Colorado Avalanche: Last Chance for the Playoffs

The Colorado Avalanche need to tighten up their game if they want to make the playoffs.

The Colorado Avalanche still have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. At the time of writing, Colorado is two points out of the final wild card spot. The Minnesota Wild occupy that spot, and they have a game in hand. However, they play the St. Louis Blues tonight.

So, by the time the Avalanche face the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow night, we’ll all know exactly where they stand — either two or four points out but with the Wild having no more games in hand. (Until after the game — when on earth are they going to officially catch up?)

Anyway, the Colorado Avalanche don’t totally control their own fate — they do need the Wild to lose a few. They can’t control that, though (except for the March 26 game against Minnesota), so let’s look at what they can control.

Score on the Power Play

Strangely, the Colorado Avalanche is only #11 in the NHL for their power play. They have a reasonable 19.5% scoring percentage with the man-advantage.

Indeed, Colorado had a power play goal against the Florida Panthers on Thursday and one against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.

That said, the Avalanche power play is still frustratingly pretty. What I mean is that there’s an awful lot of passing and not a ton of shooting. As the great man, Patrick Roy, keeps saying, the players need to drive the net. Good things happen in front of the net.

On the plus side, Colorado’s penalty kill has been stifling. Weirdly, they’re 18th in the NHL for that stat, yet they’ve done an excellent job in the last several games of killing penalties.

Limit Scoring Chances

I’m not going to say the Colorado Avalanche need to limit shots per se. As head coach Patrick Roy hilariously pointed out (again) in a post-game presser, players are shooting from everywhere (~2:10):

That said, the Colorado Avalanche do need to limit opponent scoring chances. Goalie Semyon Varlamov got burned by two breakaways in the first period against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. While Calvin Pickard was able to stop the breakaways he faced, he got burned on broken plays.

It would help an awful lot if the Avalanche could stop turning the puck over. Officially Colorado had six giveaways in the game against the Nashville Predators, but it looked like a lot more. What’s more, they kept doing it in the defensive zone, which certainly didn’t help Calvin Pickard out.

Which brings me to my next point…

Keep Pickard in Net

More from Mile High Sticking

If there’s one thing that Patrick Roy knows about, it’s hockey. And he especially knows about goal tending. So, when he says Semyon Varlamov is the Colorado Avalanche’s #1 goalie and that he should get more starts coming up, he’s probably right.

That doesn’t stop me from thinking part of his reasoning is emotional, though. Varlamov is Roy’s pet goalie, and I think Patrick might turn a blind eye to some of his faults the way I forgive my cat for coughing up hairballs.

My point is, the Colorado Avalanche have the best chance of winning if Calvin Pickard is in net. The team tends to play a little tighter in front of him. Plus, while he may sometimes look wobbly, the truth is he makes the big saves — and the majority of the small saves as well. Our weeble-wobble has ice in his veins and enough balls to take the Avalanche all the way.

Hey, Dominic Hasek weeble-wobbled his way to the Hockey Hall of Fame. The style works for some goalies. However…

Don’t Play Loosey-Goosey Hockey

Everyone else needs to tighten up their game. The players need to stop having pizza moments! They need to play as close to a perfect game as is humanly possible.

I’d like to see the 1-3-1 trap come into sharper focus. According to Mile High Sticking writer Will Radke, it’s still in effect. It’s so loose, though, that I don’t think it’s all that effective.

Obviously the turnovers have to stop, as noted above. Colorado needs to stop making the hard passes and just try carrying the puck once in a while.

Next: Goalie Controversy for the Avs

Overall, the team also just needs to play the full 60 minutes. They need to dig deep. They have to want to make the playoffs so badly that they’re willing to become hyper-focused on the game at hand. That’s the only way they have a chance of winning enough games to steal the final wild card spot from the Minnesota Wild.

And we so want them to steal the final wild card spot from the Minnesota Wild, right, Avs Nation?