Colorado Avalanche Should Start 2019 with a Win against San Jose
The Colorado Avalanche host the San Jose Sharks for Game no 41. They’d like to end their five-game losing skid.
I’m not going to say the Colorado Avalanche must win against the San Jose Sharks tonight. I’ve been writing the Avs are in a must-win situation for a few posts now, and it hasn’t helped. So, I’m going to suggest casually that the Avs should win tonight, if they would like.
And the Avalanche should win tonight. The Sharks are a good team, and Colorado inherently does well against good teams.
What’s more, historically the Avalanche have done well against the Sharks. They’ve gone 53-46-7-5 all time. Last season, they beat San Jose twice, both times at Pepsi Center. So I really do have high hopes for tonight’s game.
In case, you know, the Avs would like to win or something.
How to Enjoy the Game
Game time: January 2, 7:30 pm MT
TV Networks: NBCSN
Radio: Altitude Radio (FM 92.5)
Kings of Defense
Oh, lordy, the San Jose Sharks’ defense got exponentially better in the preseason when they traded a bag of pucks for Erik Karlsson. Now they have him and the Yeti, Brent Burns. That doesn’t seem fair.
Especially since the Avalanche’s top line has suddenly gone, well, not dormant. But it’s cooled down a little bit. And secondary scoring has just… not been there.
Time for Tyson Barrie
I’ve been promising the last couple posts that I’d call Tyson Barrie out, and I’m finally going to do it:
"“Tyson, darling, would you like to score a goal? It’s been 12 games. Or at least play some defense? Whichever you prefer.”"
To be fair, with an assist against the Chicago Blackhawks, Barrie officially surpassed John-Michael Liles on the franchise list of assists by defensemen. He padded that with another assist against the Kings.
But Barrie used to be our Mr. Clutch. We need that guy again.
Goal Tending
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The Colorado Avalanche are going to start Philipp Grubauer in net. That’s not too surprising. Semyon Varlamov got the last two starts. You can in no-wise blame the losses on him, but I’m not surprised coach Jared Bednar has the goalies on a rotation.
What was a little surprising is that Pavel Francouz got called up from Loveland. I’m not sure if that means Varlamov is sick again or if we’re on Groin Watch 2019.
At the time of writing, the Sharks hadn’t announced who’d be in net for them. On the roster, they have Martin Jones as the starter and Aaron Dell as his backup. Dell was in net for the Sharks’ New Years’ Eve loss, so I rather expect Jones.
Next. 10 New Year Resolutions for the Avs. dark
After tonight, the Colorado Avalanche will play the Sharks two more times, both in San Jose. Tonight also marks the halfway point of both their season and their home stand.