The Avalanche lost to the Coyotes tonight by one goal. ONE
goal separated the Avalanche from overtime. Would they have deserved overtime?
No. The Avalanche played one of their worst games this season on Thursday
night, and as a result, may have seriously jeopardized their chances to make
the playoffs. If Colorado fails to make the post season for the second straight
year, Avs fans can't blame the referees for lack of powerplay; they can't blame
the loser point for keeping them below the eight team threshold, they can't
blame injuries. They can blame themselves. Performances like the one you saw
against Phoenix on March 22nd just go to show you how this squad of
players is not mature enough for high intensity games where there is more on
the line than just two points. Call it bad leadership, call it players
slumping, call it bad coaching, call it what you want, but the reason for the
loss is simple: The Avalanche are horrible under pressure.
In a game where they should have come out firing on all cylinders,
taking the body, and being hard to play against, they came out slow. Their defense
made boneheaded passes, they could not clear their zone, and they looked as
though they just ate a whole plate of Dustin Penner’s delicious pancakes just
minutes before game time.
The Dallas Stars lost tonight, and Calgary only picked up
one point in their shootout loss to the Wild. The Avs knew this going into the
2nd and third periods. Their fate was in their hands and they
squandered it away with just all around bad hockey.
The first was the worst. You do not go down by two goals in
the first 20 minutes to a team who is nicking at your heels in the standings,
but the Avs did just that. They miraculously managed to get a powerplay in the
opening frame, but only managed one real scoring chance on it. The rest of the
powerplay was spent trying to gain the Coyotes zone.
The second period was better. They outshot the Yotes 15-9,
but again don’t let the numbers fool you. There were a few GREAT chances on
those shots, but too many of them were from the outside, wimpy little wristers
from the point, or straight into the chest of Mike Smith. Yes one can argue
that the Avs had some good chances this period, but even in the worst games in NHL
history teams get good chances. They had nothing to show for their efforts.
The third period was the best on the scoreboard, but as the
Avs seem to do when they’re behind, the late flurry wasn’t enough. A mad rush
of desperation might win you some hockey games, but not all of them. Not the
big ones. Jusrt as Avs fans had settled into the idea of losing, the team cruelly
got their hopes up again only to deliver them with one more crashing blow of disappointment.
End result: The Avs now find themselves out of a playoff spot, which is unfortunate because when they woke up on game day they were 7th in the West. They did this to themselves, and have subsequentley backed themselves into a corner. If they lose more than two of their remaining 6 games, it is highly likely that they will miss the playoffs for the second straight season.
Heres to winning out!
End result: The Avs now find themselves out of a playoff spot, which is unfortunate because when they woke up on game day they were 7th in the West. They did this to themselves, and have subsequentley backed themselves into a corner. If they lose more than two of their remaining 6 games, it is highly likely that they will miss the playoffs for the second straight season.
Heres to winning out!
Players
of the Game:
3 Stars:
1.
Kevin Porter
2.
Erik Johnson
3.
Stefan Elliot
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