Gabe Landeskog Is The Colorado Avalanche | Avalanche Review Game 17

Gabe Landeskog Is The Colorado Avalanche | Avalanche Review Game 17

The ABS five on play is starting to get absurdly good. ABS win over the Anaheim Ducks 4 to one. On the surface of this game, it feels like a pretty routine 4-1 win for the Colorado Avalanche. They never trailed in it. They were definitively the better team, at least at 5v5. They even managed to pick up a power play goal, an easy recipe for success. But is this actually routine? Are the ABS actually good enough to call this a routine game? The ABS put 36 shots on goal in this game. Incidentally, Anaheim also put 36 shots on goal in this game. Anaheim is one of the highest flying offenses in the NHL, and they’re the second best team in the West, and Colorado put them away, giving up just one goal at four on four. By the way, wasn’t even at five on five, and made this look easy. For a game that felt routine at very least to me, when you dig into it, it’s not at all. 36 shots on goal is not a normal thing for a hockey team to be doing, or at least it’s not normal for anyone but the Colorado Avalanche. This was the eighth game this season that the ABS had at least 36 shots on goal. So, there is close to a 50% chance on any given night the ABS are going to get this many shots or more. That is ridiculous numbers of offense. Colorado has the leading goal scorer and leading point getter in the NHL, and it’s the same guy. They also have the leading defenseman in both of those categories. And honestly, those two did something special tonight and made it look easy. McKinnon felt like he was coasting half the game and comes away with a three-point night. And Macar, while he only picked up one assist, may have been the most dangerous player all night long. For me, to come away from this game thinking it felt pretty routine, just shows how ridiculously high the standard is for Colorado. And again, Anaheim was the second best team in the West when this game was played, which are still the second best right now. It’s been like two hours. The have consistently bopped teams on winning streaks. New Jersey, Tampa Bay, now Anaheim. I think there might be a couple more in there, but I’m not going to go back and look. They’re just a team that beats really good teams on the regular. And we couldn’t say that earlier in the season. They had their overtime losses to Dallas and Carolina, but it certainly seems like the ABS have found that extra gear and are just dunking on everybody. A new fangled thing that I’m really enjoying this year is the ABS scoring early. I mean, really early. This one comes even before the 30 secondond mark. Puck in deep in the Anaheim zone and the ABS top line goes to work. Nathan McKinnon challenging. You’re going to at least see Artur Luckan come back around and challenge again. This isn’t a crazy aggressive for check, but it just forces Anaheim to make plays with the puck. And when they mess that up, the Abs are able to keep it in the zone. And this is Kale Macar now streaking in and Anaheim’s in trouble. You already know Anaheim’s in trouble. The initial shot is good, but it bounces to the corner. Doesn’t quite click. Macar makes a decision to try and go back to Linen for a second time that somehow gets all the way through. McKinnon’s able to find this puck. It’s not the cleanest play in the world from McKinnon, but he’s good enough and the Ducks are soft enough defensively that he’s able to recover this. And the Ducks just full send out and away from their own slot, which leaves our Lechin entirely uncovered. So when Nathan McKinnon gets this puck, yeah, he’s a pretty good player. He’s going to get him that puck and Lucky finishes. Nathan McKinnon, Kale Mar, Marty Nas, these guys you expect to be pointame players. They’re your best players and they need to be that. Arturi Lechen as the third banana on the first line is now also a point per game player. And I know he’s on the first line and needs to produce, but expectations for Lucky are probably more of a 60-ish point guy if he has a fully healthy season as he does all the dirty work for McKinnon and Nas on that top line. We talk about how unstoppable a guy like McKinnon is, but when you start getting Artur Lechin involved into that process and he’s finishing consistently on you, yeah, I don’t really know what you do. You just lose to the AS. First half of this first period was maybe some of the best hockey the ABS have played this season from a skill perspective. They were moving the puck unbelievably well. Their feet were moving great, fast, rapid, whatever you want to call it, getting up the ice, challenging Anaheim. Anaheim’s defense is admittedly a little weak. They’re a young team that hasn’t quite figured out that side of the ice yet, but the ABS were just running all over them for that early portion. Lucas Doall is the only reason this game didn’t get out of hand and the ABS didn’t blow out this team. So, credit to him for keeping this somewhat of a hockey game. And we’ve seen Wedgewood do that for the ABS a lot. Don’t give up too many goals and give your team a chance to win and keep themselves in the game. And the ABS have taken advantage of that many times this year already. Doesn’t feel as good when you see it go the other way as the Ducks are able to equalize the score before the end of the first period. It’s a four-on- situation. Anaheim gains the blue line and honestly everything here is fine. You have Taves taking the man down the middle. You have Burns stepping up for the puck carrier and you have Nichushkin skating with the back door man to stop any nonsense. That leaves Brock Nelson as the F1. His job is going to be covering the point and getting out up high quickly. So, as this play develops, all of this is fine. The puck gets sent in behind. And here’s where you start to see the trouble. Taves is going to carry his man up and around the boards. So, it becomes Nushkin’s job to get in here on Jacob Trouba and cover him. Burns still has the guy who was the initial puck carrier, but is now off the puck. And we’ll see as this develops and Nushkin comes in behind the net. Burns instead of sticking with his man and Leo Carlson opts to come and try and help Nachushkin since he’s behind the play and you don’t want anything crazy happening. That decision is fine, but if Burns is going to play it this way, a pass in this area cannot get through. Leo Carlson is going right to the front of the net. Everyone knows it and that’s fine. Burns is again trying to play this by getting to the player with the puck and in the passing lane. If he does it correctly, Leo Carlson should never be a threat. But when he does it incorrectly, the puck is going to end up on Leo Carlson’s stick. Now, I know in a perfect world, Brock Nelson jumps in and helps out on Leo Carlson here, but again, Nelson’s job is to be able to get out to the point quickly. And when a puck is coming in and behind the net, it’s a pretty common outcome for that puck to get rimmed up the boards to that man. So, this is not Nelson’s fault. Even if he saw a perfect world and he makes the play, that would have been extra activities, bonus points for him. Not Nelson’s job. This is Brent Burns’s job. He fails to get in that passing lane and it’s pretty easy from Carlson. I’m just going to throw this out there. Don’t play Brent Burns at four. I know he’s a really good pker for you and fits into these systems, but when you talk about more ice to cover, Burns’s skating is going to become a problem. He just doesn’t have the legs that he used to, and it’s going to be hard for him to keep up and cover all that ground. On the penalty kill, you have a pretty structured box where he’s not roaming too far out of position and can make that work. In four, we’re asking him to track and cover specific players. You’re going to see him fall behind and not be able to keep up in situations like that. And a little bit of credit to Anaheim. That’s a nice play and a nice finish. And as always, I get the advantage of hindsight and I know that’s the only goal that goes in. So ultimately, the ABS got the job done. I don’t think their defense was perfect tonight. Obviously giving up 36 shots, you gave up a good amount of stuff. But you know who was really good tonight? Scott Wedgwood. Any night you give up one is a really good night for a goalie. A night you give up one on 36 shots faced. Yeah, that’s great. That includes some after he got run into on a clear goalie interference play. It wasn’t dirty, but you know, he did get clocked around a little bit, stayed in the game, and didn’t give up anything. He’s unfasable. So, it’s 1-1 after the first period. A good portion of the second period was wishy-washy. For me, honestly, it felt like the ABS kind of let their foot off the gas for a bit and cruised around at times, which isn’t great in a 1-1 game. You don’t love that. But before it could become a problem, the ABS were able to get their foot back on the pedal and then they started taking care of this game. And a little over halfway through the second period, who’s the man to get them back and running with the lead? The captain. Kind of a hodgepodge line on the breakout here. You see Mar get it up ice and the abs are able to get into the zone thanks to Nushkin. He drops it off to Nelson, but you also have Gabe Landiskog out here back with what was the second line earlier in the season. Nelson strong on a puck is able to get it in deep. Anaheim way overcommits here. You see five guys below their hash marks and then some here. So, he’s not going to overthink this. get this back out to space, you set up a good play. On the unfortunate side, Saminsk’s stick just breaks. On the fortunate side, that ends up working well for the ABS with a guy missing his stick down in deep for Anaheim. There’s not a ton of pressure and Chushkin finds space and gets a good shot off. The initial shot gets saved, but look at Gabe Landiskog just working. Even with a shot coming from close in on a high quality opportunity, he positions himself to get to the right spot. And when the rebound comes out, he’s the man on it and he finally has his goal. No silliness, no offside, no weird challenge, no this goal just counts. Finally. I said this on the postgame show, too, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Gabe Landiskog has been back this season and the ABS are at the top of the NHL. And it’s not necessarily for Landisk’s production, that first goal of the season that actually counts in just his fifth point. I don’t even think it’s necessarily because of his play on the ice at all. In a lot of ways, Gabe Landiskog is the AB’s emotional center. He keeps them on the level. They don’t get too mad at themselves. They don’t get too up. They don’t get too down because Gabe Landiskog is guiding the ship. And over these last four, five, six games, I think we’ve really started to see Landy come alive. Yes, a lot of that is with the A’s third line, and that’s fine. If he can work functionally there and look good, great. But this goal comes with the ABS second line on the end of a double shift where he also played up with McKinnon on the first line. And we saw some usage of Landy there for a reason that we’ll get to a little bit later. And while I don’t know that Gabe will ever be the player that we remember him as and that we used to be from over three years ago, it’s still pretty clear Gabe Landiskog is an extremely functional and effective hockey player. Greasy goals like that one give me confidence that he’s still going to find his way to a lot this year. Moving on because that was the only goal of the second period. The third period, the ABS get themselves into a winning position and they actually take the dagger and thrust it into the Ducks. Need the McKinnon entry on the power play. That’s pretty normal. Nothing fancy here, but a nice little wrinkle. McKinnon pulls up. The ABS love going to the wall here to get their setup up. And it’s getting read by a lot of the league. McKinnon goes backhand to the middle of the ice to Mar. And Macar is entirely uncovered with the Ducks committing to what they thought was going to be that corner pass. That gives the ABS room in time to get fully set up. And now you’re cooking. You are a little bit backwards here with Olson on this near side instead of in his one-time spot. And some of that comes from Nathan McKinnon moving his feet. He goes around the world on this power play. McKinnon moving his feet is kind of the recipe for success for the Avalanche. It opens up space for everybody else. And as he comes back into position, that allows Olivesson to activate and cut through the middle. And that activation leaves a ton of space for McKinnon to work with. He uses that with Macar to ultimately float up out high and create a good opportunity for himself. We haven’t seen the wristster from out high very much from McKinnon here. And this isn’t really it either. This is McKinnon doing the little shot past cutesy stuff. I think he’s actually looking for Lechinan here and Lechinan or maybe the defenseman that’s covering him gets a piece of that and Leanin got an assist. So I guess it was Lucky. But also Marty Nate just started in that corner and has now snuck his way all the way into the back post completely uncovered by the Ducks and he’s the man who puts the finishing touches on that one. The ABS power play has now scored for two games in a row. Yes, I know it’s been a minute and it’s all three of the forwards you want to see producing on that power play getting involved. the initial shot, pass, whatever you want to call it from McKinnon. Lechinan getting a piece of it. And then Nes, the one to make sure it goes home. Those are the guys that you need to consistently scoring on your power play. Maybe not Leky. Again, I’ll talk about that in a second, but certainly McKinnon and Nes. Of course, you want it from everywhere, but those are the guys you expect to drag the power play along and get you to a quality one. And it was quality enough tonight. I would say there was one bad power play of the four the ABS got. There was one that was honestly even better than the one they scored on. The puck just didn’t go in and then of course they did score on the one. One for four every night is something you can live with. A 25% power play is quite good, especially when they score goals like that one. That takes a game that’s a one-goal game in the third period, one play away from being tied and gives you that cushion, gives you a little bit more comfortability. You have to take advantage of those opportunities, especially on the power play. At times the ABS have done that this year early in the season. The long stretch of horrible power play work. Obviously they weren’t doing that. It’s good to see them getting back to that. That was your last real goal. The empty netter ends up going to Parker Kelly which is great. I thought Kelly in the fourth line were awesome today. Welld deserved. You also see Brock Nelson and Nathan McKinnon pick up points on that goal because why not. And while there might be some cheap points in there, five of the ABS top six forwards picked up a point in that game. It’s what you like to see. At times it’s felt like that second line hasn’t had the production there. But Nachushkin had an assist today. Nelson had an assist today and really that land goal comes with the second line. Now for the bad bit. Valachkin did leave this game with an injury. All we know right now is that it’s lower body and it’s going to be re-evaluated probably when you’re watching this that same day for practice. So we’ll see what it actually is. Val is a crucial part of the top six and if he’s out for a short-term thing, the ABS are probably okay. they can survive. They’ve got good depth. They don’t need him this second. But if it’s something long-term, that becomes a much bigger problem for the Avalanche. You’ve been able to give Gabe Landiskog this cushy role on the team with Val doing a lot of that hefty lifting on both ends of the puck as a forward in the top six. If Val’s out, you kind of have to put that pressure back on someone like Gabe Landiskog or you’re taking a risk on giving more time on ice to someone like a Gavin Brinley every single night. And I think it’s fair to say Gavin Brinley has maybe earned a few looks, but we don’t know what that looks like long term up in the lineup. And it’s not something I really want to test if we’re going to be honest about it. Championship caliber depth makes guys like Gabe Landiskog into a third liner. Makes a guy like Gavin Brinley, who’s an upandcomer and maybe isn’t quite there yet, a depth option instead of a needed top six guy. So hopefully the Val injury isn’t that big of a deal. Obviously when we learn more, you’ll be hearing about it on our podcast. So, go check that out tomorrow or something. The ABS are unbelievably dominant so far through this season. And again, regulation losses are going to happen eventually. They’re not going to finish the season with one of those. Some downturns are going to come, but a lot of the underlying stuff shows that the ABS actually might just be close to this good, and that should terrify the entire NHL. A team that regularly puts up north of 35 shots is going to win a lot of games, especially when they have the talent and ability that a team like the ABS has. That is the end of this game video review. Thank you for watching. I am Rudo and the captain’s still really

Landeskog gets the game winning goal for the Colorado Avalanche as Lehkonen, Necas, and Kelly also add tallies to take down the Anaheim Ducks 4 – 1. The Avs are turning into something scary.

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