Breaking Down: Avs/Wilds, Pre-Season Game 5
Well, the offense is going finally but can’t say the same about defensive play. The Avs took some liberties with a semi-NHL lineup from Minnesota, smoked them on the shot board and needed a power play goal in OT to gain their 2nd pre-season victory, 4-3.
Projectile Lineup
Landy – Mack – Mikko
Jost – Kerfoot – Wilson
Nieto – Compher – Bourque
Calvert – Toninato – Dries
Girard – EJ
Z – Barrie
Cole – Barbs
Grubauer
Varly
Scratches: Soderberg, O’Connor, Alt, Nemeth
Injuries: Kamenev (hip, d2d), Andrighetto (left foot, 2-4 weeks), Lindholm (shoulder), Warsofsky (unknown), Timmins (concussion)
Team Stats
Bear in mind there was a talent delta here but the Avs dominated for the first 35 minutes of the game save for soft play #1 that lead to a Wilds goal 14 seconds into the 2nd period. The Avs answered right back so no harm done. Minny went on a 15-1 shot run late in the 2nd into the early 3rd before the good guys got control back. Calvert’s goal made it 3-1 but soft play #2 led to the 2nd Wilds goal. Deciding to play recklessly on a late PP with the lead meant soft play #3, a tie game and OT practice. Sam Girard drew a call and Mack got a royal road pass to Mikko to send the fans home happy.
Final tally was 50-36 in 5v5 shot attempts and 41-24 in SOG in all situations. Well done.
Power play was 2/5 and the PK killed off both chances, the first of which ended on a Minnesota penalty. In regulation the PP was 1 for 4 while giving up the game-tying goal with a minute left so I would characterize that as crappy and as dangerous to Grubauer as it was to the Wilds goalies.
TOI
The top 6 forwards were Mack’s line then Bourque, Kerfoot and Nieto at 5v5 and in all situations we saw Mikko, Mack, Landy, Jost, Kerf and Compher with the most time. There was a bit of a blender going in the 3rd period with Coach Bednar shortening up the bench. Toninato was low man as usual. Sheldon Dries further solidified his bid to make the team with 10 minutes overall, a couple of SOG and a shift on the PK.
The defensive regime went EJ, Barbs, Sam, Cole, Barrie, Z at 5v5 and in all situations Barrie led with almost 23 minutes, Sam next with 20:36, then Barbs, Cole, EJ and Z a distant 6th again.
PP1 – Landy, Mack, Mikko, Jost, Barrie
PP2 – Kerf, Compher, Wilson, Calvert, Girard
PK1 – Bourque, Nieto, Cole, Barbs
PK2 – Compher, Calvert, Z, Barrie
Individual
– Alex Kerfoot was the #1 star of the night with a goal, a sweet pass for Jost to tap in and a shot that Matt Calvert tipped past the Hamburglar. Add a penalty shot that hit the crossbar to that. Even though Tyson Jost was taking the faceoffs, Kerf was handling F3 duties and running play in the o-zone. Can he do this consistently vs NHL skaters? That’s the big question, I hope so.
– The top line looked fast but a little rusty on the shooting side. Mack had some good chances that would have gone in if it was regular season. Landy missed an open net because he was left handed. Mikko won the game. They’re fine.
– Other than Sam Girard and Mark Barberio most of the time I didn’t really care for the play of the D-men. EJ and Cole looked like vets in pre-season, which is fine I guess. I’ll give Cole a pass until game 1 but he’s displayed some disturbing habits so far like dumping the puck with open teammates nearby and some casual puck protection. Barrie and Zadorov were terrible and really need to show something in tomorrow’s game.
– Coach Bednar mentioned after the game that Sven Andrighetto will be out for at least a couple of weeks. He was spotted with a boot on his left foot during the game so that’s not good. This opens up not just a spot on the roster but an actual spot in the lineup for the guys battling it out for the 13th+ forward positions. Dries and Toninato got a look last night, O’Connor will probably play tomorrow while Kamenev is nursing a hip issue day to day. It will be interesting to watch how this plays out.
Next Up
The Avs travel to Dallas for the final tune-up on Sunday afternoon at 6pm ET/4pm MT. Word is that there will be a feed on the Stars site for local fans only so we’ll have to get creative. Connor McGahey will have the radio call on Altitude 92.5 for sure.
After that we have a few days off then the season opens once again vs Minnesota on Thursday night.
Thanks as always to Natural Stat Trick and the NHL for the numbers
