Colorado Avalanche: Everyone Can Learn from Bad Game 1

The Colorado Avalanche lost to the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of the second round. We can all learn some lessons from that game.

The Colorado Avalanche dropped Game 1 of the second round to the Dallas Stars, and that stinks. No, I don’t think any of us expected to sweep the Stars, but I don’t think many of us expected that stinker of a game.

Well, we can’t do anything about that game now. It’s played and over. The score is in the record books: 5-3 Dallas. Hey, at least the Stars didn’t get an empty net goal.

So, all of us from the fans to the coaches — and certainly the players themselves — have something to learn from this bad Game 1.

Coaches

The Avalanche have home ice advantage. With all the games being played in the Edmonton bubble, all that really means is that the home team gets last change. It’s a battle of the coaches in many ways.

Well, did the Avs get out-coached? Sure seems that way. A day after remarking on how badly life in the bubble sucked, Dallas coach Rick Bowness showed he’s nonetheless unwilling to leave it. He may not have gotten the matchups he wanted, but they all seemed to suit him just fine.

Indeed, he got what the Avs staff laments they didn’t get — scoring from the middle six. After the game, the coach complained about just that — he didn’t like the middle six. This marks about the fourth time he’s complained about them specifically. It would seem he can’t seem to solve his problem — and that’s on him, not them. As a teacher and former manager, I’ve found people can’t be expected to perform how you want if you’re not clear in what you want. The first failure might be on them, but all successive ones are on you.

"“We did some not smart things. Our brains were not turned on and we weren’t engaged.”"

Hey, as long as you’re also looking in the mirror with that comment, you might have a point.

Players

Oh, man, the players seemed to forget how defense works. It was not good. There were some missed assignments, some giveaways, some blunders — a veritable soupçon of every defensive breakdown possible.

While the blueline is primarily responsible for defense, it needs to go across the board. Unless the Avs want to play a run-and-gun style — of which they’re very capable — they simply can’t play that loosey-goosey on defense. You’d better score six or seven if you’re going to allow five.

Goal tending… well, I get one was a funny bounce that caught Philipp Grubauer by surprise. The other two he let in, though? I’m not so sure. He only made seven saves on 10 shots.

Pavel Francouz had to come in when Grubauer got injured on what looked like a normal save. He will be “unfit to play” with an “undisclosed injury” that we can all clearly see is related to his groin:

He will not practice Sunday. I daresay, judging by how he went down and was immobile for a couple minutes and ultimately couldn’t put any weight on his left leg, he’s done for a while.

But we’ve got Pavel Francouz. He looked pretty good in net, especially considering he had to come in cold. Yes, he let a couple in, but he still recorded a .900 save percentage. He’s our go-to starter now with Michael Hutchinson as backup.

That’s it, though. Colorado doesn’t have any more goalies in the bubble.

Fans

More from Mile High Sticking

The Colorado Avalanche were never going to go 16-0 to win the Stanley Cup. Obviously not — they dropped one to Arizona. But they were never going to go 16-1 either. And they’re not going to go 16-2.

They can’t drop three more to Dallas, obviously, but the series can go seven if needs be. Indeed, as we know, the Avalanche have met the Stars four other times in the playoffs. Interestingly, this is the first time they’ve met in the Conference Semi-Finals.

Interestingly, this is also the first time the Avalanche have lost Game 1. Twice they won Game 1 but lost the series. Twice they won Game 1 and won the series. So, we’re in uncharted territory all the way around.

The Avalanche have it in them to win this series. They are, ultimately, the better team. Yes, they lost Grubauer, and we’re not sure of the status of defenseman Erik Johnson. He blocked a shot and never made it back properly into the game. He remained on the bench for the entire third period, clearly just there for morale support.

However, Colorado’s the deepest it’s been in a long time, at least since the Glory Years. The whole point is depth. We’ve got Francouz in net. If Johnson is unable to play for a couple games, we’ve got the likes of Conor Timmins or Bowen Byram to take his place. Ok, we all know the coaching staff will go the boring route, Kevin Connauton.

Hey, Colorado lost Peter Forsberg to a rupture spleen and still won the Stanley Cup. We can do this year, too.

Colorado will practice today and meet Dallas again tomorrow for another “home” game. The Avalanche will need to bring their A game — from the coaching staff to the players. And we, fans, will send them our support from the far reaches of the globe. Go Avs Go.