Wearied and wearing thin with just three victories in its first 14 games, coach Patrick Roy dropped the hammer on the Avalanche on Thursday. He tore down the team’s whole approach.
Roy suddenly scuttled their year-old man-to-man defensive scheme. He replaced it with a more traditional zone coverage.
It was a huge shift for the Avs, beyond some wonky hockey X’s and O’s. It was a core philosophical change.
It worked. The Avs took down Toronto in Colorado on Thursday .
“I am very positive with this performance, but I don’t want to overreact,” Roy said. “I want to make sure to stay very humble.”
While Roy is playing cool, Colorado players are beaming about the change. And the Avs will continue with their new strategy going forward.
“It might take five games, it might take 10 games, it might feel good next game,” Avs center Matt Duchene said Friday. “When you switch from a man-to-man defensive coverage and go back to a zone, a more traditional style, there are a lot of gray areas.”
Roy, in his first season as Avs coach a year ago, . The goal was to get defensive pressure on the puck at all times, to snuff out an opponent’s offensive charge before its defensemen can get involved.
But as the Avs streaked to a division title last season, their defensive problems with the man-to-man were hidden. They were sacrificing possession as teams controlled the puck. Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov was forced to bail the Avs out. His 1,867 saves led the NHL, by far.
The Avs this season couldn’t hide. Varlamov ranks third in saves as his team continued to get outshot. So the Avs changed gears.
“I don’t want to give out our secrets,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said after beating the Maple Leafs. “But we certainly made some changes to our system, defensively and offensively.
“It was just more about supporting each other out there and having each other’s backs. If we can be a little more aggressive in the D-zone and cut the plays here and there, that’s what we did, we didn’t spend as much time in the D-zone.”
The purpose behind the Avs’ defensive-zone scheme is the transition between defense and offense. They want to embrace a lineup of speedy, skilled skaters, instead of wasting them on defensive marking.
In man-to-man, the Avs spent more effort worrying about their defensive assignments and less about getting out of their own end. It led to an ugly goal Sunday when Anaheim’s Cam Fowler waltzed toward the net through four Avs defenders, all of whom thought Fowler was somebody else’s mark.
But the Avs hope switching to a zone coverage — where, essentially, a defender covers an area on the ice instead of a man — will free them up offensively.
“We’re an offensive hockey team,” Duchene said. “We’re not going to hide that. We’re not going to pretend we’re not. But with that, any offensive team has to be good in their own end and play hard defensively.
“Being good defensively doesn’t mean playing in your own end for a long time and not letting up any goals,” Duchene added. “Being good defensively means switching to offense as quickly as possible. I think that’s something we’ll accomplish as we continue to get more comfortable with the system.”
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nickgroke
COLORADO AT PHILADELPHIA 5 p.m. Saturday, ALT; 950 AM
Spotlight on Jakub Voracek: The Flyers’ left-handed right wing is on an impressive seven-game scoring streak. The 25-year-old from the Czech Republic was tied with Sidney Crosby for the NHL lead with 19 points entering Friday. That’s nearly twice as many points as the Avs’ leaders (Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon, with 10 apiece). In the Flyers’ 13 games, Voracek has a point in all but one.
NOTEBOOK
Avalanche: Goaltender Reto Berra, who finished with 33 saves and a win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday, will stay in goal Saturday against the Flyers, coach Patrick Roy said. “He was great. He’s been great for us every time he’s started this season,” Matt Duchene said of Berra. … Forward Jesse Winchester and defenseman Ryan Wilson have both threatened to return to the Avalanche lineup in recent practices. But “not yet” will continue for a while longer. Winchester and Wilson will not travel with the Avs on their four-game road trip to the East Coast, starting Saturday at Philadelphia against the Flyers, the Avs said.
Flyers: Philly has split time in net between Steve Mason (2-4-1, 2.88 goals-against average, .911 save percentage) and Ray Emery (4-1-1, 2.74, .915). … After losing two straight, the Flyers have consecutive 4-1 wins over the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers. Nick Groke, The Denver Post
