I don’t know how the Avs lost this game. I honestly am at a loss for words right now. There were breakaways missed, near empty nets missed, posts hit, I can’t believe the Avs only scored one goal.
Duchene had a very good game I thought. He attacked in Edmonton’s zone, and crashed the net well with and without the puck. That was also a very nice pass he made to O’reilly on the Avs only goal. I think Duchene is out of his funk, and if he continues to play like he did tonight, the goals will come in bunches, and soon. No coincidence that this type of game came from him after being out on the ice with better players too.
Speaking of frustration, Ryan O’reilly had not scored yet this year, and early in the game, I think it was starting to get to him. I saw some anger early in the game from him, but then he gets on the score sheet when finally someone could put the puck in an empty net.
Defensively, I thought we played good. The first goal was a little soft, surely the defense could have been in a little better position, but it was on the penalty kill, and Varlamov made a decently aggressive play, it was overall a nice play by Cam Barker. You can watch it HERE (The first goal of the game.)
The Oilers second goal, was just a nice tip in. Nothing that can be stopped.
The third goal from the Oilers sucked all the life out of me…The Avs had just scored on the power play and were back in the game, and then a fluke goal where puck had to bounce just so, two or three times to wind up in a position where Smith could score.
16 of 19 saves from Varlamov is obviously not the kind of statistic any Avs fan, or Varlamov himself wants, but this is a case where stats don’t tell the whole story, and Varly played better than his .842 save percentage.
(Porter should be playing more)
Devan Dubnyk had a very good game, but the Avs made him look like the second coming of Tim Tebow.
Landeskog missed a breakaway in the first, Kevin Porter (who is so underrated, and should be a full time player for the Avs) also missed a breakaway after a miss communication by the Oilers defense. There were two empty nets missed by the Avs in the first, one was Jones I think, but I’m not positive. The other I’m not sure about, but that does not excuse the fact that I could have scored them.
There was not a play that sticks out in my mind that was awful by anyone, and honestly I thought his was the Avs best game yet, which is why it is so surprising that they not only didn’t win, but that it was not that close. They now sit at a VERY pedestrian 6-4-0, especially considering they won five in a row earlier in the year. And have a total of two goals in three games at Pepsi Center. Please make a trade for some offense. Please..
The Avs next game is Sunday against the Kings, at Pepsi Center, and it starts at 6 p.m. Mountain.
Avalanche Hockey Blog 