Mile High Sticking
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Colorado Avalanche and Semyon Varlamov Bounce Back VS Coyotes

By Will Radke

Nov 5, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes center Tobias Rieder (8) shoots the puck as center Martin Hanzal (11) looks on and Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov (1) and right wing Jarome Iginla (12) defend during the first period at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 5, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes center Tobias Rieder (8) shoots the puck as center Martin Hanzal (11) looks on and Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov (1) and right wing Jarome Iginla (12) defend during the first period at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports /
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After dropping 3 of their last 4 games the Colorado Avalanche pulled out a win last night against the Coyotes, largely in part to some spectacular goaltending from Semyon Varlamov.

I have to admit, going into last night’s game versus the Coyotes I was feeling hurt, upset, betrayed –basically the whole gambit of emotions normally experienced by teenage boys who had just been dumped by their first girlfriend. After losing two games due to bad goaltending the Avs had managed to beat the surprisingly good Panthers, before dropping another weak contest to the Nashville Predators.

And even after a win last night, I still don’t have an abundance of faith in the Colorado Avalanche. Despite playing one of the league’s sub-par teams the Avs still got outshot 38-37. If not for the outstanding play of Semyon Varlamov, (and some calls that went the Av’s way) this game could have gone either way.

But let’s get into the action from last night.

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Patrick Roy Mixing It Up

Roy did his normal pregame routine of throwing all the forwards’ names into a bowl of poutine and then randomly drawing to come up with the lines for tonight. This time it led to grinder Shawn Matthias playing with Gabriel Landeskog and Carl Soderberg, while Nathan MacKinnon centered Mikkel Boedker and Blake Comeau.

And it worked pretty well, it was easy to see that Matthias doesn’t have the skill to play on a line with Landeskog and Soderberg, but he makes up for it with hard work and physicality. All the lines looked relatively solid, although MacK’s line — while generating a fair amount of chances of the rush — never seemed to gain strong possession in the offensive zone.

At defense Chris Bigras (unfortunately with a concussion) sat his first game in a while as Eric Gelinas and Zach Redmond filled out the third pair for the game. I thought Redmond looked really good actually, while Gelinas seemed to show the “lack of defensive skills” many of my Devil brethren had warned me of. Regardless, it’s pretty scary that the Avs entire third pairing is being scratched and reinserted for games.

The only other notes on the skaters was that Tyson Barrie again struggled with turnovers, especially on the breakout. He is much too skilled of a player to be making bad passes in the defensive zone.

Next: Playoff Stretch In Full Swing

Semyon Varlamov Returns

Roy stated before the game that there was no goalie controversy, and that Varly was going to be the guy the Avs lived or slowly drowned in shots until the playoffs. And boy did he respond to his coach’s faith. He had 37 saves, including numerous high percentage shots. Varly looked absolutely solid in net, and even played the puck with confidence (ignoring my lack of confidence in his ability to do so).

In the end it was a solid effort from the Avs to stay within the reach of the last wildcard spot. However, if they want to make the playoffs, and actually compete there, they simply cannot be giving up 38 shots a game to mediocre teams. I’ll detail it later this week, but collapsing and blocking shots will not get them anywhere — it’s a finger on a leak in the levy.

But for today we get to celebrate as the Avs are once again tied with the Wild in points, with a game against the white-hot (yeah hotter then red-hot) Ducks Wednesday night.

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