Matt Duchene is swarmed by Ducks in Monday’s preseason game, won 5-2 by Anaheim. Photo by Michael Martin, courtesy of Avalanche
It had never happened before: two games in one night, a doubleheader for the Avalanche, in different cities. The Avs lost both tonight, in Denver and in Anaheim.
At the game I was at, at the Pepsi Center, the Ducks blitzed prospect goalie four times in the third period to give Anaheim the 5-2 preseason win. At the Honda Center in Anaheim, the Ducks scored four times on 30 shots against Avs goalie Reto Berra for a 4-0 win. I didn’t see any of the game in Anaheim, on tape or on Twitter or anywhere, so can’t offer much in observation. I do know that Berra allowed goals on the first two shots he faced. So, the worry about him won’t let up anytime soon. Here is the NHL.com
The game at the Pepsi Center featured many of the Avs regulars against a collection of Ducks B Teamers. For much of the game, the Avs controlled the play, with only Ducks veteran goalie Jason LaBarbera keeping them in it. Then the third period happened, and pretty much everyone was bad wearing the home burgundy sweaters.
Here is what Patrick Roy had to say:
“I have to give credit to them. They came here and worked hard, and maybe worked a little harder than us tonight. But I’m OK with this. I think it was a great opportunity for us to see some of our young guys, and this is the time where you look at your guys and see the ones that are going to continue on in the training camp.”
Look, I’ve covered 19 years of preseason games now, and I really can’t remember a single thing from any of them, other than some in that very first year, 1995-96. They’re a necessary evil. So there’s certainly no alarm in this corner, nor should there be in any other, about a preseason game result.
I thought the highlights for Avs fans to take from this game were the play of defensive duo Zach Redmond and Duncan Siemens, and the speed of Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene.
Roy praised Redmond and Siemens as being the best defensive pair of the game. “Both of them came here wanting to make an impression and they’ve done it so far,” Roy said.
Redmond scored one of the two Avs goals, a slap shot that deflected off a Ducks stick on the way to the top of the net. Redmond seems like a good shot to make the club as one of the eight defensemen Roy said he would keep. Still plenty of preseason left, but he’s off to a great start. Siemens almost certainly will start the year in Lake Erie, but we’ll see. Either way, he has earned some confidence from Roy, which bodes well as a potential call-up from Lake Erie. That’s the way it has to happen for a lot of D-men coming up in the system. Very often, they have to patiently bide their time in the minors for a few years and, like it or not, take advantage of an injury or a trade-retirement of a veteran.
Alex Tanguay scored the other Avs goal, a rebound putback following a big-time rush and shot from MacKinnon. The Avs put some withering pressure on the Ducks in the second period, but hit a couple of posts and just missed on a couple other shots. They could have easily been up 4-1 entering the third if not for some bum luck.
Other observations:
– Conner Bleackley was “OK”, Roy said. He’s got good size and strength, but one thing that’s been clear so far: he’s taken some really huge hits, at scrimmages, at the Burgundy-White game and in the game tonight. He maybe needs to think about protecting himself a little bit better at this level moving forward.
– Tough finish for Pickard. He seemed to be committing a little too early in that tumultuous third period, and kind of swimming on his stomach on a couple of goals. This is a big year for him in his development, and tonight was tough in that regard. But goalies are funny. Some just take a real long time to develop. But you only get so many chances in this game.
– MacKinnon is just a terror with the puck now. Everyone has noticed his added size and “bigger” presence with the puck. He did one of those things where he circled the entire zone with the puck, basically playing keep-away, before firing a shot on net. He’s going to keep having to learn the game at the defensive end, and Roy is cognizant of the fact that he’s essentially re-learning his old position, center, this year. But the kid is going to put up points, lots of them.
– Daniel Briere made a couple of really nice passes, and he’s still really strong moving the puck around on the power play. Yes, I do still worry about what kind of effective role he can have on this team and in this conference. But it’s a nice luxury to have a 299 career goal-scorer kicking around down the depth chart and on the power play. Might his defensive game and lack of size be a worry in the West, not to mention his age? Yeah, but if Roy can figure out how to find the most effective 15 minutes or so a night for him, he could add something good to this team.
– Roy did not like his team’s “F-3” play, which means he thought the third forward, the one who is supposed to close the gap with the two other forwards defensively on opponents, was too spaced out from the play. That’s something that does particularly drive him nuts if not executed properly. On the other hand, many of his regulars weren’t there tonight.
So, that’s why preseason is that necessary evil. Well, evil is a strong word but…it just doesn’t mean much of anything. Lots of hockey left to be played folks.
