The Colorado Avalanche played the Calgary Flames last night, and they got lit ablaze.
As Ron Burgundy would say:
It truly did as the first period ended with a non-threatening score of 1-0 by the Flames, and a lead in shots by the Colorado Avalanche 12-10. The lone goal for the Flames came on a power-play goal by Dougie Hamilton.
However, the Avalanche still looked like they had the game within their grasp. Then the second period struck in a bad way for the Avalanche as it often has this season, and the train came off the rails.
The Calgary Flames scored three goals in 4:49 and Semyon Varlamov was pulled from the net and replaced by Calvin Pickard.
It wasn’t really Varly’s fault, but the last goal marked a lack of effort from Varly, and so he found the bench and locker room for the remainder.
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Anyway, the Colorado Avalanche were shut out in the third as well, even though they rang three pucks off the iron, and eventually lost the game 4-0 with Jarome Iginla failing to pick up No. 600 against his former team.
I don’t want to spend a long time on the dismal nature of this game, so let’s jump to the Colorado Avalanche players that stood out — for bad or good — and call this a day.
The Good
— Mikhail Grigorenko played fantastic last night. He was well positioned with simplicity, was tenacious on the forecheck, and registered 3 shots on net. He even earned minutes with Iginla and Alex Tanguay in the third period.
— Calvin Pickard looked good in relief, stopping all 14 shots he faced, and keeping dim hopes of a 4-0 comeback alive.
— Francois Beauchemin had a great night on the ice as well, he was a stalwart defensively, and made a few great passes. Plus, his play on that 4-1 that the Calgary Flames had was amazing, he played it perfectly.
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— Erik Johnson had a fantastic night once again as well, he was leading the rush, defending with poise, and he made a really great pass from behind the net to Blake Comeau late in the second period. Unfortunately, the Avs were just unable to score.
— Finally, Alex Tanguay gets a nod because he made some great passes to Iggy for open net shots that he just got unlucky on. Unfortunately, Iggy was unable to notch his 600th against his former team, but the goal is nigh on the horizon.
The Bad
— The entire team had a bad night last night, and — especially early — they were too focused on getting Iginla his 600th, and certain players passed on some great opportunities for themselves.
— John Mitchell was atrocious last night, he is just not suited for a top line role and it is painfully obvious when he plays that role. He had two penalties called on him in the first period, and topped that off with another in the third. He hit the post once, his highlight of the night
— Semyon Varlamov was not necessarily bad, but he could have been better. I don’t blame him for the tip-in goals, but he should have definitely had better rebound control on the 4th goal, and could have stopped the first if he had been more prepared.
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— Andreas Martinsen was rather disenchanting last night, he barely hit, and he was just unnoticeable on the ice. Let’s be honest, he’s not playing that line with Matt Duchene because he’s an offensively minded forward. He’s there to create space and that did not happen tonight.
— Unfortunately for Avalanche fans, Tyson Barrie did not have a good game. Maybe he was still recovering from the flu, but he was sluggish, sloppy with the puck, and only looked good offensively when given time and space on the power-play.
In Finality
I really don’t have much to say folks, this was a dismal effort from the Colorado Avalanche, and they simply won’t win games with that sort of poise. I’m extremely frustrated with the performance last night, and I’m sure Patrick Roy feels the same way.
It was hard to watch, but the Avalanche are still 6-2-2 in the last 10, and there’s hope even with a Nashville Predators win last night. They are now six points back from a playoff berth, but they have still only played the Predators once this season.
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There’s a lot of ground to make up, but there is plenty of time to make it up, so let’s hope for the best on Monday against the L.A. Kings because they’re what’s on tap folks.
What do you think Colorado Avalanche fans? Pretty bad performance tonight? Or, are you still optimistic about what they put on the ice tonight? Let us know in the comments!