SB Nation User Blog: David Driscoll-Carignan

Game 19: Avalanche at Blackhawks

David Driscoll-Carignan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:47:58 -0000


Colorado Avalanche	6:30 MT / 8:30 ET / 1:30 GMT	Chicago Blackhawks
12-4-2	November 11th, 2009	9-5-2
26 pts	United Center	20 pts
2nd in West	Chicago, IL	3rd in West

It's a light week for the Avalanche, with tonight's game being the weekday tilt. Hopefully, they can make it count. The Avs are coming off a sputtering loss to the Oilers on Sunday, a game in which they took roughly 270 penalties and gave up 67 power play goals. Those numbers may not be accurate, but it sure felt like a lot on this end. Maybe I should start keeping better notes...

I suppose you all read Craig Stancher's updates over at Ye Olde Official Website, but that won't stop me from cribbing them for my own personal use. Darcy Tucker is expected to return tonight and will likely skate on a line with (wait for it) Matt Duchene and Marek Svatos! Woohoo. Happy to have Tucker back, could have done without seeing this line reuinited though. If there's anyone who needs to be paired up right now with some skilled players, it's Matt Duchene. Heck, I wouldn't mind seeing him thrown on the left wing with Paul Stastny for a few games, just to give his game a boost. Milan Hejduk, who missed Sunday's game with a sore back, will probably play. If not, TJ Hensick skated in his place on the top line in practice Tuesday. [UPDATE: Not. Hejduk is out.]

Tom Preissing is back with the club after a two-game visit to Lake Erie. Joe Sacco has said he hasn't made up his mind yet as to whether it will be Preissing or Ryan Wilson. Personally, I think he has, but is trying to build suspense. Or something. Either way, Johnny Hot Pocket (aka Liles) did not make the trip to Chicago (if he's injured, who will model the new jerseys tomorrow?). Ruslan Salei practiced a bit, but he's still out.

The Blackhawks have some players returning from injury as well. Jonathon Toews has returned recently and Ben Eager was activated from IR on Monday. Here's their recent lines, courtesy of hockey centric. Get a good look at the Hawks tonight, as it's the last time we face them until the next-to-last game of the season.

It will be Craig Anderson for the Avalanche again. Cristobal Huet got the win on Monday, so figure him to get another shot under the Quenneville Goalie Rotation Carousel System (TM). Check Left Wing Lock during the day for updates. [Update: Huet is confirmed].

From the Good Thought But Kind Of Tacky Department, the Blackhawks will wear "historic" camoflauged jerseys during warmups. I will not be wearing anything similar in honor of Veterans Day (aka Armistace Day aka Rememberance Day), but do wish to express my most sincere gratitude to all of you who have served. As John Kelly would say, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Finally, Happy 37th Birthday to Steve Konowalchuk.

By the way, as I was typing this, Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius" came up randomly on my PC. Twice. Not really sure what my PC was trying to tell me. Despite being an absolute kick ass song, it's also curiously appropriate, as it's the song the Chicago Bulls used to play before games. I say "used to", but it's possible they still do; I haven't watched a basketball game in 36 years. Or so. Maybe it's less than that. Maybe I should start keeping better notes...

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Game Notes (Now with Tom Preissing goodness!)

Colorado			Chicago
2nd	26	Points	3rd	20
10th	3.00	GF/G	15th	2.88
3rd	2.28	GA/G	5th	2.31
16th	19.4	PP%	17th	18.8
9th	82.3	PK%	2nd	86.2
28th	25.5	S/G	4th	32.9
25th	32.8	SA/G	1st	22.4
30th	45	FO%	2nd	53.4
12th	12.9	PIM/G	8th	11.2
Stastny	18 pts	Top Scorer	Kane	16 pts

Today in Colorado History: November 11th, 2007. Paul Stastny records his 100th NHL point in his 99th NHL game.

Avalanche Tuesday

David Driscoll-Carignan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:28:40 -0000

Some quick bullet points to discuss this morning...

Tyler Arnason has left the Hartford Wolpack to play in Europe. Hartford suspended him. His reaction photo will no doubt be posted in the comments section.
Shane Giroux from Avs talk is going to be chatting for the CBC today. This is an amazing (and well-deserved) honor for Shane, and would be bullet point #1 if we weren't talking about Tyler Arnason. Make sure you stop by to ask him some difficult questions. Hey, make HIM come up with a nickname for Duchene!
The Avs should be unveiling their 3rd jerseys this week. Saturday's game is unofficially when they will debut. I imagine we might see them on Thursday or Friday.
Manny Legace was released from a PTO by the Chicago Wolves.
Blah Blah Blah Peter Forsberg Blah Blah Blah

That's about all the bullets I have in this thing. Enjoy the work day, Avalanchers.

Game 18 Recap: Oilers 5 - Avalanche 3

David Driscoll-Carignan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:37:12 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

2 days ago: Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, of Kazahkstan, right, makes a glove save of a shot off the stick of Colorado Avalanche rookie center Ryan O'Reilly in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Denver on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Browse more photos »

Final - 11.8.2009	1	2	3	Total
Edmonton Oilers	3	0	2	5
Colorado Avalanche	1	1	1	3

Complete Coverage >

This will be quick, as I've got a game of mini-golf scheduled soon. Or, if that falls through, it'll be some solo time on the driving range. Either way, better things to do.

This one's pretty easy anyway. You give up 4 PP goals in a game, you lose the game. I don't feel the PK was particularly bad, but a couple of bounces (like Stastny's nice stickwork to break up a cross-ice pass going right to the stick of a wide open Mike Comrie) is all it takes sometimes. If you take 8 minor penalties (I missed Adam Foote's misconduct penalty at the end of the game), you're going to be in trouble whether your goalie is Craig Anderson or Craig T Nelson. Also, Peter Budaj shaved his beard, so he gets some blame as well.

TJ Hensick had a decent game. In my opinion, he's gotten a bum steer this year getting bumped off the roster by guys like Chris Durno, Brian Willsie, Philippe Dupuis and David Koci (can anyone tell me why Koci has been dressed for almost every game?). I think Joe Sacco has made his point; Hensick needs to work harder. Now, lets give him an opportunity to show us.

I could talk about Duchene's miscues on two Edmonton goals or the pathetic 4 shots the Avs mustered in the 3rd period or the fact that the Avs are making a habit of playing terribly in the first 10 minutes of the games, but I'm chalking most of that up to just a bit of an off game. MHH member gl av fan summed it up rather succintly in her facebook status tonight: "Oh well. Can't win them all." Expect the Avs to be better on Wednesday.

Game 17 Live Thread: Oilers at Avalanche

David Driscoll-Carignan — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:18:31 -0000

Next Game

Edmonton Oilers
@ Colorado Avalanche

Sunday, Nov 8, 2009, 6:00 PM MST
Pepsi Center

Game 18 Preview: Oilers at Avalanche

posted by David Driscoll-Carignan 1 minute ago

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Game 18 Preview: Oilers at Avalanche

David Driscoll-Carignan — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:23:38 -0000


Edmonton Oilers	6:00 MT / 8:00 ET / 1:00 GMT	Colorado Avalanche
7-8-1	November 8th, 2009	12-3-2
15 pts	Pepsi Center	26 pts
t-11th in West	Denver, CO	t-1st in West

The Avs try to continue as the only NHL team undefeated at home this year as they host the Edmonton Oilers this evening. If you're the type of person to believe in omens, my iTunes just served up two straight classic AC DC songs as I was writing this preview. Clearly, that bodes well for our chances, right?

Actually, if you glance at the tale of the tape below, these teams are quite similar statistically with the obvious exception being penalty killing and goals agaisnt average. Once you get beyond those (admittedly key) statistics, they are more or less the same. Both teams are middle of the pack scoring-wise. They are 29th and 30th in the league in terms of shots taken and are both near the bottom in shots allowed, so something will have to give tonight. And they both absolutely dreadful in the faceoff circle. Figure tonight's game to be a close one, similar to their meeting on October 27th when the Avs won 3-0 (it was 1-0 until midway through the 3rd period).

The Avs will again be without the services of John-Michael Liles. He is day to day with a shoulder injury suffered in the Chicago game. We wondered out loud if the Avalanche would recall Tom Preissing from his conditioning assignment to replace Liles tonight, and our question was magically answered by Craig Stancher on the Avs website. Preissing will remain with Lake Erie (they play tonight) and will rejoin the Avs on Monday and Ryan Wilson will play in Lile's absence. In other injury news, Darcy Tucker and Ruslan Salei both practiced Saturday wearing non-contact jerseys.

The Oilers have some injuries as well. Shawn Horcroff, JF Jacques, Ladislav Smid and Sheldon Souray are all out and Ales Hemskey is listed as day-to-day. The hockeycentric line combos are here.

Craig Anderson is the confirmed starter for Colorado. Nikolai Khabibulin is the presumed starter for the Oilers.

Oilers vs Avalanche coverage

Copper and Blue Preview

Game Notes

Edmonton			Colorado
22nd	15	Points	1st	26
14th	2.81	GF/G	10th	3.00
21st	3.06	GA/G	1st	2.12
16th	19.7	PP%	14th	20.6
20th	78.7	PK%	2nd	86.1
29th	25.2	S/G	30th	25.1
27th	34.2	SA/G	25th	32.8
29th	47.2	FO%	30th	44.4
17th	14	PIM/G	11th	12.1
Penner	19 pts	Top Scorer	Stastny	16 pts

Game 17 Recap: Avalanche 4 - Blackhawks 3 (SO)

David Driscoll-Carignan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:12:53 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

4 days ago: Colorado Avalanche rookie center Ryan O'Reilly, left, shoots the puck for a goal past Chicago Blackhawks goalie Antti Niemi, of Finland, in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Denver on Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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Final - 11.6.2009	1	2	3	OT	SO	Total
Chicago Blackhawks	2	1	0	0	0	3
Colorado Avalanche	1	2	0	0	1	4

Complete Coverage >

We've got a thing that's called radar love
We’ve got a line in the sky, radar love

-Golden Earring, Radar Love

Well, that was fun. It wasn't the most picture-perfect hockey game, but sometimes those "off" games are the most entertaining. And the Avs won, which always helps. Tack on another great game by Craig Anderson, someone finally making Tomas Kopecky pay for running roughshod over our goalie, some highlight reel goals from Radar O'Reilly and David Jones and, of course, a drunken thedoctor in the game thread and you have all the makings of a fun filled evening.

It started...poorly. The Avs were a tad flat to start the game. By the 10 minute mark, the Avalanche had 1 shot, while the Blackhawks had two goals. But anyone who's watched the Avalanche this year (except jcarti01) knows that you can't give up on this team. The Avs are now 6-2-2 when giving up the first goal. Going down early like that only seems to do one thing: it wakes them up.

By the end of the first, the Avs had started to pick up steam (Joe Sacco had already changed up the lines before the first intermission) and at the 18:38 mark Ryan O'Reilly banged home a rebound of his own shot to cut the lead to 2-1.

About 6 minutes into the 2nd period, the Avs had the Blackhawks right where they wanted them: on the powerplay. The Avs were still struggling to get shots on net, but the Blackhawks PP was the perfect remedy. First, David Jones took advantage of having Dustin Byfgulien on the point (yay, Quenneville!). He turned what would have been an opportunity for a clear into a breakaway as he blew around "Big Buf" before floating a backhand past Antti Niemi (a save Niemi certainly should have made). But wait, there was more. With time ticking down on the same inept powerplay, Ryan O'Reilly found himself all alone on a breakaway. Niemi made the first shot, but Radar collected the rebound and calmly potted it to give the Avs a 3-2 lead. Officially, the PP ended a second before O'Reilly scored, but that puppy was, for all intents and purposes, a shorthanded goal.

We can't overstate the job this kid has done this year. After tonight's game, O'Reilly has 14 points. That's tied for 2nd on the Avs in scoring and tied for first among rookies (with James van Riemsdyk). More amazing to me, though, is that ALL of his points have come at even strength. Only two players in the league have more points at even strength than O'Reilly does - Alex Ovechkin and Anze Kopitar. That is most impressive. And that's just his offense - it doesn't even factor in that he's our best penalty killer, our best faceoff man (not that that's saying much) or that his +13 +/- is 3rd best in the league and #1 among forwards. And, unlike that stiff Duchene, he's got not one, but TWO cool nicknames? ORLY? Yes, really.

At any rate, the goals by Jones and O'Reilly were two of the whopping 3 shots the Avalanche mustered in the 2nd period (including a two minute powerplay). That meant that the Blackhawks - deflated after blowing a lead in just under two minutes - had a chance to gather their senses and get back into the game. They put some pressure on the Avs through the rest of the period. Craig Anderson made some brilliant saves, but ultimately Andrew Ladd tied it up towards the end of the 2nd.

The third period was wild. The Avalanche activated their 5 healthy defensemen (Johnny Liles reinjured his hot pocket in the 1st and left the game) at almost every opportunity. That led to a lot of scoring chances for the Avs...and a few for the Blackhawks as well. Both goalies played an excellent 3rd period, though, and, after regulation ended, each held their ground in OT as well.

That brought us to the shootout, which was almost a carbon copy of the 9-round dazzler in Chicago earlier. This time, it took 8 rounds. 16 shots and only 3 made it in. One from Patrick Kane, one from Marek Svatos (the new Wolski in the shootout) and, finally, the winner from Chris Stewart. It was a big win. Maybe not the most deserving, but we'll take the points.

Oh, and thank you Adam Foote for FINALLY making Tomas Kopecky pay for constantly running into Craig Anderson for the 2nd straight game. Foote took advantage of some swallowed whistles in a late-game flurry to put a whole bunch of hurt on Kopecky, driving him into the ice in the corner and then slamming him a couple of times in the back and then repeating the drubbing later on the same shift in front of the net. He could have easily gotten a penalty for it, but Kopecky certainly had it coming to him.

Lines

Hejduk - Stastny - Jones
McLeod - Duchene - Svatos
Wolski - O'Reilly - Stewart
Koci - Dupuis - Hendricks

As I mentioned above, these all changed before the end of the 1st period, although the McLeod, Duchene and Svatos line was reunited in the 3rd (oh, joy). Hejduk also moved back to the right side after starting the game on the left side (something that started midway through Wednesday's game).

Johnny Hot Pocket was injured in the game. Tom Preissing was sent to Lake Erie on Thursday for a conditioning assignment, so it stands to reason that he'd be available if Lile's injury will cause him to miss time. Ryan Wilson is around as well, of course.

Meanwhile, Chris Durno was sent back to Lake Erie as well to make room for Matt Hendricks.

Quick Hits

Say what you want to about Brett Clark, but that mofo blocked 12 shots in the game. Twelve!
O'Reilly led all players with 6 shots
The Avs have outscored their opponents 21-13 in the 2nd period this year.

Video Highlights

Next Up

The Avs try to continue as the only unbeaten team at home when they face off agains the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.

Game 17 Live Thread: Blackhawks at Avalanche

David Driscoll-Carignan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:05:43 -0000

Next Game

Chicago Blackhawks
@ Colorado Avalanche

Friday, Nov 6, 2009, 7:00 PM MST
Pepsi Center

Game 17 Preview: Blackhawks at Avalanche

posted by David Driscoll-Carignan about 11 hours ago

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Antti Niemi

#31 / Goalie / Chicago Blackhawks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 210

Born: Aug 29, 1983

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Antti Niemi	4	232	3	1			8	2.07	88	80	.909	1

Craig Anderson

#41 / Goalie / Colorado Avalanche

Height: 6-2

Weight: 180

Born: May 21, 1981

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Craig Anderson	15	911	10	3			32	2.11	497	465	.936	2

Game 17 Preview: Blackhawks at Avalanche

David Driscoll-Carignan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:29:31 -0000


Chicago Blackhawks	7:05 MT / 9:05 ET	Colorado Avalanche
8-5-1	November 6th, 2009	11-3-2
17 pts	Pepsi Center	24 pts
9th in West	Denver, CO	t-1st in West

I have only one hope for tonight: that the Avalanche effort this evening is nowhere near as half-assed as this preview is going to be. Because of work committments, I have to write these previews up the night before and, well, I completely forgot. And here I thought I was going to make it to bed early one night.

Here goes...

Our beloved Avalanche got back on track on Wednesday with a solid outing against the Phoenix Coyotes. There are some rumblings, however, that the Avs are letting opponents take too many liberties with our skilled players. Matt Duchene sat out practice yesterday, suffering a bit from the effects of that cheap shot by Phoenix's Martin Hanzal in front of the Avalanche bench. Someone's got to stop this crap before it gets out of hand. Duchene, by the way, is expected to play tonight. Figure on Craig Anderson in net.

Last night, the Blackhawks lost to those same Coyotes in Phoenix. Cristobal Huet started for Chicago; no word yet on whether it will be him or Antti Niemi tonight (I'll guess the latter). The Blackhawks could get a nice boost if injured forward Jonathan Towes returns to the lineup tonight. There was talk he might play against Phoenix, but that didn't happen.

For the handful of fans attending the game tonight, Shjon Podein will be celebrated beforehand as this is the 3rd Alumni game. Congratulations, Shjon!

Blackhawks vs Avalanche coverage

Second City Hockey

MHH Featured on Fanhouse Podcast

David Driscoll-Carignan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:53:22 -0000

MHH Featured on Fanhouse Podcast

They're totally scraping the bottom of the barrel on this one. Interview isn't too long, but probably not too revealing for any regular readers here. Spoiler: I never use the words "wheel" or "bus"

Game 16 Recap: Avalanche 4 - Coyotes 1

David Driscoll-Carignan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:39:57 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

6 days ago: Colorado Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj (31), of Slovakia, deflects a shot redirected by Phoenix Coyotes center Matthew Lombardi (15) in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Denver on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Browse more photos »

Final - 11.4.2009	1	2	3	Total
Phoenix Coyotes	0	0	1	1
Colorado Avalanche	1	0	3	4

Complete Coverage >

I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again
I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again

-Aerosmith, Back in the Saddle

While it wasn't quite as lopsided as the final score indicated, the Avalanche rebounded from a two-game slump with a solid win over the Phoenix Coyotes tonight in Denver. The Avalanche started out strong, creating a powerplay opportunity on the opening shift and converting on that just 57 seconds into the game when Milan Hejduk deftly deflected a Kyle Quincey pass past Ilya Bryzgalov. (Alliteration bonus: 25 points).

That was all the scoring for a while, as there was no more scoring in the first or second periods. The Avalanche had a lot of the early momentum, but the Coyotes slowly crawled back into the game and shots and scoring chances were pretty much even by the time we hit the 2nd intermission.

The 3rd period got a little wild. First, beleaguered winger Marek Svatos took advantage of a Bryzgalov brain freeze to swoop in and punch the puck home at the 6:43 mark. It was a beauty of a play by Svatos and seemed to supercharge his game the rest of the way. Phoenix finally got on the board at the 9:52 mark when Ed Jovanovski's point shot deflected past Peter Budaj with Chris Stewart in the box for high sticking. It was the first PP goal given up by the Avs' tremendous PK in 25 chances. It was a rather untimely moment for that streak to end, though, as it cut the lead to 2-1.

The final 10 minutes of the 3rd was nerve wracking. The Avalanche had played smothering defense all night, but everything suddenly fell apart in the final half of the period. Numerous turnovers were committed (including a doozy by Kyle Cumiskey) and it seemed the only time the Avalanche could clear the zone was by icing the puck. I'm not sure what happened there, because the first 50 minutes of the game was perhaps their best game defensively of the season. Thankfully, Budaj made some good saves (and the Coyotes missed the net a couple of times) and the lead held up until David Jones could ice it with an empty net goal. For kicks, Milan Hejduk scored on a breakaway with 24 seconds left to pour a little salt into the Coyote's wounds.

Despite the breakdowns in the 3rd, it was a solid game for the Avs. They had good - not great - pressure on the Coyotes, they played physical, they mostly played a great game defensively and, finally, Budaj had a solid first game between the pipes. When the Avs forwards are getting pressure, the team is going to have a chance to win. They didn't score a lot, but they kept the Coyotes on their heels, limiting pressure in the other direction. When the Coyotes did get the puck into our end, the D was there to kick it back up to our forwards.That pressure wasn't there the last couple of games, and we've seen the results. A much, much better effort tonight.

Lines

Wolski - Stastny - Hejduk
McLeod - Duchene - Svatos
Stewart - O'Reilly - Jones
Koci - Hensick - Dupuis

Of course, the best line all night was the one I joked about yesterday: Duchene, McLeod and Svatos. Figures. All three had an excellent game, although I still don't feel they played tremendously well as a unit. It seemed like often it was two guys working well together and the third was off grabbing popcorn or something. Perhaps I'm being to critical?

Interestingly, David Jones played exclusively on the right side tonight, and it seemed like that was a specific plan. Chris Stewart moved over to the LW to facilitate this in the first. That's not that abnormal. What was really odd, though, was that in the 3rd period Jones played with Stastny and Hejduk...and Hejduk moved to the left wing. Interesting.

Quick Hits

Dismal, dismal attendance tonight. Just 11,012 officially. That's the lowest total since at least the sellout streak started, and I suspect it's the lowest since the team moved to Denver.
The Avs blocked 25 shots. 5 each for Clark, Cumiskey and Foote.
The worst faceoff team in the league had another terrible game in the circle, winning just 38% of the draws.
With 3 points, Paul Stastny now leads the team in scoring all by his lonesome. He was previously tied with Wojtek Wolski with 13 points/

Video Highlights

Next Up

The Avalanche host the Blackhawks on Friday