Breaking Down: Avalanche/Ducks, Game 5

““““The Avs looked very sharp last night, totally dominating possession of the puck against a depleted Anaheim team and scoring just enough to get their 4th win of the season. After last season I feel there’s every reason to be hyperbolic for just a bit, it’s good fan therapy. Right now the Avs are 1st in the league standings with one sixteenth of the season in the books and there’s still room to grow with the league’s worst PK (70%) and 2nd to last in faceoff percentage (44.7%). They’re also a far cry from the miracle year of 13-14, 8th in the league in score-adjusted CF (53.5%). Yeah, the goalies have been fantastic but the team in front is getting it done too. Let’s look at last night.

Team Stats

So many good things to choose from it’s tough to find somewhere to start. The obvious is outshooting the Duck 39-18 in all situations and 25-13 at 5v5. The Avs always had the puck and this one passes the eye test with flying colors. Shot attempts percentage was ridiculous at 66.3% which included a massive +21/-8 in the 2nd period. The Avs had 8 power plays while Anaheim had just 2.

Individuals

– Big Z led the team with 5 shots on goal and netted a nifty bank shot ENG with time expiring for his first goal in a Colorado uniform. He was also 4th on the club in CF at 76.5% and a +26/-8

– Jonathan Bernier had the best seat in the house all night, he could have actually sat on top of his net most of the game and gotten the same result. He kept his perfect 1.000 Sv% at even strength and gave up the lone goal on an odd-man rush thanks to some overaggressive power play moves.

– Usually former Avs roll into town and dig right in but not last night. Francois Beauchemin looked his usual self and led the Duck defense in 5v5 TOI. I’m a big fan of fellow Colgate alum Chris Wagner but when he’s in your top 3 forwards in TOI you’re probably not having a good night. Reto Berra looked fantastic but did surrender the game-winning goal.

– Nail Yakupov had 4 SOG and drew 3 of the 8 Anaheim penalties

– Captain Gabe was everywhere, scoring the first goal on a total power move on the PP and ending up at a +11/-5 at even strength.

– With Nathan MacKinnon missing most of the game with an eye injury, JT Compher slotted into the top center role. Lead the forwards in 5v5 TOI and had a goal taken away under suspicious circumstances. Was also one of the 7 Avs with 4+ shots on goal.

– Chris Bigras wasn’t all that noticeable, only 10 minutes at evens and 11:28 overall, but he did have 3 SOG and was the #1 Corsi Star on the team at over 84% and +16/-3. Poor shot metrics have been his bugaboo going back to rookie year so a big reversal there is fantastic to see.

Burgundy Narrative Metric

– “Best guys being your best guys” gets a (+). Landy and TB4 had goals and played super games, Mikko had 2 assists even tho’ he won’t shoot the puck anymore
– Corsi gets a massive (+)
– Power Play gets a (+) 2 out of 8 is 25%, that’s really good even if it doesn’t feel like it
– Turtle gets a (+) even if there really wasn’t time to turtle
– Varly% gets a (n/a) but Bernie was solid enough that he deserves one

Total: 4

/ / / / / /

The Avs flew to Dallas last night after the game and puck drop tonight is at 8pm ET/6pm MT.