Colorado Avalanche: Takeaways from Crazy Caps Game

The Colorado Avalanche had a crazy game against the Washington Capitals. Here are the main takeaways.

The Colorado Avalanche lost again. They lost in overtime tonight, so that’s something new — at least they got a point. What’s more, they lasted just over four minutes into overtime instead of the usual 37.6 seconds.

Moral victory when we need actual victories, but, hey, it’s all we’ve got.

Tonight’s game against the defending Stanley Cup champions was a crazy one.The Capitols have been struggling of late, too. Not as badly as the Avalanche, but who’s keeping score? (The NHL as it turns out, and things ain’t looking great for the Avs and their playoff aspirations.)

Anyway, the game was entertaining at least, which is more than you can say about the Super Bowl. With that in mind, let’s look at how the action went down with the Colorado Avalanche.

Mikko Rantanen is a Viking

I know that Vikings are supposed to be from Sweden. However, Finnish-born Mikko Rantanen did his best Viking impression directly after his goal to make the score 3-2, thus trimming the Avs’ deficit.

I don’t know about other Avalanche fans, but I tend to still think of Rantanen as our baby giraffe, constantly falling down. Well, starting tonight, I’m also going to think of his warrior spirit. Watch his expression after his goal:

Starting at about the 0:14 mark, you see the pure haughtiness of his look. That’s a competitor.

Side note, our Swedish captain, Gabriel Landeskog is also a Viking. He’s coming off a penalty in the play above. Watch again as he plays with the intensity of a Beserker.

You can say what you want about effort — our captain is leaving it all out on the ice.

Ian Cole was an Idiot

Ian, my dude, your first mistake was hitting Evgeny Kuznetsov with a hit that was even marginally high. Don’t you know you don’t win a Stanley Cup in today’s NHL without being an Olympic-level diver? The Caps aren’t as bad as some — ahem, Penguins and Predators. However, “Kuzy” at least has mastered the art.

And then we saw some old-time hockey. You all might know by now I’m a fan of Tom Wilson‘s less… felonious plays. And the man can fight. He actually trains in boxing in the offseason.

Which makes Ian Cole’s decision to drop the gloves with Right Hook Willy all the stupider. I mean, I guess he didn’t have much of a choice, but man:

Cole beat up Tom’s fists with his face? Yeah, no. I’ve never seen the actual jersey pull over the head play put into effect — until tonight. Oh, Ian.

Colorado Avalanche Lose in Overtime

Do you remember when the Colorado Avalanche were so bad that players were literally running into each other? Like, they couldn’t figure out how to avoid their own teammates.

Well, I’m not saying the Avs are that bad again, but I’m not not saying they’re that bad again. Tonight’s overtime loss was at least partially the product of Colorado players being unable to get out of each others’ way.

The action happened in overtime. As I noted, at least the Avs lasted just over four minutes. Then this happened:

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That’s right, Tyson Barrie took out Mikko Rantanen, though he actually got the worse of the hit. Literally, I swear he crumpled with less pain when Dustin Byfuglien crunched him against the boards. Like I said, Rantanen is a Viking.

The reason this play turned into a game-winning goal, though, is that MacKinnon was gassed. It was a classic example of a player trying to do it all himself. No question Nate is a competitor. But he was out on that shift for 1:58! That’s at least a minute too long — and eternity in hockey!

As I was watching the game, I kept thinking Nathan needed to peel away for the change. Indeed, about 30 seconds before the game-winner, it looked as if he’d do just that. However, he stayed on the ice.

Otherwise, he would have never been beaten by that bird man who dove just a while earlier.

Like I said, there are no moral victories. Even out eternally upbeat captain is having difficulty finding the silver lining:

We’re now three games into my turning point of the season, and the Colorado Avalanche have just one point. I don’t want to be melancholy. So, instead, I’m just going to say the team needs to start playing the youngsters. Re-commit to the youth movement.

It’s all we’ve really got right now.