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Colorado Avalanche Preaseason vs Vegas: Answering 3 Questions

By Nadia Archuleta

DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 18: Colorado Avalanche defenseman Ryan Graves (27) skates along the bench after scoring a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in the thrift period at Pepsi Center September 18, 2018. Knights won 5-1. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 18: Colorado Avalanche defenseman Ryan Graves (27) skates along the bench after scoring a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in the thrift period at Pepsi Center September 18, 2018. Knights won 5-1. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /
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The Colorado Avalanche began to answer some questions in their first preseason game, a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Colorado Avalanche dropped their first preseason game against the Vegas Golden Knights. I don’t like this new preseason ritual of getting blown out at home by the Knights. Last season the Avs lost 4-1. This season, they lost 5-1.

That said, Colorado also beat Vegas at their home to conclude the preseason, so I’m fine with keeping that tradition alive at least. (The Avs aren’t finishing the preseason in Vegas this year — they play in Vegas in September 24.)

Anyway, in our preview post, we posed three questions. Let’s see what answers we came up with.

Which Prospects will Distinguish Themselves?

The Colorado Avalanche suited up 11 prospects in yesterdays game:

  • Logan O’Connor
  • JC Beaudin
  • Brandon Saigeon
  • Nick Henry
  • Travis Barron
  • Josh Dickinson
  • Julien Nantel
  • Mason Geertsen
  • Ryan Graves
  • Josh Anderson
  • Spencer Martin

The Golden Knights were also made up mostly of prospects, especially since they’d already played their first preseason game in Vegas, thus suiting up some of their starters.

Anyway, the Colorado prospects were mostly playing against other prospects, but they didn’t always look it. The prospect that distinguished himself the most was Ryan Graves, whom Colorado acquired in the Chris Bigras trade.

I have to admit, I kept coming across him in camp and kept dismissing him as someone I didn’t need to watch out for. More fool me. He scored the only goal for the Avs last night, so the kid finally has my attention.

Though he didn’t do anything spectacular, Brandon Saigeon continues to show he’s ready to go pro. He looked pretty solid on the ice. (The ice itself was apparently not very solid. Ice crew going to need to get the rust out, too, I guess.)

One other Avs prospect stood out, but not in a good way — Mason Geertsen got both of the Avalanche’s penalties, and Vegas scored on both. Not the way to stick your head up, Geertsy. Especially since (thank goodness) the officials seemed to have swallowed their whistles.

Spencer Martin let in two goals on six shots. I think the Avs are betting on Pavel Francous for the #3 goalie slot.

How Good is JT Compher?

Pretty good, though he didn’t do anything spectacular either. J.T. Compher looked a little rusty in game form, but he moved well.

Matt Calvert… also ran. I guess the hope would be that, when you’re debuting in front of your new team’s home crowd, you’d have a little more pep in your step.

Ian Cole was there. I continue to not notice him. That said, his invisibility may be a good thing. That means he’s not making egregious errors. Perhaps he’s doing the little things right. (He was dead even on the plus/minus scale, for what that’s worth.)

How Hard will Varly Battle?

Not hard at all. We all know Semyon Varlamov can steal or cost games. I’m don’t want to say he cost last night’s game — the Avalanche defense was a mess. However, he let in a couple soft goals.

According to Avs insider Rick Sadowski, Varlamov was mostly unconcerned:

"“I haven’t played in a while, it’s been a long summer…The first game is always tough because you feel like your net is way bigger than it’s supposed to be. Of course, I can play better. The first game, coming back from the summer, it’s always not easy.”"

Coach Jared Bednar stated that the first preseason game wasn’t about the vets but about the prospects. However, GM Joe Sakic has instituted a battle for the number-one goalie position. Bednar had to be watching how Varlamov would perform in his first game back.

And he has to watch how Philipp Grubauer performs in his first preseason game, whenever that comes. Because, yes, traditionally these preseason games are about the prospects until the last two. But the Avalanche have a special situation going with the goalie battle.

Next. Final Reflections from Training Camp. dark

The Colorado Avalanche don’t play again until Saturday in Minnesota, when they

beat down

play the Wild at 4:00 PM MT. Today is a day off for the team. Tomorrow they will practice in their same groups from 8:45 to 12:30.

I’m guessing after last night’s rusty start, practice will not get off to a sleepy start again.

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