Colorado Avalanche: 3 Thoughts on Preseason Game 3 vs Wild

The Colorado Avalanche are now 0-3 in the preseason. We’re starting to see some trends that we’ll want to follow in the last three games.

The Colorado Avalanche have dropped their third preseason game. It’s not important because it’s the preseason, but it’s not fun either.

Well, this is the time of year when coaches, and we fans, are getting a good look at the new guys. We’re also starting to get a sense for how the team works together.

So, let’s look at some thoughts from Preseason Game 3.

1. Conor Timmins is OK!

The best news of the day, the part that makes the rest just fine, is the fact that defenseman Conor Timmins appears to be ok.

He suffered from lingering concussion symptoms which kept him out of play all last season. It was also questionable whether he’d be able to play with the loud noises and flashing lights of an in-game situation.

Well, he’s now played two preseason games, and there have been no reports of returning symptoms — and I’m sure they were watching closely for them. What’s more, Timmins recorded his first NHL goal! It’s just the preseason, so it won’t count, but let’s appreciate it anyway:

Wow, that little faked shot before he jockeys into position and beats Devan Dubnyk clean. What a joy!

2. Minnesota Wild are Goons

The Minnesota Wild can barely ice an NHL team, so they decide to goon it up.

Actually, they iced pert near as close to an NHL roster they have with the liked of Zach Parise, Jason Zucker, and… holy smokes, when did Ryan Hartman of the “Ghetto hit me in the hot dog” tantrum join the Wild? And, boy, are they a match made in… slime.

Anyway, for being a preseason game in which the Avs mostly iced prospects, the Wild sure took the situation seriously. And by that, I mean they were gooning it up every chance they got. Even the Avs PR team noticed:

If you look in the video of Timmins’ goal above, Marcus Foligno takes a cheap shot of frustration against Timmins after he’d already scored the goal.

Nick Seeler was also having himself a game. He elbowed Andre Burakovsky and then jumped Martin Kaut:

Both Seeler and Foligno eventually earned themselves game misconducts.

Side note: A.J. Greer suited up for tonight’s game, but he refused to engage in rough stuff with the Wild. I don’t know that’s the way fro him to go — he’s not a skill player at the NHL level.

3. Colorado Needs to Work on the Power Play

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The Colorado Avalanche have had 17 chances with the man-advantage in the preseason, and they’ve failed to capitalize on a single one. They also didn’t record any power play goals in the Rookie Faceoff. (That makes them 0/35.)

I don’t have much more to say about that just yet. We certainly didn’t see anything resembling the Avs’ real power play in the Rookie Showcase. Nor did we see the power play unit in Preseason Games 1 and 3.

Preseason Game 2, though — that’s when Colorado iced a mostly NHL team. Said lineup included Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Nazem Kadri, and Andre Burakovsky. They skated out as PP1 four times that night along with Cale Makar. And… nada. In fact, they seemed to forget Burakovsky was out there about half the time.

I know you miss Mikko Rantanen, guys, but don’t turn a 5-on-4 into a 4-on-4.

That said, I’m sure we can expect to see an adjustment period since we lost our main power play quarterback, Tyson Barrie. I liked Makar on the point, but he doesn’t position himself or make moves like Barrie.

Personally, I think he does both better, but Landeskog and MacKinnon simply might not be used to that yet.

Anyway, the Colorado Avalanche complete the second half of their back-to-back, home and home series against the (hated) Minnesota Wild tomorrow night. It’s also their last home preseason game.