Breaking Down: Avs/Ducks, Game 43

The Avs keep rolling with the win streak up to 7 now. This was a bit of a weaker game but they did what it took to get the 2 points. With any kind of streak you have concerns about playing outside of the style that got the streak going in the first place, I think this game was perhaps a sign of that. If nothing else it showed that being physical might be a key to derailing the Avs speed. Anaheim just didn’t have the skill to capitalize.

Team Stats

Thanks to a +4/-12 turtle in the 3rd the Avs ended up below 50% by a smidge. A heavy dose of Patrik Nemeth might explain some of that and that’s really something I wish the Avs staff would 86 off the menu. It doesn’t help and if/when Bernier comes back to earth it will be deadly. Do what got you there, don’t succumb to the temptation of overplaying “defensive” defensemen that don’t move the puck out of the zone.

I say that with one caveat. The Avs got pelted with high-danger chances much more in the first 2 periods, when they had the overall Corsi advantage, than they did in the 3rd when they got smoked.

That’s a tough paradox to resolve but it’s one that we’ve seen a bunch lately. When they give up the shot attempt advantage they suppress quality. I’ve looked for answers and honestly can’t put my finger on any one thing. If opponents can’t either then I guess it’s a good thing for now.

The PK only had to kill one penalty and did so. They remain the league’s 2nd ranked unit at 84.5%. The power play was ok early but looked lousy for most of the game. One goal from Colin Wilson late in the 2nd was all they could muster out of 6 chances. Still top 10 in the NHL, yowsa.

TOI

The defensive regime went Nemeth, EJ, Barbs, Z, Lindholm then Girard at 5v5 and EJ, Nemeth, Z, Barbs, Girard and Lindy overall. Young Sam had nearly 8 minutes of PP time, which is nice to see. The main anomaly was Patrik Nemeth playing 9 minutes in the 3rd period after averaging 6:15 in the first two. If you want to tout the results here fine but the process was bad.

Top 6 forwards at 5v5 were Comeau, Landy, Mikko, Soderberg, Nieto and Mack. Overall it was Landy, Mikko, Mack, Soderberg Comeau, Jost. Second game in a row that Tyson Jost makes an appearance in the top 6, nice to see. AJ Greer was low man at 6:07 which was a bit of a disappointment after perhaps his best game of the season vs Dallas. The 4th played only 2 shifts as a line in the 3rd and Greer wasn’t invited to play with others.

Individual

– Mack had the usual highlight reel goal that ended up the game-winner. Originally Bernier had an assist from perhaps the save of the year that started the play but it was redacted for reasons unknown. This was a huge swing in the game, instead of 1-1 it ended up 2-0. He remains 2nd in NHL scoring, tied with several others at 54 points.

– Even though he wasn’t credited with an assist on the game winner, Jon Bernier was the game-winner anyway. Stopped 33 of 34 and his overall save percentage now stands at .915 after hanging under .900 for most of the season before this current streak. FYI, that’s higher than Varly.

– Alex Kerfoot scored his 30th point in his 40th NHL game, an assist on Colin Wilson’s insurance goal. He’s now 3rd among rookies in scoring rate at 3.31 points per hour. Solid. I realize he’s not in the Calder race for various reasons but he should get a little press anyway.

Burgundy Narrative Metric

– “Best guys being your best guys” gets a (+) but as we’ve seen lately, depth scoring is starting complement the heavy hitters
– Corsi gets a (-) for dropping off a cliff after the 3rd goal
– Power Play gets a (-) 1 for 6 isn’t great and they looked unengaged as the game wore on
– Turtle gets a (-) 3 SOG in the 3rd? Gimme a break…
– Varly% gets a (n/a) but the Bernie% keeps rolling
– Referee Oppression Index gets a (+) nice to have a solid crew that kept out of the way for a change, although I bet Anaheim disagrees

Total: Even

/ / / / / /

The Avs play the Sharks Thursday night after a couple of practices. Could be some lineup changes on the way as JT Compher looks close, maybe Andrighetto too.

Vlad’s Post-Game from the Pepsi Center

Now that we have our YouTube Channel fully functioning for both live and archived events, we can present the Burgundy Rainbow Post-Game show for you here. Enjoy!