Breaking Down: Avalanche/Bruins, Game 3
The Avs moved to 2-1 on the season with a solid 4-0 shutout over the Bruins yesterday afternoon. Varly was once again amazing but this time he didn’t have to steal the show. This was the best game so far this season and sets the bar for their capabilities going forward.
Team Statistics
After getting destroyed on the PK vs New Jersey the guys settled down and killed all 4 of Boston’s chances. Better than that, Carl Soderberg and JT Compher combined for a shortie midway through the 1st. They only allowed 4 SOG and 9 shot attempts total on the PK, now sit at 64%. Progress. The power play only got one chance but did well with it. Once they gained the zone they kept it in for the entire time and managed 4 shot attempts with one hitting the net. Also progress.
Like we’ve seen in the previous two games, Corsi was only slightly negative when adjusted for score effects and things like SOGs and scoring chances were actually positive. The Avs are settling into about the mid-pack when it comes to shot metrics 5v5 SVA, which is a nice change.
The best statistic so far in the young season is that the Avs haven’t allowed an even strength goal yet and are the only NHL team that hasn’t.
Time on Ice
The Mack and Soderberg lines were tops in TOI at even strength with the Duchene and Compher lines lagging a bit. Landy and JTC were the top PKers with around 5 minutes each, Jost/Comeau were a distant 2nd with around 2 minutes. No one else played more than a minute so having some set pairs might have contributed to the success. PP1 – Mack/Mikko/Sven/Landy/Barrie – played all the minutes there.
On D Erik Johnson hit a season high 28:17 and played over 5 mins on the PK. Barrie/Nemeth were both around 22 mins and Big Z was around 18.
One interesting anomaly from the Soderberg line playing a lot is that they got matched up with the B’s bottom 6 a lot and that in turn kept ice time down for their top 6 when it would have mattered. I don’t know if that was a strategy from Coach Bednar but it sure worked well.
Individuals
– Nail Yakupov has been the Avs most consistent forward at driving play so far this year and is consistently positive in shot metrics. Only gripe I’d have is that he’s not getting enough TOI. His 2 goals yesterday were far from beautiful but they were exciting for sure.
– Patrik Nemeth is the defenseman’s answer to Yak. He’s also been the most consistent driver of shot metrics and very solid on the PK to boot.
– Varly was awesome once again with a shutout and 29 saves. 97% save percentage so far and perfect of course at even strength. Wow, glad to have you back man.
– The top line was again a bit of a disappointment. Sven had a nice goal which Mikko assisted on and Mack/Sven assisted on Yak’s awarded goal but they were pretty quiet for much of the game. They were matched up with Marchand/Pastrnak most of the day so shutting them down on the scoreboard is nice but they got smoked to the tune of +10/-20 in shot attempts. I think we’re all looking for the breakout game and I’m sure Mack is furious he hasn’t put one in the net yet.
Burgundy Narrative Metric
– “Best guys being your best guys” gets an (even). Sven, Compher & Yak were the scoring heroes so depth wins out here. Varly gets this slightly positive.
– Corsi gets an (even) with a faint (-). Again
– Power Play gets an (even) for a good showing in a single try
– Turtle gets a (+) since they dropped the counter and pushed play in the 3rd
– Varly% gets a (+), but not as plus as in game 1 because he didn’t have to be amazing, he just was anyway.
Total: 2
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No practice today while they recover from the trip then back at it tomorrow night for the home opener and re-match with the B’s
