Matt Duchene, top, chases Minnesota’s Matt Cooke in the first period Thursday. (John Autey, Pioneer Press)
It seems contradictory to think the Minnesota Wild might sneak up on the Avalanche. The two teams have played each other in eight straight games dating to a seven-game playoff series last season. And the Wild won five of the past six, including .
But Avs center Matt Duchene said Colorado didn’t see the train coming before it ran them over on Thursday.
“We just weren’t ready for last night,” Duchene said Friday after a gym workout. “We didn’t know what was going to hit us. We played terrible.”
Terrible is a good word. The Avs, sluggish to start in falling behind 1-0 after the first period, actually looked hungrier in the second… until the Wild buried them for four more goals to go up 5-0 after two.
“That was a clinic for them last night,” Duchene said. “They absolutely dominated us. They probably deserved to win 8-0.”
Duchene managed just one shot on goal in his 19 minutes and 56 seconds on the ice at Minnesota. And he shouldered some blame for the rout, saying nobody, it seemed, wanted to take charge on against the Wild.
“Everyone has to take responsibility for their own game and not pass the problem off to their teammates and their linemates,” Duchene said. “A lot of us didn’t want the puck last night. There were a lot of times we passed the problem to somebody else.”
At one point Friday — the Avs didn’t skate, but they did meet — Duchene caught himself before perhaps saying too much, collecting his thoughts about Saturday’s game against the Wild in Denver, the ninth in a row in their series.
“We just, you know, eh — We’ve got to know that we can’t just show up and put the gear on and go out and we’re gonna be a good team,” Duchene said. “We have to put the work in. We came to every game with enthusiasm and hard work and excitement. Last night, we almost seemed tentative.”
