Aarif Deen
Utter shock and disappointment poured out of the Colorado Avalanche locker room after getting humiliated once again. The reasons why the Avalanche are losing to the Vegas Golden Knights look to be the same each night. They’re just finding new ways to get there.
With the season on the line on Tuesday, and a bruised and battered roster having less than 48 hours to recover from this loss, all signs are pointing to a crashing halt to what was an otherwise memorable season leading up to the Western Conference Final.
They say the fourth win is the hardest in a series. But what if Nathan MacKinnon doesn’t play? Or Valeri Nichushkin? What if Cale Makar still isn’t his usual self, and what if we find out afterward that Sam Malinski is also battling through an ailment in this series? Do they still have the pieces to give Vegas any kind of trouble?
1. I don’t understand how the Avalanche went from being the veteran club that has seen it all to suddenly getting rattled every time they give up a goal. In Game 1, Vegas scored the opening goal, and then it was 3-0 not long after that. In Game 2, the Avs led 1-0, but when the Golden Knights tied it, they added another in short order to take the game.
And then, of course, Sunday night was the worst of it. The Avs led 3-0 at the first intermission before giving up three goals in the second. They looked bad doing it. And even a full intermission wasn’t enough to get them back on track for a winner-take-all third period. Absolutely embarrassing.
2. I’m not a doctor, and I don’t pretend to be one. But Nathan MacKinnon’s body language after blocking that shot with his knee doesn’t inspire confidence that he’s going to be able to be himself for however much longer this series goes. If he even plays.
I applaud him for selling out to block a shot for his team. You want that 10 times out of 10 from your team. It’s just a shame that it was a direct hit. It was tough to see him try to fight through it.
3. If this is how it ends for the Avs (and it probably is, barring a miracle), then they need to go into the offseason with a plan to instill some toughness into Martin Necas. He is way too strong a player and human to fear the physicality as much as he does. This series has completely exposed that.
4. The fact that they haven’t been able to take one of these games is insanely disappointing. But it’s also a reality that the playoffs are about survival, and the Avs aren’t surviving. They’ve had injuries to four key defensemen in the postseason, along with forwards like Artturi Lehkonen, MacKinnon, and Nichushkin. You have to find a way to get through the postseason to win the Cup. They can’t seem to do that this year.
5. For all the great things Scott Wedgewood has done this year, the Avalanche lost three games by one goal (empty netter aside), and he let in at least one bad goal each time.
6. High-danger scoring chances in the third period: one. High-danger scoring chances in the third period of Game 2: zero.
They had a 1-0 lead heading into the final frame on Friday and were tied 3-3 after two periods on Sunday. They lost both in regulation.
7. For all the discourse the past week about carryover power plays disrupting a team’s rhythm, it sure feels like that didn’t matter for the Golden Knights. It took 19 seconds in the second period for them to score a beautiful power-play goal that had started in the first. And it began the comeback.
8. After a full season of never losing three in a row in regulation, the Avalanche are riding a three-game losing streak against Vegas. Not that it matters how you lose in the playoffs, but all three of them are, in fact, in regulation.
9. Gabe Landeskog played 24:04 in Game 3. He led the forward group in ice time because of MacKinnon’s injury. Artturi Lehkonen finished with just over 17 minutes, and you have to wonder if he’s also playing hurt. It really does feel like half the team is playing hurt, and it’s more severe than it was in past years.
10. If you had told me last week that the Avs would have more shorthanded goals than Vegas in the first three games, I would’ve bet they’d be the ones leading the series. To not even have one win is mind-boggling.