By: Maeve Hushman, staff writer
photo by// Maeve Hushman
The Avalanche are one of the best teams in the NHL, hands down. They are perennial Stanley Cup Favorites and my pick to win the Stanley Cup this year as well as the previous two years (despite the fact that I am a die hard Leafs fan). How can they not be? Their roster is absolutely stacked with legitimate generational offensive and blue line talent. On the night of October 5th, the Colorado Avalanche took on the Vegas Golden Knights at Ball Arena for their 4th game of the preseason.
It is common practice that you shouldn’t put too much stock in preseason games, but they can be a good tool for parsing out early narratives surrounding the team and getting a look at prospective players before opening night. This game was especially interesting since it saw the 2021-2022 debut of stars Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Both Mackinnon and Rantanen are top tier offensive talents; it was truly amazing to see them play live. Their spots on the roster are secure but it was the first time the public has been able to watch them play since the playoffs. Another important return to play was back-up goalie Pavel Francouz. He recently recovered from hip surgery so it was very encouraging to see him get the start. There is also a little bit of history/bad blood between the Knights and the Avs. They are the two best teams in the West and the Golden Knights eliminated the Avalanche from the playoffs last year. So I sat down for my first live hockey game, first live professional sports game, since March 6th, 2020 and watched the Avs squareoff against the Knights.
Nolan Patrick won the opening faceoff against Nathan MacKinnon in favor of the Golden Knights. The first period really was all the Knights, at 3:36 into the first the Golden Knights scored. K. Kolesar with a wrist shot off an assist from Patrick opened up scoring for the game and put Vegas ahead almost immediately into the game. The momentum certainly continued in the Knights favor when Mikko Rantanen took a penalty for cross checking and the Golden Knights went to the power play. The Avalanche did a good job killing off that penalty, however that didn’t stop the Knights. The Golden Knights would score again later that period; Alec Martinez scored his first of his night. The Avalanche went to first intermission down two goals but not being too dramatically out shot. The Knights had 12 shots on goal and the Avalanche had 10.
The Avalanche were able to bounce back a bit in the second period, however they were met with other adversities. Mikko Rantanen scored on the power play, cutting the lead in half. Then there was a bit of a skirmish in front of the net; Carrier crashed the crease leading him and Dennis Gilbert to have a bit of a scuffle. Fighting can often serve as a momentum shifter and a good turning point for a game, however this fight couldn’t counteract Francouz’s injury. Francouz was showing signs of struggling in the crease and the trainers came out to help him off the ice in the middle of the period. He was pulled because of a lower body injury and Johansson came in for him. Johansson is ideally the Avs third string goalie but tonight he had to step up, and he really didn’t have a great showing posting a .795 save percentage in the just under half a game he played . The Knights scored again after Johansson took over the crease. This time it was Smith increasing the Golden Knight’s lead with an unassisted goal. The Avs answered back quickly; Burakovsky scored a minute and a half later making the score 3-2. Unfortunately, that rapid response time was not unique to the Avalanche; William Karlsson responded a minute later, restoring the Knight’s two goal margin. Even though the second period looked better for the Avalanche they still left with a two goal deficit. They did outshoot the Golden Knights in the period 17-14.
There was a bit of hope for a comeback going into the third. As this Leafs fan can testify, leads are never safe and a two goal deficit is very easy to overcome. But :23 seconds into the period the Golden Knights scored again, Martinez scoring his second on the night. Krebs would add another goal only a minute later turning a two goal deficit into a four goal deficit. However the Avalanche didn’t give up, Rantanen scored another power play goal and Burakovsky also scored his second goal of the night (also a powerplay goal). With only a two goal deficit again, the Avs tried to make a final push, pulling their goalie for the extra attacker. That led Leschyshyn to score the Golden Knights’ final goal, an empty net goal. The final score was 7-4, shots were 38-38 after 60 minutes of play, and the shots were Golden Knights 12 and Avalanche 11 in just the third.
The Avalanche did not look horrendous (but then again I’m used to watching the Leafs so I’ve seen my share of disasters). MacKinnon is still MacKinnon, obviously Rantanen and Burakovsky looked great. One player I noticed was Dennis Gilbert. He got into a fight in the second period but I liked his defensive efforts in general. He blocked shots, threw hits, and disrupted plays, everything a good defensive-defenseman should do. I noticed his efforts a lot in the defensive zone; sure, his game isn’t flashy but it was effective. Despite his good effort, the Avalanche sorely miss their top pairings. Real talk, why would anyone in their right mind put Jack Johnson on the penalty kill? Jack Johnson in previous preseason games surprised me by not being the complete and utter defensive liability he was in Pittsburgh. So maybe he is just a bottom pairing guy who does well in a very diminished role, that can definitely be the case for many players. But he didn’t look good at all in this game.
The Avalanche also had problems connecting on a pass, there was dropped pass after dropped pass. This could be due to an issue of chemistry. When the roster is a weird hybrid of AHL players fighting for a spot and roster players slotting in, there could be a lack of connection and trust that is developed with time and practice playing together. However, those missed connections and giveaways combined with their bad showing in the faceoff dot led to an issue with puck possession in the offensive zone which is crucial when you are playing a team as dominant as the Golden Knights.
The Golden Knights defense really seemed to have the Avalanche’s number. The Avs ended up hemmed in their own zone for long periods unable to break out past the neutral zone. The Knights are great at controlling space. They make space for themselves then use that ability to generate offensive opportunities. If the other team tries to take advantage of it, they quickly shut them down. It isn’t a smothering defensive game like that of the Islanders where there is no space ever allowed, it is almost a hybrid game. This hybrid style game is what allows them to simultaneously be a high scoring and defensively stifling team. Vegas took advantage of every opportunity given to them by the Avs and were on the Avalanche everytime the puck was on the stick of an Avs player.
Net front battles also went to Vegas. Their jostling around the net seemed frantic and desperate in a way the Avs weren't. It’s a common saying, “if you want goals go to the net”. The Avs struggled on those same opportunities in tight. There were several rebound opportunities with wide open net that they didn’t capitalize on because Vegas out competed them in tight. As a Leafs fan, I, of course, watched the Amazon Prime documentary All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs; in that head coach of the Leafs Sheldon Keefe as well as veteran players “Jumbo” Joe Thornton and Jason Spezza all emphasize that scoring off those messy net front rebounds is how you score in the playoffs especially if you want to go deep (the Leafs weren’t good at this hence their first round exit). The Avs are expected to win the cup this year; they’ll need to be more aggressive net front to do that. Of course,the Avalanche could have decided to not be as aggressive net front in an effort to avoid injury in a preseason game.
So despite the fact that shots were even, the Avalanche out hit, out blocked, and had more take-aways than the Golden Knights, they still lost in a somewhat dramatic fashion. The Knights’ effort was great, but there is something baffling about the balance in the shot count but three goal gap. When there is a score like 7-4 but an even shot count, you have to look at goaltending. Johansson had a .795 save percentage to Thompson’s (the Golden Knights goalie) .895. That ten percent is the difference between 7 and 4 goals. The score was 2-1 when Francouz left ; the Golden Knights scored 4/7 goals on Johansson (the one not accounted for was an empty net goal). The Avalanche’s former starting goalie, Grubauer, left in free agency to join the Seattle Kraken and ever since there have been big questions surrounding goaltending. Darcy Kuemper was acquired from the Coyotes this off season. He is a very skilled goaltender but is also just coming off of an injured season. If Kuemper gets injured again, then who steps up? Francouz was good for the half game he played but he will be out 3-4 weeks with a lower body injury. The Avalanche’s goalie depth remains one of their biggest questions to be answered and needs to be addressed.
So yes, it was just a preseason game but it was an opportunity to see the Avalanche before their quest for the Stanley Cup begins properly. More on a sentimental note, I was at my first live hockey game since March 2020, I got to see a player who means a lot to me (Nazem Kadri, a member of the 2016-17 Leafs, the team that got me into hockey) play live, and I even caught a free t-shirt. It was, personally, a wonderful experience but also very educational. Watching this game shaped and provided context for the early narratives surrounding the Avalanche going into the 2021-2022 regular season. The Avs will no doubt be amazing this year but the biggest question remains...will this year finally be their year?