As with every game, you take the good with the bad, so time to take a look at the pluses and the minuses in the game against the Jets for the Colorado Avalanche.
– Everyone
You may have noticed the game story went up late. I had a family thing I was doing, so I came back and watched the game afterwards.
What a waste that was.
I’m not sure anyone really played well at all. The team came out of the gate with zero energy whatsoever, and that didn’t change for the entire first period. On the goals against, there were some pretty glaring mistakes. The first goal wasn’t even all that dangerous looking. Scheifele got the puck and almost carried it to the goal line, but two Avalanche players decided to go towards him, which left Vilardi all alone in front.
Goal two wasn’t that much different. A powerplay for the Jets where the Avalanche just don’t cover the guy in the slot. And goal three is one Caleb Jones almost certainly will want back.
Nathan MacKinnon extended his points streak with a few assists, but I don’t think he’ll be saying that was one of his better games. He struggled to keep the puck on his stick the entire first period.
There were some players that looked worse than others, but that dud was a team effort.
– Makar Misses The Game
Could this be a +? Honestly, I’m not sure.
Cale Makar has been battling something all year long, and it just won’t seem to go away. Is one game off here and there going to make things better, or is an extended absence the only way to make it improve? It stinks to see him miss time, but you’d rather see him take some time off in December as opposed to March or April.
I can’t imagine there’s any way that he’s in the lineup against the Sharks on Sunday night, but I could be wrong on that. If I had any say in it (I don’t), he’d probably sit out until at least Christmas.
– Prosvetov Misses His Chance
The Avalanche gave Ivan Prosvetov a big opportunity to show that he can maybe run with the net a little bit (after the back-to-back), and he squandered it a little bit. Yes, the defense was poor on that first goal, but the natural reaction of the goaltender shouldn’t be to just go swimming. There’s got to be a push off to get to the other side of the net. Vilardi didn’t even corral it initially, so if he pushed off, he may have gotten over there.
Alexandar Georgiev will definitely start on Sunday, and given his struggles this season, this is far from over, but five goals on 24 shots is not stepping up.
+ Right Back At It
There’s only so much to say about a stinker of a game like this, so the good news is that they have a chance to redeem themselves less on Sunday. This San Jose Sharks team is a little different than the one from the start of the year, as they can score some goals now, but it’s still a game the Avalanche should be able to handle, even on the second half of a back-to-back.
Emphasis on should.
– Saturday Night
What is it about this team getting worked on Saturday’s this season? The beatdown in Vegas was on a Saturday. The embarrassing loss to the Blues at home was on a Saturday, and now this one. Maybe Saturday isn’t their night this season.