Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

Tomorrow evening the Colorado Avalanche will play their second to last game of the season in Phoenix. I’ll be honest, my hopes are not high for this one. The Avs are 0-1-1 against Phoenix this season. The Coyotes have one of the slimmest chances to make the playoffs. They need Columbus, Detroit, and Dallas to all lose their final two games, while the Coyotes win both of their remaining games. I expect them to come out playing really hard.

The Avs have struggled against the Yotes in the past couple years, and I’m a similar struggle tomorrow evening. At this point in the season…well let’s just say I won’t be upset if the Avs lose tomorrow and then can pull off a win against Minnesota. Obviously, when the game actually starts, I’ll be rooting as hard for the Avs as ever. From a realistic standpoint though, I want the Avs to have that first overall pick. Florida is probably going to finish 30th overall in the league, but the Avs could very well have the second best shot at drafting first overall. While the team is assured a good pick no matter what, defense has been the biggest problem this season, and I think Seth Jones is the best option for this franchise. As an added bonus, Jones’ first team was the Avs, and Joe Sakic’s advice to Jones’ father has helped him.

J.S. Giguere will start in net. David Jones and Milan Hejduk will both be scratched again.

Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

The Avs will be in Dallas tomorrow night, looking to add another win to their record. This is a sort of bizarre home and home series, because while the Avs had both yesterday and today off, the Stars played last night in Los Angeles. We all know that the Avs playoff chances are slim, and for now, I think we as fans just have to focus on one game at a time (like the team), because we’ll deprive ourselves of having any fun the rest of the season if we try and look at the big picture.

The lineup isn’t completely set for tomorrow night’s game, although Sacco said that Semyon Varlamov will be starting, and Milan Hejduk will sit out (iapparently in preparation for the following night in Vancouver). David Jones, as a right winger, would fill Hejduk’s spot better, but Jamie McGinn has played a lot better than Jones this whole season (his play has only dropped off since the win over San Jose, whereas Jones has been absolutely brutal all season), so it will be interesting to see which winger Sacco slides into the lineup. I’d personally like to see Shane O’Brien in the lineup over Greg Zanon, but it doesn’t seem likely that that will happen.

The Avs are going to need a strong effort (especially considering Dallas will be flying, as they are only one point behind 8th place San Jose). Varls will have to be strong, and it’d be nice to see the team score the first goal for once. At this point though, the Avs can’t be too picky about how they pick up wins. They just need to get the job done and earn two points.

PLEASE STOP LOSING AVS I AM NOT COPING.

I’m sure you’re exhausted when you read it: the Avs have to win the game tomorrow. You’re exhausted because after the first 10 games, I think I’ve said it in every single preview (plus, I probably said it a couple of times in those first 10). The fact of the matter is though, that the team is a failing failure cascading down in a failure avalanche towards failure valley where the failure inhabitants mumble inspiring words that they fail to come through on. You could say I’m feeling a bit bitter about the past couple of losses. I just don’t understand how a team with their talent, a team with so many young players supposedly eager to win, can continue to perform at such a subpar level. I can speculate that Sacco’s message is no longer getting through, or that they are the ultimate procrastinators, thinking that “there’s plenty of time to turn this thing around”, but at the end of the day I don’t understand it.  I can’t threaten to walk away, or say that I’ll choose another team, because the I’ve been cheering for this team for 17 years. I’m in this thing for life, even though the Avs seem determined to make it a pretty miserable next 70 or 80 years. I’m sure after their next win (so long as it comes within five games), I’ll go back to a sunny attitude and start saying that there’s a chance, because I’ve seen what this team is capable of when they work hard for sixty minutes. For now, though, I’m going to a miserable old bat.

The Wild will come into the Pepsi Center with a ridiculously good record against the Avs there. Then we will all here about how the Wild like to clog up the neutral zone so we won’t see any goals. Then the Wild will proceed to have an outburst of goals (shocking everyone, even though they’ve scored three or more goals against the Avs in eight of the last nine games between the clubs) while the Avs are having their defensive failures of the night. Then the Avs will mount a comeback, which may or may not work. J.S. Giguere will be in net for the Avs, earning his fourth start this season. If I was Sacco, I’d move Palushaj in (probably for Jones, give the kid a chance on the Landeskog-O’Reilly line that’s staying together), maybe switch Bordeleau with Olver, and replace Zanon with O’Byrne. However, I’m not Sacco, and Sacco never seems to consult me for these things, so we’ll probably see the same lineup. Or O’Byrne will replace Johnson because Sacco had the nerve to blame Johnson when Zanon fell on his butt and Cullen skated around him and scored.

I’m predicting the Wild score four goals. The Avs will either score three or six. See you fellow sufferers tomorrow.

The Avs were booed off the ice tonight, and rightfully so. (I’m not a fan of booing in general, and I don’t like booing my own team, but when they lose 4-0 at home after a paltry effort like tonight’s, they deserve it.)  As a team, they played well for the first five minutes, and after that they seemed to take turns sleeping, leaving only one or two awake players to man the ship. It was disappointing, and it was ridiculous. I don’t understand how they can go out, have four stellar efforts in a row, and then come out totally flat in their own building. I know that the Pepsi Center wasn’t very full, especially in the beginning, but that is no excuse. Fans are fickle, and 12th place isn’t going to fill the barn. There are plenty of us out here, but lets be honest: every sporting event gets filled when it can draw those bizarre creatures who have loud voices, a loose idea of the rules, and money to spare.
Honestly, a proper recap is too painful to write; if you didn’t see the game, consider yourself lucky (unless you’re an Oilers fan). Suffice to say, Edmonton scored four goals, including one on the power play.

-Varlamov didn’t play well tonight, and if you read this blog, you know that I’m a huge Varls fan girl, so you know I don’t say something like that lightly.

-The Avs did score one goal, but it was taken away due to a crease violation from Aaron Palushaj.

-Ryan Wilson, David Jones, and Gabriel Landeskog each had particularly rough games, but it’s not as though anyone had a good night.

-Officiating was bad too.

Back at it Thursday. I hope they come put with a much better effort.

Landeskog nearly willed a puck into the net in the third period. Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

Oh god. The Avs were 49 seconds away from a point at least. Suddenly, the Hawks were swarming the net, and Daniel Carcillo put the puck between Shane O’Brien and Semyon Varlamov’s legs. That’s right, Carcillo prevented the Avs from getting a point. The Avs remain stuck at 20 points. They have another crack at THE STREAK on Friday. As disappointing as this loss was, it’s hard to be mad at the Avs. They played an awesome game. There were a few mistakes, but there are always going to be mistakes. I think everyone worked really hard, and that makes it even harder to criticize the team.

In the first period, the Avs had a ton of opportunities. Unfortunately, the Hawks struck first on a powerplay. Cody McLeod took an ill-advised penalty (albeit, one that you expect him to take). The killers failed to get the puck out of the zone three different times, and eventually Andrew Shaw tipped the puck past Varlamov. Late in the period, John Mitchell got a little bit of redemption when he scored with a couple of nifty moves close to the net. In the second period, the Avs took the lead on a nice Matt Duchene shot that banked in off of Emery. Early in the third period, the Avs powerplay allowed a shorthanded Jonathan Toews goal. (I didn’t like how O’Reilly played it, and the referees missed a blatant slash from Bolland that left Jamie McGinn stickless and helpless when Toews was at the net.) The Avs continued to have some good chances, but it was Carcillo who scored the next, final goal.

I was really pleased with the Avs tonight, and I’m hoping that they bring a similar effort at home. If they do so, I think they have to get a break, and finally earn a win with their third stellar game of the season.

Other Thoughts

-Ryan O’Reilly got too much icetime for my liking. He’s adjusting, and playing better, but he’s still making more mistakes then we’re used to seeing from Factor.

-Jamie McGinn was really close to getting a goal several times in this game, if he had been able to break through, the Avs would have won.

-Greg Zanon played well in his return to the lineup…until the final minute.

-David Jones needs to be moved to the third line. He’s playing like he’s asleep out there, and I would rather have Palushaj or Mitchell on Stastny’s line. Jones is a good player, and he’ll work his way back up to the top two lines. For now though, his excessive icetime is hurting the team.

-Matt Hunwick had a pretty poor game. I’m guessing that he sits whenever EJ or Wilson is back, especially if EJ can return Friday.

Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

The Avs lost their second game in a row, 2-1, with an own goal. At least tonight though, the Avs played well. It was a really strong game from the Avs, and at the end of the night, they were beaten by two bad bounces and Jimmy Howard’s spectacular goaltending.

Things stayed even at zero throughout the first, and seven minutes of the second. Unfortunately, a Stefan Elliott slapshot was blocked, and the puck was sent to a streaking Johan Franzen. He scored a beautiful goal as the puck just clipped the crossbar. Seven minutes later, Kronwall shot the puck intentionally wide when the Wings were in the zone. The puck bounced back, hit J.S. Giguere’s stick, and slid into the Avs net.

Colorado continued to work hard, they killed off over a minute of 5 on 3 time, and they had a couple of beautiful shots on Howard that he stopped up. With two minutes left in the game, Coach Sacco pulled Giguere. Paul Stastny broke Howard’s shutout 30 seconds later after picking up his own rebound. The game was nearly tied in the final six seconds by Matt Duchene, but the puck bounced on him, and he shot it just wide.

This is a frustrating loss, just from the fact that the Avs played so well. I can’t really critisize them, but I can’t sit here and act like everything is hunky dory. The team is sitting at 20 points in 21 games. We’re looking at going 18-9 in these final games.

The Blackhawks are the opponent tomorrow night. Everyone knows they’re awesome and killing it. It’s good that the Hawks played tonight too, so that they won’t be totally fresh. It’s going to take a hell of an effort to beat the Hawks tomorrow night. I hope the boys, and Varlamov especially, are ready.

Other Thoughts

-J.S. Giguere had 31 saves in tonight’s game. Shockingly, the Avs shot the puck more than the other team, as Howard made 36 saves.

-Aaron Palushaj didn’t look the same after he took a hard hit to the head in the second. He took a second hit in the head from Jordin Tootoo in the third. Hopefully he’s okay.

-Milan Hejduk has a torso injury. I hope that he’s not out too long, but I don’t know how severe it is.

-Shane O’Brien was really active offensively tonight. Sacco is nuts if he takes him out of the lineup again.

-O’Byrne had a really good game. He’s been looking better lately, and I think he looked really strong tonight.

-David Jones had another pretty brutal night.

-The power play is so embarrassing right now.

O’Byrne scored his first goal this season.Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

The Avs rebounded from a terrible first period to earn a much needed win on home ice.

» Continue reading “Avs Knock Down Flames”

Jones continues to kill it in overtime, with the most overtime goals of any player since 2010. Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

The Colorado Avalanche hosted the St. Louis Blues in the last game of a two game homestand. The Avs won in overtime, and Varlamov shut out the Blues.

» Continue reading “Avs Win In OT”

Dutchy is on a four game goal streak, killing it with the points. Photo: Bridget Samuels/Flickr.

This was one of the craziest game I’ve seen from the Avs. Luckily, they came out on top, winning 6-5. In the last game, Edmonton won 6-4, because playing loose, offensive hockey works to their advantage. In this game, the Avs had the advantage in a loose game, because Nashville pretty much never gets into wild games like this.

» Continue reading “Avs Win Barn-Burner Over Preds”

So Eric Belanger (Oilers) thought his foot might have been broken when Erik Johnson’s shot rang off it. I’m both impressed and terrified. Photo: Sarah Connors/Flickr.

The Avs will be hosting the Dallas Stars tonight for the ninth game of the season.

The injuries continue to pile up for the Avs, as Ryan Wilson will be out indefinitely with an ankle injury. David Jones is still day to day with his knee injury, Gabe Landeskog is out indefinitely with a head injury (Coach Sacco said on the first that the leg injury has healed), and Steve Downie remains unavailable for the rest of the season.

Milan Hejduk is scheduled to play his 1,000th NHL game. (More here.)

The Dallas Stars come into the Pepsi Center with 7 points in 9 games. It will be important for the Avs to push the Stars further behind them. Kari Lehtonen is the Stars goaltender, and he’s already stolen a couple of games this season. The Avs need to be patient when it comes to beating him. Traffic in front, and a large number of shots should breed success. I expect a sharp defensive effort from the boys, to help Varlamov out. He’s faced over 30 shots in most games, but against Edmonton he only needed to face 26. Comparable numbers in the shots category would be ideal (the Avs had 40 on net in that game).

With Wilson injured, either Tyson Barrie or Shane O’Brien will be reinserted to the lineup. Considering Ryan O’Byrne’s poor play the past two games, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sacco pulled O’Byrne out and reinserted both defenseman. Given the fact that the Avs still have seven healthy d-men, I doubt they will recall another one up, even if Wilson’s injury is prolonged.