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Good & Bad: Miles Wood’s Reckless Penalties Sends Avalanche Spiraling in 3-0 Defeat

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Goals are suddenly hard to come by.

After gaining all the positive vibes from the two straight shutout wins at home, the Avalanche went on the road and laid an egg against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Colorado was shutout 3-0 despite Quinn Hughes being out with an injury. Suddenly, the Avs have just three goals in their last eight periods of play.



Colorado stormed out of the gate early and seemed like they had their legs. But as the game went on, and as the physicality was ramped up by the Canucks, the Avalanche slowly withered away and couldn’t create the same type of scoring chances in the second half of the game. In the first period, Cale Makar hit the post twice and Martin Necas also struck iron on his best opportunity. The Avs’ top line was skating circles around Vancouver but couldn’t beat goalie Thatcher Demko.

Two power plays weren’t enough to get them on the board in that period either. In fact, the Avs’ only two PP opportunities came in the first. They took all the minor penalties the rest of the way outside of a couple of offsetting calls. But we’ll get into that later.

Vancouver had a power play of its own that carried into the second. Despite not scoring on it, the Canucks kept hold of the momentum and eventually, a nice heads-up play from Jake DeBrusk put them ahead 1-0. DeBrusk caught a puck out of mid-air, put it on the ice, and quickly snapped it past Mackenzie Blackwood at 4:26.

Colorado was able to regain momentum and had easily its best shift of the game while down 1-0. A trio of opportunities from the top line were all stopped, highlighted by an absolute robbery against Artturi Lehkonen by Demko. Last year’s Vezina runner-up has had a tough year since getting back from an injury. But in his two games against the Avalanche, he’s stopped 54-of-55 shots and nearly had two shutouts.

The Canucks eventually added to their lead because of a horrendous set of penalties in the third, which allowed them to go up 2-0 before an empty-netter sealed the win. Along the way, the Avalanche went from trying to claw back into the game to taking unnecessary penalties, trying to ramp up the physicality after the whistle in all the wrong ways, and letting a bigger team get under their skin.

Bad: Miles Wood Can’t Stop Taking Dumb Penalties

An absolutely unnecessary penalty by Miles Wood in the third period. And it cost his team in a big way. Not that one, the first one.

Well, the second set of penalties was also bad. It was all really bad.

Wood had four minor penalties in the third period — split into two sets of two. He also had a 10-minute misconduct with the second set and a fighting major in the second period. Tough night.

At the seven-minute mark of the third period, Wood stepped in and cross-checked 20-year-old defenseman Elias Pettersson and took a penalty on a play where he was trying to get teammate Logan O’Connor’s back. The only problem is, O’Connor didn’t need it. And instead of shifting the momentum towards his team, Wood got called for literally breaking his stick on the young rookie before the official added on matching minors for both.

The younger Pettersson was a problem all night for O’Connor, throwing his body around to catch the veteran at least twice.

On that penalty, the Canucks scored to make it 2-0 and the Avs basically couldn’t get much going the rest of the way.

But that wasn’t all.

At the 12:30 mark, Wood was called for hooking on a play where he was understandably trying to stop a clean break for the Canucks. But after the whistle, while skating to the bench, Wood speared Linus Karlsson as he was skating by and chaos ensued. The result was two more minors and a 10-minute misconduct, effectively ending his night. Tyler Myers and Ross Colton were also given offsetting minors behind the play but Wood’s four minutes ended up being the difference. Down 2-0 with 7:30 remaining, the Avalanche were suddenly tasked with killing off a four-minute penalty.

The part that makes this all the more infuriating for the Avs is that Wood is coming off a game against Philadelphia where he took an unnecessary penalty in the third period of a game they were leading 2-0. I can tell you for certain, the Avalanche’s front office and coaching staff were extremely frustrated with Wood after the Flyers game.

This wasn’t the way to regain some goodwill.

Good: Kudos to Thatcher Demko

Demko entered the game 4-6-3 with a terrible .873 save percentage. It really hasn’t been his year.

But he was excellent, again, against the Avalanche. Given all that’s gone on with Vancouver, between the J.T. Miller trade, the injury to Quinn Hughes, and the undeniably inconsistent on-ice product, Demko should be applauded for doing what he did for the Canucks.

Colorado wasn’t a threat for 60 minutes. That’s part of the reason why the Avs are so frustrating to watch. But in those spurts of the game where they had control, they were really peppering the goalie.

He made 25 saves for his first shutout of the season.

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Ken

Like I said, we can beat the bottom feeders, and an occasional win vs top teams. What we cannot do is win consistently against even the mediocre teams. Val is probably this teams only hope at being truly good.

Chris Duncan

I agree…but if THAT is the only hope and it’s still the case post deadline, someone needs to be fired.

EnzoSin

Bingo. If that much faith is placed in one player being the difference. It is not a good thing.

Chris Duncan

Especially if it’s *THAT* player.

Chris Duncan

Needed a goal, been a big problem when they’re not facing back up goal tenders. Maybe a few pass first forwards will help.

Chris Duncan

Wood can’t be on the team past the deadline. That’s unacceptable, I like guys that stand up for their teammates…but like…time and place bro, time and place. This roster really looks like a first round exit and I don’t even think the top line going god mode can carry it like they did in years past.

Put out some fires on Thursday.

Jeremy

They are not anywhere close to a cup caliber roster. Awful lot of problems & surgery to the roster needed. And it’s not realistic to expect that to come via the deadline. The roster decisions & moves made in the last 3 years has been death by a thousand cuts. And this is not a slight against Necas who is a terrific talent. But to everyone who thought you could just swap out a guy who averages between 40 – 50 goals for a guy who is closer to a 20 – 25 goal guy & it not impact them… Read more »

NecasDrury

Rantanen – 5 last games :
2 points : 1 assist, 1 goal
= > a rate of 16 goals per season

Boom Boom Beck

So the Lanche can get him back for a fifth-round draft pick?

Jeremy

That’s quite the large sample size there. It’s not a knock against Necas as a player, or a direct comparison. I’m just saying when a team loses it best most productive goal scorer. It’s going to hurt. Especially when the guy who replaced him isn’t a natural goal scorer. So “NecasDrury” before you get your panties in a bunch. It’s pretty simple math. One guy is a 40 – 50 goal guy. The other guy has topped 25 once in a full season. So when you have a team like the Avs that lacks finishers. Explain to me how that… Read more »

EnzoSin

Honestly, Malinski, Middleton, Kylington, and De Haan all need to be off this roster. The money between those four could be used to aquire a decent priced D man that can actually hit, block shots, be a presence in front of the net etc. The team could maybe get away with keeping one of them for the 7th D man and/or injury call up but that’s about it. How many fancy puck moving D does this team need? Thankfully De Haan and Kylington i know are on one year deals so they aren’t likely to be back anyhow, but the… Read more »

Glendon Gulliver

Every couple of games, the Avs remind us that this current team is extremely inconsistent and a team that relies on its top line and top defenseman to carry the offensive load. We must ignore the occasional high scoring game, just as must ignore the occasional score by the bottom 6. That is not this team, at this moment. We have to live in the present. We cannot continue to talk about the Rantanen trade or Landeskog being the player he once was or even a player again. We need to concentrate on the team as it is and what… Read more »

ricoflashback

Not good enough. Plain and simple. There are seven to eight players currently playing for the Avs that can’t cut it. Mittelstadt – Geez, I thought this was a good acquisition. He appears to weak and perhaps got most of his points when Buffalo was out of the game. Parssinnen & Kelly – nice effort but borderline NHL players that would not make the roster of the top five NHL teams. Wood – High energy but an absolute buffoon with his boneheaded penalties. Chronic problem. Will anybody take him even if he Avs absorb some salary? Malinski – Weak and… Read more »

Last edited 6 days ago by ricoflashback
Karl Keen

Good break down Rico. I though Malinksi was particularly terrible last night. In the first five minutes of the third period he must have turned the puck over at least 4 times. Watching him and Manson take turns turning over the puck was cringe-worthy. As for Wood, just an absolutely terrible signing by CMac. I wonder how much it would cost the Avs to just buy him out in offseason if they can’t trade him at deadline. I would just trade him for a flier prospect at this point. He is going to make 0 difference whether the Avs get… Read more »

ricoflashback

Absolutely right. It’s not about “passengers.” It’s that the passengers can’t play. I thought that the Avs would win this game with the Canucks trade and Hughes out. A real downer. They were outmuscled, pushed around, manhandled, beaten to the puck and falling on the ice all night long. Playing catch with the goalie again (middle of the chest shots) and they can’t get anything through from the point. Fumbling, bumbling and stumbling with the puck. Can this team make three passes in a row without giving the puck away? Perhaps some cone drills? Nuke will help but too many… Read more »

Last edited 6 days ago by ricoflashback
Joseph Crotty

Credit to VAN and Demko who was both spectacular and lucky. The Debrusk goal enabled VAN to move to a soft trap which paid dividends on HDF for them in the second which COL had trouble adapting to. COL’s effort and process were solid, but the results were lacking. On to the next.

Boom Boom Beck

No Mikko, no Cup.

NecasDrury

We will see if Carolina wins the Cup with Mikko.

Karl Keen

I am one, at least right now, but may regret thinking in the future, that believes that trading Mikko will pay dividends in total team building over the next two years, but isn’t it irrelevant whether or not Carolina wins the cup with him or not? All that matters to us is whether CO wins the cup. Earlier above, you cited Mikko’s statistics with Carolina to try and rebut Jeremy (I don’t blame you –just kidding Jeremy), but his statistics again in Carolina are irrelevant because we do know that his stats would be much better with the Avs. With… Read more »

Jeremy

All good man. I’m not trying to advocate that the Avs would be a cup caliber team with him . It’s still a poorly constructed roster. With way too many holes to fill in season. My main point was this team as currently constructed needed his goal production because he was the only guy that you look to consistently put the puck in the net. Necas is a more well rounded player than I initial gave him credit for. But he’s not a consistent goal producer. He has roughly 7 goals I think in his almost last 40 games played.… Read more »

Boom Boom Beck

If you haven’t noticed, the Canes don’t have Makar . . .

dk

I think it’s time to start talking about Bednar’s employment future with this club… And perhaps the entire coaching staff’s.

Now, before you all start flaming and downvoting… I know you can’t blame a coach for roster deficiencies, but the stats show that a coaching change can be a difference. This guy lays it pretty thoroughly:

Jeremy

If the Avs get bounced in rd 1 or somehow were to miss the playoffs all together. I’d be open to a new voice. Do I think he’s a bad coach, absolutely not. But I also don’t think he’s a hockey savant. And I’m over his knee jerk reaction to any adversity or if the team isn’t humming, to just play the top line & D pair. 25 plus & 30 plus respectively. That’s essentially his only coaching adjustment he ever makes.

dk

Well, if the POs were to start right now, the Avs would face the Oilers, and they’d get walked. A change needs to happen is all I’m saying. Bednar’s been given a set of tools that he doesn’t seem to be using very effectively…

Jeremy

Hockey coaches have a shelf life. And he’s definitely gone well beyond the typical one. I’m somewhat indifferent to him at the moment. I think the much larger issue is the way the roster has been constructed in the post cup years. I honestly don’t think it would make too much of a difference going forward if the roster was tweaked in the positive direction. Fixing the bottom 6. Finding a legitimate 2C. Adding to the D core, etc. Whether he was the coach or not. I think any number of experienced veteran coaches could come in & replicate what… Read more »

Buhlahkay

This is the fourth game in a row that the Mittlestadt line has played less minutes than the Wood-Drury-Colton and/or Kivi-Kelly-LOC line. Aside from moving Mittsy, which likely needs to happen, how long does Bednar need to run the same lines if they aren’t working? Shift Necas to the second line, bump Dury up, shift Colton to center, like, do something! It seems like Bednar’s only response to adversity has ever been to overplay the top line. Second line isn’t working? -Double shift the top line. A team is shutting down the Avs transition game? -Double shift the top line.… Read more »

Trump24

Does coach tell the players to shoot? Why does someone make a pass instead of shot from the top of the slot? Decisions and mainly bad ones have ruined this year from office to bench to ice falls on everyone

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