Takeaways: Avalanche “Take One To The Chin” (+)

The Avalanche came into the game winning four of their last five games. Winnipeg has recently been heating up and was ahead of the Avalanche in the standings by two points. So we all knew this was going to be a hard-fought game.
Or so we thought.

Jean-Luc Foudy was making his NHL debut and was looking good on his first shift, other than running into a brick wall. His second shift is where it all went downhill for the whole team. Foudy tripped Nate Schmidt and was sent to the box. Winnipeg converted on the power play and they did not slow down after that. Here are my takeaways as the Avalanche “took one to the chin,” as Mark Rycroft best put it tonight.

First Period

• Jean-Luc Foudy‘s first shift in the NHL was a good shift. He did keep his head down as he received a pass and turned to run into a brick wall. Welcome to the NHL kid.
• On the penalty kill, the skaters up high need to be a little more aggressive. The Avalanche gave the Jets a little too much room to make a shot or pass on the power play.
• Samuel Girard and Josh Manson were the best defensemen of the period. Girard was doing a great job at keeping the puck in at the point while Manson was the most physical with four hits.

Second Period

• Failure to clear the puck in the defensive zone was killing the Avalanche as it allowed two goals in under five minutes by the Jets (one overturned).
• The Avalanche had some good movement on the power play, but just could not convert.
• The offense is not getting in low for secondary chances. No one is following up the shots for rebounds to create more scoring chances.
• To this point in the game the Avalanche are 30 percent in faceoffs. They are fighting for puck possession when they should not have to.
• Girard, along with most others, had a really bad period.

Third Period

• The Avalanche passes were too into their feet or off target in general. They need to keep their heads up when passing the puck.
• The fourth line has been playing well the whole game. They have been fast and physical throughout the game.
• Newhook had the best scoring chance as he charged the net with a pass from Manson.

I get that the third line had two new players on it, one being a rookie. And I get that the fourth line had all Eagles on it, but they team looked like they did not play as one tonight. The Avalanche will move onto Buffalo on Thursday night to meet former Avalanche Tyson Jost and, hopefully, get over this dismal showing.