By Maeve Hushman, Staff Writer
The Avalanche’s December was cut short by COVID-19 as was a large chunk of the league’s. Five teams including my favorite Toronto Maple Leafs have opted to postpone the games until after the holidays due to COVID-19 concerns. By the Avalanche’s last game against the Nashville Predators, they had five players out due to COVID-19. So, with December games coming to an end, let’s take a look at the Avalanche’s hot December.
With the 10 games the Avalanche played in December they went 7-2-1. Nathan MacKinnon re-joined the line-up and the offense was on fire. In three straight games they scored 7 goals. However, they began their December with a blowout 8-3 loss to the Leafs and ended it with a 5-2 loss to Nashville.
So here are the takeaways from the month of December Avalanche hockey:
Things to fix:
Okay so as a Leafs fan, please excuse me while I briefly revel in the complete and utter dismantling the Leafs committed against the Avalanche. Losing 8-3 is never good. Before the game I jokingly wrote up a tweet where I listed advice for the Leafs going into their game against the Avalanche, and the Avalanche played exactly with those weaknesses on display. That December first game was the Murphy’s Law of Avs Games, everything that could go wrong very much did go wrong. I left the tip that Avalanche don’t start the game on time and if they do they fail to hold energy level for a full 60 minutes. The Leafs scored three goals in the first period with little resistance from the Avalanche. The Avalanche struggle to defend the front of the net. Auston Matthew, the Leafs leading goal scorer and last year’s recipient of the Rocket Richard Trophy for leading the league in goals, was left completely undefended in front of the net. Matthews had enough time and space to handle the puck a bit, like a lion playing with it’s food, before finally roofing it over Jonas Johansson. It was the first goal of Matthews subsequent hat trick. Now, some Avs fans were pointing to Johansson’s poor performance in net as cause for the game’s results, but I would say that three of those goals don’t go in with Darcy Kuemper in net. That still leaves the game at 5-3, which while better than 8-3 is still a loss for the Avalanche.
The Avalanche really struggled with the Leafs defense, which has finally taken a step forward. There is an important distinction in the way the Leafs defend versus the other defensive methods. The Leafs primary defensive strategy is to push opposing players to the outside, preventing opportunities in tight and clogging up shooting lanes. It is not the neutral zone clogging offense destroying defensive system of the 2020-2021 Islanders. It is not the controlling of space that Vegas’ defense does so well either, and it also is beyond the traditional man-to-man coverage of most teams. The kind of defense which really stifles the Avalanche is not the simple man-to-man coverage model, but the kind that takes away their offensive options. The Leafs and Vegas do this well. The Avalanche when playing against Florida, who do not play this kind of defense, while being stifled for the first period eventually broke through. The Avs offense is so dominant that eventually even the best defense yields to their will, which is why a team that doesn’t just stop individual players but instead moves them out of place and disrupts the flow of the Avalanche’s game causes actual impact.
Goal-tending depth really did rear its ugly head in all of the Avalanche’s losses, which is tough. Being “out-goalied”, or losing a game simply because your goalie cannot hang, is frustrating. Francouz was finally back from injury and in the Nashville game behind a very depleted line up, Justus Annunnen managed his NHL debut and Johansson never looked quite as bad as he looked in the Leafs game, but that is an important thing to remember. Goaltending depth and goaltending in general has been the Avalanche’s sore spot for the past couple of seasons. I was honestly very surprised that the Avalanche did not claim Dallas Stars goaltender and former Stanley cup finalist Anton Khoudobin when he was on waivers earlier this month. No doubt Joe Sakic has a plan and will address the goaltending depth at the upcoming trade deadline.
This team could also work on utilizing their rebound opportunities better. The Leafs game especially had a lot of easily exploitable rebounds. Rebounds and dirty, scrappy, net front opportunities are how games are decided in the playoffs. You can win regular season games without them, but when the game gets tighter, and the offense dries up the ability to score off those chances is incredibly crucial to a deep playoff run.
The Penalty Kill has also dropped to 28th in the league which is somewhat alarming. While this could be attributed purely to the goaltending troubles the Avalanche are having, it is an important dip to note.
Positives:
The offense is clicking. Nathan MacKinnon is back to scoring goals and back to generating chances. That chemistry and finishing ability which seemed to be just a tad bit off in the Avalanche’s slow start is back. Scoring 7 goals in 3 straight games is an incredible accomplishment and I don’t think it is getting enough attention. The Avalanche offense is on fire and back to its completely dominant form.
The defense keeps improving. I swear the more I see Devon Toews on the ice the more I love his play. He and Cale Makar have been absolutely killing it. While the blue line in general have allowed odd man rushes, especially in the Senators and Leafs games, they are still doing a much better job than in games past. The Avalanche’s blue line is generating offensive opportunities as well as doing their best at limiting the other team’s chances. They have had to figure out how to play in front of less-than-ideal goaltending which is always an adjustment period.
Nazem Kadri, is also on an absolute heater. Kadri has always seemed to be a good second- or third-line center. He is highly skilled, but he is not skilled enough to be the face of a Stanley Cup winning franchise. Then MacKinnon was out leaving a vacuum Kadri stepped up in spectacular fashion to fill the gap. Even when MacKinnon came back, Kadri continued to play extremely well. He scored two out of three goals in the game against his former team and hometown team, the Leafs. This is a contract year for Kadri and his performance will make him a hot commodity in free agency, especially if he plays well and remains in the game during the playoffs. Kadri is cementing himself as a very important piece in the Avalanche’s offense. Hopefully he continues this success in the playoffs and continues to be that extra punch needed on offense.
The power play is top ten in the league which is a great sign after the early season power play struggle. The Avalanche’s offense usually is not the problem, and it remains so dominant. It is truly a force to be reckoned with. Now, seeing that offense working on the man advantage is a huge bright spot. The Avalanche are one of the best offensive teams in the NHL their power play should ideally always be producing at a top 10 level or above.
Conclusion:
Despite the way this article appears, there is more to be positive about for the Avalanche’s play than negative. They are playing extremely well. If the Avalanche continue to play at the level they are playing at now, but also make small improvements on long standing issues, then they will soon assume their rightful place as top in the NHL. The resurgence of COVID-19 cases hit the Avalanche extremely hard, but after the pause if they find their rhythm again, they should be back on a good path to make the playoffs with a healthy control of the Central Division.