obe24

Minneapolis, MN • United States • 31 Years Old • Male

Avs Recede

Again the Avs fail to break above 3 games over .500 and lose to Colombus 4-3. This was a performance reminiscent of the road game in Phoenix on New Year's Eve. After the Avs were suffocated early by Hitchcock's well disciplined defensive system early, the Avs seemed content to sit back and try to counter-punch. Worse, the bad behavior was reinforced by going up 1-0 on Svatos' goal. Then the Avs really sat back and tried to hide in a defensive shell. This only allowed the Jackets to build momentum and confidence by possessing the puck in the Avs' zone for long stretches of time. Of course this eventually led to the tying goal in the 2nd period.

The Avs tried to shift back in to an offense gear, but as has been the case in past games, they weren't able to effectively make that transition in the face of the momentum the other team had built up. I hate it when they sit back in the 1st or 2nd periods. It's one thing to play a different style when you have the lead. But there has to be some middle ground between allowing Detroit to erase a 3-0 deficit in the 1st period and trying to sit on a 1-0 lead at the start of the second.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this game was the complete and utter impotence of the power play. Zero shots in the first two opportunities and only one shot on the third. A team doesn't need to score on every PP, but they do need to take the opportunity to apply some offensive pressure. The Avs ended the game 1 for 4 on the PP thanks to the faceoff goal from Smyth in the 3rd, but it was much worse than that. Absolutely awful on the PP. The Avs should have dominated that first period with the two consecutive early powerplays. But they were so bad that they ended up getting outshot in the period 11-8.

Raycroft was very good in the first and second period, but hit a rough patch in the third when the Jackets scored three goals in less than three minutes. Can't really blame him solely for any of them though as the guys in front of him made some mistakes, including a very uncharacteristic give away by Hejduk.

The point is that this team should not be trying to win this way. This is not a team that should be trying to win 1-0, especially with Foote out of the lineup. Worry about the lead in the third period. Before then the score shouldn't matter much. I'm not sure if this should be directed at Granato or the players, but it's Granato's job to get these guys out of this habit if he's not expressly calling for this type of play.

The Avs fall to 0-3 vs the Jackets. Not good as I expect the Jackets to be jockying for a playoff spot until the very end. Now on to St. Louis and 2 points that any playoff hopeful must have. Get home with these 2 points and then the Avs can enjoy a ridiculous 8 game homestand and try to capture the 13 out of 20 points in this 10 game stretch to keep pace for a playoff spot.

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