Colorado Avalanche Going into the Wild
“Zero-on-22, that’s not acceptable to me.” – Patrick Roy
The Colorado Avalanche are going into the wild — the Minnesota Wild’s territory, that is. And they’re looking to come out the victors against their divisional rival foes.
Both teams need the points for their playoff race. The Avalanche have just one point more than the Wild, who’ve won their last four. However, the Wild have also played two fewer games. That makes this a must-win for the Colorado Avalanche even more than any of the other February games thus far.
Storyline
We Hate You
The Colorado Avalanche just played their old rivals from the 1990s, the Detroit Red Wings. Things got a little contentious, with even wonder kid Nathan MacKinnon getting heated up enough to drop the gloves. However, the Red Wings are in the Eastern Conference now, so that rivalry is mostly a thing of the past.
The rivalry with the Minnesota Wild is very much current. Their goon Matt Cooke took offensive defenseman Tyson Barrie out with a dirty knee-on-knee hit in last year’s playoffs. They exited the Avalanche from the playoffs after that.
They ruined the beginning of the Colorado Avalanche’s season by shutting them out 5-0 in Minnesota and 3-0 in Colorado. They also have the ugliest uniforms in the history of ever. Yeah, we hate the Minnesota Wild.
Keys to the Game
Rejuvenated Power Play
The Colorado Avalanche have gone 0-for-22 in power plays recently. It’s been a problem all season, but 0-for-22 is a new low.
Head coach Patrick Roy is fed up:
"“Zero-on-22, that’s not acceptable to me.”"
Coach Roy is looking to make some changes, and knowing him, they could be significant. He’s already forecast that he may change the line-up. He benched center Matt Duchene from the power play once — a power play he’d earned by drawing the penalty. Some players who normally see time on the man-advanatage may find themselves sitting and watching role players take their turns.
If it sparks the offense in the power play, I doubt any of the star shooters would complain too loudly.
Who’s on First, er, D
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The Colorado Avalanche defense ever gets slack for not being good enough — and that’s when it’s completely healthy. The D-corps is far from completely healthy right now.
The first to fall was Ryan Wilson, who underwent season-ended shoulder surgery. Brad Stuart sat out for five weeks with a hamstring injury, though he’s been playing well since returning. Just before the All Star break Avs fans got the horrible news that cornerstone defenseman Erik Johnson would be out three to eight weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.
Then Tyson Barrie sat out the Red Wings game with a hip flexor injury.
Luckily Barrie should be back for the game against the Wild. Stefan Elliott made his debut in the Detroit game, but no telling if he’ll suit up for the Wild. Roy noticed he made some mistakes, but also that he jumped into the play. If Elliott plays, it’ll probably be in place of Nick Holden or, more likely, Zach Redmond.
Who’s Hot, Who’s Not
Not
I called Max Talbot “not hot” before the home Nashville Predators game, and he scored the game-winning goal. I called Tyson Barrie “not hot” before the Dallas Stars, and he scored the game-tying goal with just 20 seconds left. I called MacKinnon “not hot” before the Red Wings game, and he got into his first real NHL fight.
So, time to call Matt Duchene “not hot” in the hopes of giving him some of that puck luck, maybe even on the power play (if he gets to see time there.) Hopefully he doesn’t get in a fight, or if he does, it’s with Zach Parise.
Hot
Goalie Semyon Varlamov had a stellar game preceded by a stellar game preceded by a stellar game. He had a mediocre performance against the Predators in Nashville, spoke with magic goalie coach Francois Allaire, and has been, well, stellar ever since.
It doesn’t show in the points totals, but Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog has been warming up. He got a goal against Nashville, an empty-netter. He earned an assist against Dallas and invented the Lande-bowling shootout technique. Landeskog also got a goal against the Red Wings — unfortunately, it was disallowed, but he found the back of the net.
The Colorado Avalanche are playing for the second time this season in Xcel Energy Center and for the third time against the Wild. The game starts at 6:00 pm MST and will be broadcast on Altiture TV.