The first ¾ of this game was fantastic. Great flow, few whistles, no penalties. Just two good teams slugging it out at a high pace. Neither team had many shots on goal until garbage time when the Bruins pressed but it didn’t feel like that. The Avs haven’t left Boston with a regulation loss since the late 90’s, which is weird but they keep getting it done. Great result, 3-0 road trip.
Projectile Lineup
Nazem Kadri missed his 2nd game with LBI. Matt Calvert missed the game for personal reasons. Vlad Kamenev returned after missing the games in Canada with illness. Mark Barberio got his 2nd start in a row. Grubi was back in net after Frank took on the Habs.
Attack
Donskoi – Mack – Mikko
Landy – Compher – Burky
Nieto – PEB – Nichushkin
Kamenev – Jost – Tynan
D
Big Z – Sam
Graves – Makar
Cole – Barbs
Gardiens
Grubi
Frank
Scratch: Rosen, Calvert (personal), Kadri (LBI)
Injured: Johnson (LBI), Wilson (surgery for LBI)
Team Stats
The Avs started the game on time with a few great shifts then Boston gradually became engaged and made it back and forth. Former Avalanche center and Colgate alum Chris Wagner was first on the board for either team on a tip right in front. That didn’t feel right so we turned to red hot scorer Val Nichushkin to tie it up. That did feel right and the Avs proceeded to press for the next 12 minutes or so when Ian Cole got his 1st of the season in his 500th NHL game. Fitting. The B’s started a press of their own but still couldn’t find the net and eventually Andre Burakovsky bought some insurance late in P2.
The third period was totally different. Four minutes in Cale Makar left with an injury. Six minutes in the Avs took the first penalty of the game. Eight minutes in the Bruins took their first penalty then the Avs took another. The wonderful flow was gone and we sat through a mindless turtle until Captain Gabe jumped out of the penalty box and sealed it with an ENG.
Tale of the tape at 5v5 was a +37/-43 and shots on goal were even at 20. Expected goals at 5v5 was also dead even at 1.23 for each club. Taking Cole’s GWG as the turning point, the Avs up until then were +30/-12 and were +7/-31 after. This is the 3rd game in a row they’ve gone into shell mode with the lead, it’s working but it’s a bad habit they need to break. Game pace at 5v5 was statistically a sludgy 91 per hour but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Special teams weren’t really a factor with the Avs only having 25 seconds to play with on the PP and Boston’s only extended time on PP was a 6v4 at the end.
TOI
Top 6 forwards at 5v5 were Mikko, then a gap to Mack and Landy then another to Nichushkin, PEB and Burakovsky. In all situations it was Mikko (19+), Mack (18), Landy (18), PEB (17+), Nieto (15+) and Burky (15+). Tynan was low man at 8:17 and neither he nor Kamenev had any special teams time.
The defensive regime went Big Z, Graves, Sam, Makar, Barbs and Cole. Overall it was Z (27), Graves (22), Sam (21+), Cole (17+), Makar (16) and Barbs (16). Makar was on pace to be right around where Sam ended up when he left and since he left before the first penalty was called was the only D with no special teams time.
Individual
– Not to take anything away from the defensemen, who had a very solid game in general, but the way the forwards played structurally in the d-zone stole the show for me. When the Avs struggle defensively there’s been a tendency to collapse into the middle and give away lots of space especially at the top of the zone. That didn’t happen much last night and it was glorious. The forwards were in motion a lot and forcing the Bruins to play very close to the boards and blueline, in effect slowing them down. This also had the added benefit of opening up sightlines for Francouz so he could easily track the puck. It’s not an easy way to play and takes plenty of effort but it leverages their defensive capabilities massively.
– It was a big game for Big Z. He lead the Avs in ice time by a boatload, 5:14 over Ryan Graves, and had an eye-popping 10 hits. Safe to say he is now the Avs shutdown specialist, with help from partner Sam Girard of course. Maybe it took a broken jaw for him to finally settle into the role he’s built for, if so I guess it was a fortunate injury.
– Now for the doom & gloom. Grubauer was shaken up making a save on a breakaway and perhaps came up lame. I think if it was truly serious he would have found a way to let his teammates know he needed a whistle rather than waiting 3 minutes and 24 seconds for the next stoppage in play. He was back on the bench in gear later on so who knows. I guess the next step is to watch the wire and see if Adam Werner gets called up.
Just as concerning was watching Cale Makar’s reaction to getting hit (cleanly) by Brad Marchand early in P3. It wasn’t a reaction of pain but very uncomfortable about something in the upper body region. No point in worrying about it until we know more but obviously he’ll be missed any time he’s out of the lineup.
Burgundy Narrative Metric
– “Best guys being your best guys” gets a (+) this was a game for the roleplayers but the top line was fine
– Quality vs Quantity gets a (+) little of either but not in a bad way
– Power Play Watchability gets a (+) took a penalty on their only chance, nice
– The Dreaded Turtle gets a (+) good gracious, stop this now
– Starting Goalie Battle% gets a (+) Grubi saw all 4 shots in the 1st and stopped 3. Frank was better.
– Referee Oppression Index gets a (+) Fabulous job until the penalty parade. It’s not their fault, just a shame it had to happen.
Total: +8¾
Next up
Back home to face the Flames Monday evening
Thanks as always to the NHL and Natural Stat Trick for numbers and visuals