Avalanche Game 40 Plus/Minus: Manson Battles, Goaltending Fails

As with every game, you take the good with the bad, so time to take a look at the pluses and the minuses in the game against the Florida Panthers for the Colorado Avalanche.

– Ivan Prosvetov

It’s tough coming into a game when you haven’t played in 20 days, and yes, the Avalanche did not have a good start, but let’s be real here. At some point, you need a save from your goaltender. We’ve been saying it about Alexandar Georgiev, and it needs to be said about Prosvetov here.

It’s the NHL. You are going to give up some scoring chances. There was blown coverage on the first goal against (I’ll get to that later), and on the breakaway goal, none of the three forwards stayed high to help out Toews and Makar, which led to even more confusion. But the second goal, although a tip, just kind of trickled through him. Three goals on four shots is rough, and the fans gave him the bronx cheer not once, but twice. Yikes.

Bednar gave him a chance to stay in the game, and after the Avalanche tied things up, they had all the momentum…until a weak wrister from the point beat him.

“I didn’t like some of the first four goals. Certainly didn’t like the fourth one.”

Not exactly an endorsement from coach. Is it time for Justus Annunen to get a look? About that…

– Goaltending All Around

It seems like the NHL is just full of bad goaltenders this year, and Colorado is one of those teams that can’t find consistent play in net. Alexandar Georgiev came in, and got into the game right away by diving to poke a puck away, but almost looked like he hurt himself after taking a skate to the head. He played fine until that sixth goal, which I didn’t love.

Then you go to the AHL, and see Justus Annunen gave up five goals on 38 shots. I don’t know how much of that can be put on Annunen, because the Colorado Eagles seem pretty bad this year. They didn’t score a single goal this weekend, and their lineup is filled with AHL journeymen.

Annunen currently sits with a .906 save percentage in the AHL and he missed a month due to injury. Not great, not bad, but I figured we would have seen him in the NHL by now, given his strong camp. I think it’s just a matter of time before he gets a look, given what’s happening at the NHL level.

+ The Manimal

Josh Manson is playing like a monster right now. When they signed him to the extension last summer, I imagine this was the dream, and they’re getting it. He’s not just playing physical. He’s playing nasty on the blueline. Cross-checks to players backs, big hits along the boards, and when he throws a hit, he makes sure he finishes it. I think he’s gotten away with some cross-checks, but if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.

On top of all of that, he’s chipping in offensively. That’s now four goals in the last three weeks. Great run for him.

– Ross Colton

I don’t think Colton has looked quite the same since coming back from his injury. He did make a nice play on the zone entry prior to Manson’s goal, but I didn’t love his game overall. At center, it seems like he’s still not quite trusting his instincts in the defensive zone. He got mixed up for just a split-second on the opening goal, thinking he should go cover behind the net, and that caused him to be late covering Carter Verhaeghe. You could tell he recognized the mistake immediately, but just shows me that he’s still figuring things out a bit.

I think one of the benefits of acquiring another center, ideally a top six center, would be having more flexibility to move Colton to the wing if you want. The Avalanche don’t have the center depth to do that right now, but it’s just something that has crossed my mind.

+ Jonathan Drouin

Not his best game, but he keeps rolling offensively, and the effort on the breakaway goal was fantastic. Also, the quick hands. I mentioned that the wrist looks healthier than it has in years the other day, and you could see it on the goal.

– Cale Makar Defensively

Like I mentioned earlier, Toews and Makar didn’t get any help from the forwards on the Reinhart breakaway goal. The F3 didn’t stay back, and it left them outnumbered. That doesn’t mean it was played great, though. Makar attacked the passer, leaving Reinhart behind him. Makar’s defensive game has left a little to be desired this season, so there’s definitely room for improvement in the second half.

– MacDermid Takes Up Space

4:29 of ice-time, and nothing happened with him on the ice. Literally nothing, except the penalty he took late. Zero shot attempts for the Avalanche, and zero shot attempts for the Panthers.

Can we stop with the idea that he’s deterring the opposing team from going after Avalanche players? Do you think Matthew Tkachuk thought twice about punching Sam Girard repeatedly for 10+ seconds because MacDermid was sitting on the bench? Of course he didn’t. It doesn’t deter anyone, and they don’t trust him to play meaningful minutes. Ben Meyers was sent down after the game, so barring a return of someone on Monday, MacDermid is likely to play again. Against a good team like the Bruins, I can’t imagine he’ll play much.

– No Miles Wood

He was ill prior to the Stars game and played great, but it must have gotten worse. They really could have used him against the Panthers. That was a chaotic game, and he thrives in chaos.

– Overall Team Defense

It just has to be better. This team isn’t exactly giving up a ton of high-danger chances, and it sure does seem like every one of them is ending up in the back of their net, but it’s still a little too loose defensively. That’s likely to be a focus in the second half from the players and the staff. Still plenty of season left.

+ No Lead Is Safe

It is not great that the Avalanche keep having to come from behind to get back into games. It takes a lot of energy to come back in a game, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun knowing that even when this team gives up three goals in the first 10 minutes, the game isn’t over. This team can score goals, and that makes every game interesting.