Nichushkin!??!?!?

https://twitter.com/Eurolanche/status/1 ... 7924320257

This sounds really, really serious.

Its probably an OD...would make sense with his injury........that's what me and the old girl think but media folks should probably back off.

Not sure why Makar did that......super late and extends the right arm to the head. 1 game seems to be proper especially since Mccann is sitting out game 5.

_________________
No AI has been used in the making of this post

Man that's very unnecessary. Shane Doan level of lateness.

_________________
Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

I guarantee you it was frustration and anger that just got the best of him at the worst possible time. In the previous game both he and MacKinnon lost a puck battle which led to Chris Tanev scoring a SHG (and blowing a kiss to the crowd, which I actually thought was hilarious) and in this case the power play was failing once again, McCann got off a legit scoring chance and Makar just lost it. The frustration is palpable with this team. And, while this does not justify Makar's decision, Will Borgen getting away with two brutal cross checks, one right in Makar's back that broke his stick, and another that knocked Darren Helm out of this series, without so much as a whistle is not helping matters. I usually root for DU alums but fuck that guy.

The Avs are the very LAST team to convert on a power play in these playoffs (Seattle was second-to-last) and the only one they've scored on they did so with three seconds remaining in the man-advantage. If nothing else that is what's killing them in this series. Seattle has done a fantastic job of keeping them to the perimeter, not allowing any shots to get through, and cleaning up on rebounds quickly. This is where not having a Nichushkin or Landeskog down low is really, really hurting them.

Oh yeah it looks like it.

_________________
Thanks Chuck, E.L. and Harmy!

I get being pissed about giving up a SH chance (Isles do it on every PP) but you can't do that because of it. Yeesh. That's just terrible.

_________________
Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Yeah, very, very uncharacteristic of young Cale. I imagine he feels terrible about it all. He really looked rattled after it happened.

Well...they're on the brink. One more game to save the season.

Avs just look completely burned out and uninspired, save for some late game heroics. Otherwise the Kraks have been firmly in control, and credit to them.

I hope we get some clarity on a number of things, why management took such an insanely conservative approach in a championship defense year, the whole situation with Nichushkin, whether or not the team was even more banged up than they already were, etc.

This offseason will cement fan perception of Chris MacFarland. He won't have much of any cap space to fill out a contending roster, but he's gotta make it work.